How much more cricket do you think is left in Sachin? Will he hit the 500 ODI mark?

Question

Sachin is playing his 400th ODI today. Considering his form and the number of years he's played so far, close to two decades, how many years more do you think he will contribute to cricket? Will he be the only batsman to play in 500 ODIs? Will he hit that mark?

Answer 1

Yes, Sachin can definitely make it to 500 ODIs.
Sachin is 34 years old. As an individual he definitely has 4-5 more years of cricket left in him. That should allow him to play 100 more ODI matches under normal cicrumstances.

But i guess it is going to be more of giving a chance to younger players and therefore sacrificing Tendulkar in the process.

I believe that whichever player is in form should be selected to play for India regardless of age. For example look at the statistics of Dhoni, Tendulkar, Yuvraj, Dravid, & Sehwag, for the last 30 ODIs played by each;

Mat Inn No Runs Hs1 Hs2 Hs3 Ave 100 50 0
Dhoni: 30 26 7 887 139* 91* 67* 46.68 1 6 3
Sachin: 30 29 2 1166 100* 99 99 43.18 1 11 3
Yuvraj: 30 27 4 1021 121 95* 83 44.39 1 5 1
Dravid: 30 26 5 816 92* 78 74 38.85 0 8 3
Sehwag: 30 28 0 859 114 97 95 30.67 1 5 1

Clearly Sachin's just as good as Yuvi if not the best. He has scored the most runs at a healthy average of 43.18 runs. He has scored the most fifties....including two 99 scores as well.....so he is relatively more consistent.

Now you'd say Sachin plays for records, and his records dont contribute to India's wins. Well that has more to do with the team effort. Indian team's record has been more or less the same for the last 20 years if you consider the win/loss ratio. In these 20 years a lot of young players have come and gone, they were given the chance to do it for India, but it is the team that has not improved its winning ratio. So we cannot blame Sachin for that.

Still, people criticise Sachin. They say he's not the same as before. Well, then who is?? Sehwag is not in form and is not playing for ODIs. Saurav was not in form for quite a long time.....remember he was completely written off until the youngsters gave him a comeback chance by not playing well. Yuvraj was also not in form for quite some time....remember Kaif...he's not even spoken of now. At least 100 odd players have come and gone by while sachin has been playing for the last 18 years or so. It requires great love & enthusiasm for the game to be able to be in form consistently...which Sachin still has. The day he loses that, he'll have to retire.

It's just that we have very huge expectations from Sachin. We expect him to score a century at a blistering strike rate of 100% everytime he comes onto the field. Well if 5 other batsmen are doing that, then he has no place in the team. Otherwise there's definitely place for Sachin.

So don't count him out. Its another thing if he's not physically fit to play. But that's the case with so many other younger players.

He's the player who's scored the most centuries in ODIs, the most total runs in ODIs, won the most Man of the Match awards ever, only player to score more than 1000 runs / calendar year 7 times.

Go on Sachin!

Answer 2

The signs of ageing are clearly reflected. 500 mark is still a 100 matches away which if we consider possible will take some 4 more years. Considering the age, it may seem possible when players like Jayasurya can play at the age of 38 but Sachin's body is no more the fittest, it is all been treated by surgeons across the Globe. i dont see him hitting the 500 match mark, and a timely retirement shall be most fitting for INdian Cricket Legend. He should just not linger around and should give way to younsters soon.

Answer 3

In our days, ( I belong to the forlorn years of Mankad, Umrigar, Phadkar and the like) a cricketeer gracefully bowed out even he continued to bat well or bowl well, but would not be able to field as well as he would do in his early days. It was also true, as Dravid said the other day, that a lot of shots which are now common, are never taught or thought of those days. Most of the reverse sweeps or scooping up the ball were anathema those days. If one day matches (along with the fielding rules therefor) were a departure from the standard game of cricket, which is Test Cricket, the present Twenty20 matches are comparable only with 100 meters running races, or 1200 meters horse races, where the agility and stamina of the player is more in demand. The one and only criterion these days is to make runs, by whatever type of batting one adopts. We rarely see batsmen using their wrists and turn the ball using the force of the ball.
In such circumstances, any batsman can remain as long as his average is good, at least better than the other aspirants, and also scores a fifty at least once in four to five matches, and also can choose for himself a place in the batting order to suit his own style of batting that he can have his own time in selecting the shots, unlike batsmen who come 5down or 6down.
Sachin meets these criteria much much better than the rest of his contemporaries, or the even the youngsters in the team, so-called juniors, or even the budding aspirants. But, whether he will play in 500 ODIs depend on the schedule of the Cricket Board. Normally in a year, no more than 20 to 35 ODIs are played and at this rate, Sachin can play in 500th ODI, if he could stay up to 2010.
Only time will have an answer for your question that has sprung out of your affection showered on this legendary batsman which he deserves fully. Let me however add that cricket is more important than an individual, and in the interests of the game, youngsters right from age 17 are trained and monitored at the State levels. We need to train and groom youngsters to become professionals who combine themselves into a team and create the synergy to produce a team where every member is individually brilliant and contributes to the collective team efforts.

