Is Sachin really performing poorly as people claim!?!

I feel really bad for Sachin when he give his 100% to cricket (my personal opinion) but still people say that he isn't performing well or he should retire etc., So I had a re-look into the scores which Sachin made in the recent past and found that he has done a pretty decent job for the country!

India's Tour of England (2007):

1. First ODI in which England won by 104 runs. -- Sachin scored just 17 of 33 balls
2. Second ODI in which India beat England by 9 runs -- Sachin scored 99 of 112 balls
3. Thrid ODI in which England won by 42 runs -- Sachin scored just 8 of 19 balls
4. Fourth ODI in which England beat India by 3 wickets -- Sachin scored 55 of 86 balls
5. Fifth ODI in which India beat England by 38 runs -- Sachin scored 71 of just 56 balls
6. Sixth ODI in which India beat England by 2 wickets -- Sachin scored 94 of 81 balls
7. Seventh ODI in which England beat India by 7 wickets -- Sachin scored 30 of 46 balls.

So in 7 matches he has scored 374 runs at an average of 53.43. Out of which 4 half centuries and in couple of occasions he has scored 90+. Moreover India has won 3 matches and in all those 3 matches Sachin has stood up to the challenge. Wasn't that a good performance!!!!

India vs South Africa (2007):

1. SA beat India in first ODI -- Sachin scored 99.
2. India beat SA in second ODI -- Sachin scored 93 of 106 balls. [During this match Sachin become the first player in the world to reach 15,000 one day internation runs]
3. India beat SA in third ODI -- Sachin scored just 8.

So in 3 matches he has scored 200 runs at an average of 66.67. Out of which he has hit 90+ twice. Wasn't that a good performance!!!

Full story of India South Africa 2007 series can be read here

Australia's tour of India (2007):

1. First ODI was abandoned due to rain -- Sachin got out without scoring [I want to give the benefit of doubt to Sachin as it was pretty heavily drissilling and it's really difficult to concentrate on your game]

2. Second ODI in which Aus won by 84 runs -- Sachin scored 16 of 25 balls.
3. Third ODI in which Aus won by 47 runs -- Sachin scored 43 of 71 balls
4. Fourth ODI in which India won by 8 runs -- Sachin scored 79 of 119 balls
5. Fifth ODI in which Aus won by 9 wickets -- Sachin scored 47 of 73 balls
6. Sixth ODI in which Aus won by 18 runs -- Sachin scored 72 of 72 balls
7. Seventh ODI in which India won by 2 wickets -- Sachin scored 21 of 36 balls

So in 6 matches (one match is abandoned and so it won't be considered for records) he has scored 278 runs at an average of 46.33. Wasn't this a decent performance!!!

Just for the sake of completion: If at all the abandoned match is also considered then his average becomes 39.71.

In all the last 3 series which I have mentioned above he has exceeded his career ODI average which is 44.23 (Source: cricinfo.com) . So let's stop cribbing about Sachin and appreciate the good things he do on the field.

Related: You can check the stats of Sachin (or any player) easily with the help of 'StatsGuru' feature of Cricinfo.com

Update on 18-Nov-07:

Check out Sachin's Performance in the home series against Pakistan here. FYI, he averaged 51.8 in the ODI series. (Also got out twice in 90's).