Cricket Has Changed: Sachin Tendulkar (in Kochi 03 Oct 2007)Well, Sachin is right! However he seems to have said it
too late; with the advent of the 20-20 format and younger
players. He was a catalyst to that change from somber & 'safe' cricket to fast paced & youthful cricket! Sachin and a few others brought about all that change when he was in his 20s.Remember his back to back centuries in 1998 at Sharjah against Australia ? He rocked the confidence of all the renowned bowlers of that era. His innings demoralized the Australian captain - Steve Waugh. Shane Warne the most potent bowler for Australia confessed having
nightmares of Sachin dancing down the wicket to hoist him for a six! We witnessed the bowler's nightmares on television. His blazing shots to the boundary and his furious running between the wickets took the imagination of a cricket crazy nation over the moon! India was reeling with cricket frenzy. All that happened in the last decade, now he faces a new challenge. He must repeat his successes. Sachin, aged 34, is now forced to choose his battles. One might feel along with Rahul Dravid, that younger players are doing on what Sachin had started. Playing entertaining cricket. Utthapa, Gambhir, Dhoni, Yuvraj, RP Singh, Sreesanth all are promising players who can propel the growth of cricket exponentially. One safely predict a new era of entertaining cricket!