If you are reading this piece then you are a cricket buff like me, and, very likely, a fan of SACHIN TENDULKAR (SRT). This piece is my humble tribute to the master on his completion of twenty years of international cricket.
My piece is not about his statistics---- they are there everywhere---his records. It is about the phenomenon of Sachin himself.
I recall very easily the day when it was announced that SRT, who was just 16 then is selected to tour Pakistan. My first reaction was that some one is trying to harm this boy and his career ambitions by sending him on a tour to pakistan to make his debut. Honestly, i got scared. Can this young boy of 16 face up to the fury pace of Waseem Akram& Waqar Younis ?
There was this 4th test match and india playing their second innings on the last day were 38 for 4 and needing a draw to level the series. Those days the helmets were without any grills. Sachin got hit on his nose by a nasty ball from waqar and started bleeding. He was asked to get back to the pavilion retired hurt. He refused to do that, wiped off the blood and batted on gamely. He went on to score 57 in a 101 runs partnership with Siddhu and drew the match for india and we were abale to level the series. That day a lot of us in this country saluted this young boy for his courage and committment and we knew a star is born.
Sachin's long career can be viewed in two parts. The first part is where Sachin, the Lord of Cricket was on display. He was agressive and fully exhibited his talent. All the top bowlers of the world were scared of him ( remember Warne saying he had nightmares of Sachin taking his bowling apart). Those of us who were lucky enough to witness his back to back centuries at Sharjah against the aussies would always say that the Master was at his best then. The
' sandstorm' knocks were undoubtedly his most aggressive and best.
In this first decades he made and broke several records, but, the records then were not his priority ( or the media's for that matter). Then came the second decade. A change came over him gradually. May be he did what he thought best. He started batting like Gavaskar, cutting down aggeression to some extent, accumulating runs, slowly and steadily. i think he did it, playing percentage cricket, to prolong his career. There is nothing wrong with that , he skill scored his centuries and tons of runs and went on breaking records, may be taking a lot more time. Except that he was no longer a terror to the bowlers who realized that the master stopped being an agressor mostly.
The third phase is the last few years where he was seen clearly struggling with form and injuries. He is seen batting some what like Boycott leaving all the good balls bowled at him. His reflexes got slower and we have seen him edging to slips or getting bowled through the gate more often. His hunger for runs and his committment are still very much intact. I personally see that as a case of mind is willing but the body not. More and more people have started saying that Sachin should retire.
We now come to the last week's match at Hyderabad against the aussies. Wife and i watched this match together. Everyone wanted Sachin to cross the 17,000 mark. He was struggling but crossed it to everyone's releif. Then a transformation took over. As if by magic, the Sachin of Sharjah reappeared. I told my wife " look, old Sachin is back and we are going to see one of best ever knocks". And that is precisely what he did. It was the Sachin of Sharjah who reappeared at Uppal.
Unfortunately, Sachin is not a finisher these days like he was in Sharjah or india would have won that match requiring just 19 of 18 balls when he played that scoop shot (remeber that the same shot by Misbah cost pakistan the first T-20 world cup).
I entirely agree with the legend Kapil Dev who says that Sachin should continue to bat on like this for the reminder of his career and not like Gavaskar or Boycott.
Sachin is God's gift to india.
He has always been a gentleman cricketer. His behaviour on and off the field is always impeccable. There never was any controvery surrounding Sachin-- not once.
I have never seen him swearing at any one nor raise his voice. He has always been a great role model for the young and the upcoming. His popularity cuts across all regions, religions of India. His fans are young and old, male and female.
It is peopel like Sachin Tendulkar, Lata Mangeshkar, Amitabh Bachhan who keep India together despite the best efforts of some of our politicians to break it up.
Two days back Sachin said "..i am a maharastrian but first i am an indian."
Hope you have heard it Raj Thackery.
Join me in saluting this gem of india SACHIN TENDULKAR and wishing him all the best.
GOD BLESS SACHIN
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One of the biggest achievement for Sachin is that when he walks to bat, People forget all the differences and cheer together.
ReplyDeleteNice read. I so wish that I was a cricket buff during my early childhood and not missed watching Sachin during his early career.
i totally agree with you sir,
ReplyDeleteHats off to the indian god of cricket.
Dad, that was a brief and yet a good recollection of Sachin's illustrious career. It was a bit painful that some fundamentalist elements ridiculed our Tendu for his patriotic comments. A majestic elephant is least perturbed when mad dogs bark it - it just ignores them! And our Tendu too chose not to be disturbed by the comments from those hooligans.
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