Going Down

Sachin Tendulkar has had his slumps in batting form in his career, more so after being plagued with back and elbow injuries. But the downward slide in batting record graph following his thirty-fifth Test hundred, has been alarming. His shot selections have been horrendous at times. He is seen trying too many things at the start of his innings or getting into a shell once too often. It seems that the pressure to deliver the goods every time he walks into the crease is finally telling on his tired shoulders. He appears to be aging out of the blue with his movements getting wearisome on the field. In any case, he has never been able to completely get out of his weakness against incoming deliveries from outside the off-stump early in his innings. Earlier, he could still time few of them to the on-side for runs, when he was unsure of his defence. But now some serious problem looks to have crept into his hand-eye co-ordination and corresponding feet movement. No wonder he seems to be getting jittery with the willow. However, he continues to be the hare between the wickets, undrerlining his overall agility and fitness. Sir Achrekar or the previous Little Master should be able to sort out his problems.