Is Tendulkar a match-winner?

Shoaib Akhtar has done it again. He is the centre of attention, managed to invite some controversy and started a debate that perhaps did not even cross the minds of cricket fans.

“I think players like Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid weren’t exactly match winners to start with, nor did they know the art of finishing the game,” Akhtar said on the eve of his book launch in India.

The auto-biography titled “Controversially Yours” is Akhtar at his candid best, and besides Tendulkar many personalities and cricketers come into the cross-hair.

But undoubtedly, the claims putting Tendulkar under the spot-light have managed to ruffle the most feathers, with most experts terming Akhtar’s words as nonsense.

While some members of the press have termed Akhtar “the sales man of the year”, some have put the claims against Tendulkar under the microscope.

The Indian legend’s record speaks for itself but is there any weight behind Akhtar’s claims?

Dawn.com invites its readers to give their view and suggestions.