India Loses Again After Tendulkar Century

Well, batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar finally ended the much anticipated wait for his 100th international century on 16th March 2012 at Dhaka's 'Shere Bangla National Stadium'. The 100th hundred of Sachin Tendulkar came off 138 balls, and was studded with 10 fours and a six. The achievement of this great milestone was congratulated by the media, as well as cinema stalwarts like Lata Mangeshkar and Amitabh Bachchan.

Centuries are supposed to win matches. Very rarely do we see the century-making batsman on the losing side. In Sachin Tendulkar's case, however, the bitter reality is that India usually loses whenever he makes a century. This has become more so over the last seven-eight years, as Tendulkar began working on his personal scores to break more records.

Here are the results of the matches in which Sachin Tendulkar scored a century since 2004 :

• Lost - 16 March 2004 vs Pakistan in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Scored 141.
• Lost - 12 April 2005 vs Pakistan in Motera, Ahmedabad. Scored 123.
• Lost - 6 February 2006 vs Pakistan in Peshawar, Pakistan. Scored 100.
• Lost - 14 September 2006 vs West Indies in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Scored 141 not out.
• Won - 31 January 2007 vs West Indies in Vadodara, Gujarat. Scored 100 not out.
• Won - 2 March 2008 vs Australia in Sydney, Australia. Scored 117 not out.
• Won - 8 March 2009 vs New Zealand in Christchurch, New Zealand. Scored 163 not out.
• Won - 14 September 2009 vs Sri Lanka in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Scored 138.
• Lost - 5 November 2009 vs Australia in Hyderabad, India. Scored 175.
• Won - 24 February 2010 vs South Africa in Gwalior, India. Scored 200 not out.
• Tied - 27 February 2011 vs England in Bangalore, India. Scored 120.
• Lost - 12 March 2011 vs South Africa in Nagpur, India. Scored 111.
• Lost - 16 March 2012 vs Bangladesh in Mirput, Bangladesh. Scored 114.

As you can see, India managed to win only five of the last thirteen one-day matches in which Sachin Tendulkar scored a century. Also, in most of these matches, India were poised to win, but ended up snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Sachin Tendulkar even manages to get the Man of the Match trophy in the matches which India loses, providing some consolation to his Indian fans.

Here are some reasons why this could be happening:

• Sachin Tendulkar's centuries are jinxed.
• Sachin Tendulkar might be saying something to his team mates in the dressing room, which may be lowering their morale, and causing them to lose.
• Indian cricket team members collectively play badly whenever Sachin Tendulkar scores a century, because they are jealous of his personal achievements, and want to see the smile wiped off his face.

Well, what do you think is the main reason why India generally loses whenever Sachin Tendulkar makes a century. Is Sachin Tendulkar a team player or is he only working to achieve personal accolades for himself? How should India break this losing jinx?