The Sachin Effect

That post title could very well have read ‘The Sanath Effect’. But you will agree that it has to be put down to the mere presence of the man that the Mumbai Indians are looking like a totally new side.

Before the match against Chennai Super Kings, the Mumbai Indians did win three matches on the trot, but they weren’t as comprehensive as the last two. After today’s match against the Kolkatta Knight Riders, the tally now reads five in a row.

Just think about it. The great man, whose presence at one time was enough to lift the morale of the national team, is also more than capable of lifting the spirits of a group of local youngsters and a few foreign nationals, who in two and a half weeks time might well be playing against him.

The crowd support is enormous. Chants of “Sachin Sachin” start off the moment team takes to the field and go on till the match gets over. Those chants are replaced by “Surya Surya” when his opening partner is taking the bowling to the cleaners. The opposition captains are not let off easy either. Twice it has happened that the opposition captain has been booed in the post match presentation. Both Dhoni and Dada are popular wherever they go, but that Bombay crowd is a tough one. The reception Shoaib Akhtar got when he came down to bat was worst. The crowd has been so vociferous and involved that Sachin thanked them in the interview and even reminded them of the next home match on the 21st.

He may not have clicked with the bat in the two matches that he has played, but the effect he has had on the side is amazing. Jayasurya is playing like a man possessed and is hell bent on making mince meat out of the bowling figures of the opposition. Jayasurya can now obviously play more freely, and it seemed to me that he was putting a lot of pressure on himself in the absence on Sachin in the earlier matches. Shaun Pollock showed his class again tonight, taking four wickets for 12 in his quota of four. Those figures would look good even in a fifty over match.

I’m supporting the Delhi Daredevils. Of course, what did you expect? In an event of a clash between Bombay and Delhi, and if Sachin is playing, I wouldn’t mind it at all even if Bombay win. Now that is ‘The Sachin Effect’.