Indian Premier League - IPL / Ralph Ellis / 24 March 2010 /

So Twenty20 has been the one form of the game that the Indian master has failed to, err, master. Now, as captain of Mumbai, he is proving an inspiration to the team. Ralph Ellis wonders if the national selectors will knocking on Tendulkar's door.

It's a bit odd to think of Sachin Tendulkar as a "wasted talent". Exactly how many records do you want to trot out to suggest that, on the contrary, he's one of cricket's all-time greats?

But when it comes to Twenty20 there's an argument that says, at least as far as India are concerned, that is exactly what he will be by the time the World Cup rolls around in April. Whatever else the little master has done in his career, the short form has been the one part that, until now, he's missed out on. He's only ever played one international Twenty20, and has been officially retired from that form of the game for four years.

On the evidence of the Indian Premier League so far, that has to go down as a waste. Surely somebody from the Indian board should be watching what Tendulkar is doing for the Mumbai Indians and having a quiet word to suggest that he might just fancy revising his status as far as representing his country is concerned.

In case you missed it, Tendulkar produced a classic cameo innings for Mumbai yesterday, striking an impressive 71 not out that set up a seven wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders and underlined Mumbai's status as [4.0] favourites to win the IPL. As captain of Mumbai, he is proving an inspiration to the team and showing that class batting is still the best way to make runs even in the biff-bang atmosphere of the instant game.

Mumbai's performance was a masterpiece of strategic cricket, with Salith Malinga and the other bowlers firing the ball low into the leg stump. That comes pretty naturally to the Sri Lanka paceman with his low action and love of bowling yorkers. But it was a tactic even copied by Harbajhan Singh, bowling over the wicket to left-handers, and at one point Chris Gayle, the mainstay of the Kolkata innings with 75, found himself becalmed during a period of 37 balls without a single boundary.

South African Jacques Kallis is [2.5] favourite to finish the tournament as top batsman after a sensational start that has seen him collect 283 in five trips to the wicket so far, but that makes Tendulkar terrific value at [7.0] to catch him up. He's 107 behind at the moment, but should close the gap when Mumbai play Chennai Super Kings tomorrow (they are [1.64] to collect another victory).

Tendulkar's brilliance is also having an effect on his team mates. The team's 22-year-old wicket keeper Aditya Tare summed it up: "It is a privilege batting alongside Sachin Sir". The more the little master proves that in the IPL, the more it seems wrong that India's top players won't share that same privilege in the West Indies at the end of April.

Five things you might not know about Lasith Malinga

Born in August 1983 in the small fishing town of Rathgama near Galle in Sri Lanka. His father was a mechanic and his mother worked in a bank, and his early cricket was all played on Hikkaduwa beach using a soft ball held together by tape. His slinging action was the only way to propel it fast

Picked for Galle for the first time he was 12th man. Sri Lanka Test player Champaka
Ramanayake, who later became the country's bowling coach, pretended to be ill to give Malinga a chance of a game. He took eight wickets.

A surprise choice for the Sri Lankan side to face Australia in 2004, when he went on tour to New Zealand a year later the home batsmen asked the umpires to change their trousers colour because Malinga's low action meant they kept losing sight of the ball

He was the first man in the history of international cricket to take four wickets in four balls - against South Africa in the 2007 World Cup. The fifth delivery missed the stumps by a whisker!

He endorses Yamaha motorbikes - but has admitted he doesn't ride them any more because of the risk of injury

'.$sign_up['title'].'

'; } } ?>

:

:

:

?

: