There's no denying Sharma's class but comparisons with Tendulkar are premature
There's no denying Sharma's class but comparisons with Tendulkar are prematureAs the Indian team prepares for tomorrow's match against neophytes Ireland, ahead of the Super Eight stage where they are expected to face stiffer competition from South Africa, and England for a place in the semi-final, fans and critics here are raving over Mumbai's Rohit Sharma.
Former England captain Nasser Hussain, whose Chennai-born father Javed passed away recently, has termed Sharma "India's new little master".
In his column for a London newspaper, Hussain writes: "Got our first glimpse of Rohit Sharma at Trent Bridge. The Indian pundits I've spoken to reckon they've found the new Tendulkar at last. He's that good. Watch out for him."
One would like to know who the Indian "pundits" are since the lofty praise is decidedly premature. Whereas there is no denying the class and promise of the Nagpur-born 22-year old, who scored the only century (101 not out off 45 balls for Mumbai versus Gujarat in the first season of domestic Twenty20 in India in 2006-07 at Mumbai), Sharma has miles to go before he can be spoken of in the same breath as the legendary Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.
Relief for EnglandMeanwhile, English cricket fans heaved a huge collective sigh of relief when Kevin Pietersen, who batted after a cortisone injection and scan on his troublesome Achilles tendon, inspired England to a convincing 48-run win over Pakistan to bring the hosts back into the tournament from the jaws of death after their inaugural day defeat to the Netherlands.
Relieved captain Paul Collingwood said after the match: "Our pride was hurt on Friday night and the way we came out and batted was exceptional.
"Friday was a massive blow and we were under a lot of pressure. But we went for it pretty much from ball one.
"When we walked off on Friday we were devastated and left the ground pretty down. It was do-or-die for us and we delivered.
"I said before the Holland match there was a lot of belief in the camp and I believe that even more now.
"But we need this sort of performance in every match."
Pietersen, who smashed a scintillating 58 from 38 balls said: " It was a huge match. If we didn't win we were out and that is not nice.
"I was desperate to play, I've never had an injury that has kept me out which has been hard to deal with.
"I reckon I'm about 70 per cent fit. Hopefully that is the last of it now because I just love playing."
Younis shockerPakistan must defeat the Netherlands by a big margin to avoid elimination, but their captain Younis Khan typically played down the team's precarious situation.
"It will be sad, but not a disaster," said Khan of his team's possible elimination. He is making it a habit to take the team's disappointments lightly at his press briefings.
Gavin Hamilton, captain of Scotland, who received a 130-run shellacking at the hands of South Africa, which was the second heaviest defeat in the history of international T20 (the 172-run defeat of Kenya at the hands of Sri Lanka is the heaviest) was left fearing for his team's future.
"Let's be realistic about the whole thing," he said. "South Africa are an absolutely fantastic outfit".
But he was more concerned about the future of the game in his country.
"We can't keep sitting here making excuses. And big games like these are going to run out unless we do something about it.
"Cricket is going at a huge rate of knots and unless we keep up the gap is going to get bigger. Things must change. Everyone is going back to work tomorrow. We need an academy and we need half a dozen full-time players".
To this must-have list, Hamilton could have added a coach like dashing wicketkeeper-batsman Budhi Kunderan, who represented India with distinction in Test cricket and, after migrating to the UK after retirement, provided invaluable coaching to Scottish youngsters at Dumpellier until his death in 2006.
