Akash Chopra writes about the Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid dismissal’s in the second innings at Lord’s and pretty much seconds my assessment that the Tendulkar ball was not the arm ball. 
Two days ago, i wrote – “Sachin Tendulkar fell to a Monty Panesar stock delivery which not only didn’t turn, but also didn’t move naturally down the slope! It was not the arm ball as has been suggested (the seam was not pointed towards fine leg, neither was it perpendicular to the direction of flight). Assuming that specialist batsmen make the effort to read a spin bowler from the hand or atleast in flight, Tendulkar played for the expected break towards the slips. The ball was also flighted and slower than an arm ball would be. Monty’s wicket then was unintended….”
There are those who believe that Panesar did actually fox Tendulkar with the arm ball -
Shrinivas Rao at Indian Express
Dave Tickner at Sporting Life
Andrew McGlashan at Cricinfo
R Mohan on Sify
Harish Kotian at Rediff
Mike Selvey does refer to the Tendulkar dismissal but doesn’t mention Monty delivering the arm ball.
Just like Harbhajan’s barely existent “doosra”, Monty’s arm ball has taken on a life of its own, and anything which fails to turn from leg to off gets caste as something Monty does on purpose, just like anything that wasn’t a turning off break from Harbhajan had commentators (and spin bowlers like L Sivaramakrishnan… no less!) piping up …. “That was the doosra from Harbhajan Singh!” (even if it was actually the much simpler floater which is distinct from the doosra)
The common theme that seems to run through much of the reporting seems to be that accurate accounts are secondary – propogating myths and assaulting “stars” is the order of the day….
Why is it important that Monty didn’t get Tendulkar with the arm ball? Because it suggests that the dismissal was a matter of chance, like so many things in cricket – an inconvenient reality when you consider that propogating and then demolishing the “Tendulkar is God” myth is a billion dollar industry. Tendulkar is a magnificient batsman – sure, but the rules and realities of the game are not suspended when he is at the wicket. It is to his credit that he has given us the impression over the years that this is so.
But seriously – what good are commentators and journalists if they consistently discard perspective?
