Tendulkar fights
Sachin Tendulkar's half-century in Kolkata didn't resemble any of his signature attractive knocks, for he cut out the risks and knuckled down to carve out the runs in a more workman-like fashion, writes Andy Bull in the Guardian
ESPNcricinfo staff
25-Feb-2013
Sachin Tendulkar scored his first half-century in 11 innings in Kolkata. It didn't resemble any of his signature attractive knocks, for he cut out the risks and knuckled down to carve out the runs in a more workman-like fashion, writes Andy Bull in the Guardian. This ability of his to adapt his game, Bull says, could help Tendulkar overcome the limitations that have surfaced in his batting.
On a day when the rest of his team-mates mustered 197 runs between them, his experience was invaluable. The Indian team are not so richly stocked with young talent that they can afford to do without a man who has played so many matches. And here is an indication of how, if he chooses to, he can play on, by tempering his game, and trading exuberance for experience, strokes for self-knowledge.
In the Independent, Suresh Menon writes: Just as great poets do not always write great poetry, great batsmen do not always play great knocks. Tendulkar's 318th Test innings spoke of struggle and pressure rather than fluency and dominance, but in the context of the day's play, it was crucial. It was only his second fifty this year, coming 10 innings after his 80 at Sydney.