Answer 4

Yes, Sachin can definitely make it to 500 ODIs.
Sachin is 34 years old. As an individual he definitely has 4-5 more years of cricket left in him. That should allow him to play 100 more ODI matches under normal cicrumstances.

Answer 5

My dear friend! Stop day dreaming. Every nice thing in life has to come to an end and Sachin's cricket is no exception. His age has caught up with him but if you let him continue play cricket he will keep on contributing with whatever he could score. This is because Indian cricketers give little value to retiring gracefully. We miss steve waughs and nasser hussains in Indian cricket to have the courage and honesty to call it a day before others ask them to do so.
Please don't take me wrong. I have been a die hard fan of Sachin Tendulkar, the cricketer. Sachin Tendulkar as a person? Well, I don't know who he is. Let the record keepers keep records of the number of hundreds and fifties. What we want is to win matches. Tendulkar is playing an average cricketers cricket and not the kind he is known for. This average cricket can be played by any new comer, and who knows we might find another Tendulkar sooner than later.

Answer 6

No. Sachin will not continue to plahy ODI till he reaches 500 mark. He will retire from ODI within an yhear and concentrate in test cricket for another year or so.

Answer 7

It will take a dragging as was done in the case of Kapil Dev. To my knowledge the best of Sachin was over three years ago. Dravid also should quit ODIs. Ganguly is a poor runner between the wickets. He should also quit along with Sachin and Rahul if the interest of Indian cricket is of utmost to these three bigs. I would hold to this view even if all of these three score tons on trot because Schin would do so only when not under pressure or India is batting 1st. Ganguly would need two lives in his innings to achive the feat and Dravid would need six months clear energy/rest. They all are mentally, physically tired but media hype and money is the dettering factor for them today. How many of the cricketers would be ready to play for India if all their commercial contracts are snatched or they are only employed on monthly salary basis of Rs. one lakh only? These three can never be as selfless as Sehvag, Uthappa, Dhoni, Yuv or Bhajji.

Answer 8

Even if one consider 20 ODI matches per year, it will take 5 years to complete 500 ODI. Sachin will retire with grace ,much before 500 ODI.

Answer 9

It has definitely been a pleasure watching the exploits of Sachin on-field. His innings,(almost all of them) have been memorable ones.He entered the arena - like a breath of fresh air - as a teenager and has kept growing and growing in stature. Not only as a batsman but as a statesman, role model and icon. The one question on everyone's lips at one time was," Is there no stopping him ?"
After 400 innings and I am sure all the "one day" records in his pocket, I dont think even he can aspire to much more nor should we expect more from the "LITTLE MASTER" . We should now allow him to simply enjoy what he is doing . For if you went back a few years, you would see that this MAN, has single handedly carried the Indian team from strength to strength.So if he does have occassional lapses in concentration, why criticise him ? why not allow him these small liberties ? Yes, as far as playing 400 one day innings go, we should all thank God that he has been able to carry this huge burden we have placed on his broad shoulders and he has done so unflinchingly.
THANK YOU SACHIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
As for his going on to play 500 innings, that I am afraid, may be a tall order. He himself has confessed to finding it very much more difficult to recover from the rigours of one day matches. So, if he finds it difficult, we must leave it to him to decide when he should retire because if there is one thing I am certain of, it is the fact that the " LITTLE MASTER " will not continue playing if he stops enjoying the game.
So my friends let us all pray that Sachin keeps the Indian flag flying forever.

Answer 10

If is he playing like this (horrible cricket), he will surely hit the 1000 mark. If he plays like the real Sachin, we can expect another 60-70, even 100 ODI's