The great Indian puzzle!

India’s humiliating defeat against England on a batsman’s minefield has not only put skipper MS Dhoni — who asked for a square turner after the Ahmedabad Test — in an embarrassing position but it has also raised fresh questions over the ‘future’ of an iconic veteran. Sachin Tendulkar, 39, was at sixes and sevens against the left-arm spin of Monty Panesar at Wankhede. The Little Master was bowled by a Panesar beauty for eight in the first innings and he fell to the guile of the same spinner in the second innings after making just eight runs again. In Ahmedabad where the pitch wasn’t really bowler friendly, he got out to Graeme Swann for 13. These disappointments have come after his low scores against the Kiwi pace bowlers on flat Indian wickets when his vulnerability against the moving ball was clearly exposed. It is true that Tendulkar has gone through similar situations before and he has always come out of those rough phases like a champion that he is. But now with age not on his side, even his fiercest backers in the game are having doubts about his chances of making a triumphant return to form. The legendary Sunil Gavaskar has even gone to the extent of saying that the time has come for the selectors to have a ‘word with him about his future plans’. “Tendulkar has been playing for so long and he has been so consistent. This little period of lack of runs or lack of half centuries will give the critics chance to ask questions,” Gavaskar said. “At the end of the day, it is the selectors who will take the call. I think the selectors will probably have a word with Tendulkar about what his future plans are and then take a call,” he said. “Ideally, whatever decision is taken about Tendulkar’s retirement, I believe he will make his own decision,” Gavaskar told NDTV. However, Gavaskar said the senior batsman was trying hard to come out of this. “Yes, he is struggling and he is having a long bad patch. But he is trying hard. In the first innings in Mumbai, the ball turned just a little bit. In the second innings you could see he changed his guard. He was standing ahead of the crease to negotiate the turn better. But unfortunately he was out to a straighter ball.” Tendulkar’s streak of low scores might have raised a question mark over his future but senior BCCI official Rajiv Shukla came out in support of the senior batsman saying one needs to look at his ‘colossal record’ before making any comment. But the greatest run-getter in Test cricket’s history, however, has just managed 153 runs at an average of 15.3 in his last 10 innings — the lowest by an Indian top-order batsman in the corresponding period.  Even his strongest supporters will be in an uncomfortable position if  he fails yet again in the third Test next week.   From : Khalij