10 reasons why Sachin should open

Many cricket followers in the world may think that batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar should drop himself down the order as age is catching up with him and his reflexes may not be as sharp as it used to be when he was young.

It is also unfair to compare another run-machine and West Indies captain Brian Lara, who is catching up with the Indian legend as far as Test centuries are concerned, as the two are totally different type of players.

There is no way one can compare a left-handed batsman with a right-hander. In any sport, a left-handed player has more flair and grace than a right-hander.

Moreover, Sachin’s record in One-Day Internationals takes some beating even for players like Lara and Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting or his deputy Adam Gilchrist, who are tipped to overtake the little master, in the near future.

Another point his critics raise is that Team India loses when ever Sachin scores a ton, which sounds pretty foolish. A single individual is helpless if the team does not rally round him in a team sport like cricket even though Sachin has won many matches for his team with major contributions.

Despite scoring 35 Test centuries and 40 ODI tons, a world record, if a section of cricket lovers suspect his class, be it. It is impossible to convince every Tom, Dick and Harry.

Sachin should keep opening the innings in the ODIs till he retires as it will only benefit the team apart from keeping his records in tact and gives ten reasons why he should be the number one batter for the country.

1. Being the number one batsman in side for the past 17 years, Sachin, has scored 37 of his total 40 tons (370 matches) as an opener while the remaining three has come batting at number four.

2. Sachin has an average of 48.70 as an opener compared to 9.88 as a one drop, 37.51 at number four, 28.42 at number five and 27.75 as number six batsman.

3. The master-blaster has scored 11,640 runs, of his total 14,444 runs, as an opening batsman, till the start of the South African tour, so far. He has scored 59 runs at number three, 1838 runs at number four, 796 runs at number five and 111 runs at number six positions.

4. Out of the 370 ODIs Sachin has figured in, India has won 185 and lost 165 with the remaining 20 yielding no results.

5. As an opener he is involved in six double hundred partnerships, which is another feather in his cap.

6. He is also associated in 73 century partnerships, with 92 per cent of them as an opening batsman, which is another world record.

7. He scored his highest individual score of 186 not out as an opening batsman.

8. Despite missing 13 ODIs this year, he has an impressive average of 90 plus as an opening batsman this year.

9. He has scored six centuries against the world champions Australia opening the innings.

10. Sachin scored a fine 141 not out, opening the innings, in his come back match after a long injury lay-off against the West Indies in DLF Cup to show that he is still one of the most destructive opening batsmen in the world in the shorter version of the game.