Personally, there have been too many times when I've witnessed the Sachin magic fall just short of ensuring a team win. I know its not fair to blame Sachin when he comes with such a brilliant innings. But increasingly, it becomes so despairing that a majestic innings from the Sachin blade leaves the other batsmen in so much awe that they forget to do their bit.
In the last match (Ind Vs Aus at Hyderabad), Sachin scored 175 out of 141 deliveries. The other 9 players scored 157 out of 146. Not bad. Why then, did India still fall short by an agonising 3 runs?
I wasn't able to watch the majority of the match. When I switched on the TV, Ravindra Jadeja was walking in at the fall of Harbhajan's wicket. I noticed that though Jadeja was doing his bit, he was keeping Sachin off strike. I realised then this was going to be dangerous. I've generally felt that (my own observation, don't have stats to back this) Sachin generally loses his wicket, when he has been off strike for a couple of overs. Especially, after a marathon innings. And that's exactly what happened.
