What’s the most significant event of the year 1989 in history? Berlin wall was broken? No, the most epochal thing that happened was 16 year man…ohh! Sorry Kid/boy playing his first test mach. Yes! This kid changed the face of world cricket. Do I need to name him?
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar played his first test match when I was 2 years old, Dhoni was 8 and Babri Masjid was intact. He scored only 15 in his first game which was against fiery Pakistani attack which included the most blistering W’s, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis but stage was set he had announced his entry to world cricket. What happened in the coming years changed the way Indians played and watched cricket.
The fist match I saw on ground was India versus Australia at Wankhede in 1996. India lost but the innings Sachin played is still fresh in my memory. Since that day I have worshipped only one God. He has devoted his 19 years (still counting) to Indian cricket. If the jungle of numbers has to be explored then no player has the capability to touch him. He has scored “x” centuries, ‘x’ no of runs blah blah…but that’s not it. Only numbers cannot do justice to his contribution. In his 35 years of existence he has played more cricket then done anything else.
In his career he has never gone through a slump other then the elbow injury which disallowed him to play international cricket for brief period. Many smart people around the world have dared to criticize the DON. The common criticisms that he has faced are “Sachin plays for records” “Sachin has changed his game” “Sachin is not comfortable playing sheer pace “.
When it comes to records he has always said that records are secondary concern for him, the thing that matters to him is his country doing good, i.e. winning. I would ask one question to the so called smart people, did records contribute to Indian victories? If yes then a sane person would get the answer to the first disparagement.
After playing for 19 long year’s body is expected to take toll. You run for 19 minutes, you will surely slow down in the twentieth minute. His alteration in his style of batting has never affected his strike rate. This indicates that he has adapted and scored well. He is often compared to Don Bradman and Sir Viv Richards. I would like to talk about the later comparison. Richards is said to have never changed his game, he is said to be consistently tempered or I would say egoistic all his career. He scored only 900 odd runs in his lat 19 matches which spanned for around 3 years. It’s only stupid on our part to expect Sachin to play the same type of game after 19 years. Some alterations and slow down is inevitable.
The foolish comment I have come across is that Sachin cannot play sheer pace. If we carefully observe his first few matches you would get your answer. His Centuries at Old Trafford and Pert would zip the mouths of the critics.
Some Indians have gone one step ahead and said something in negative note on Sachin Tendulkar. His team mate from Bombay the great commentator (sarcasm intended) Mr. Manjrekar once said that he fakes injuries. I don’t feel such people should be entertained with justifications. The best thing is to leave such brainless entities alone. There are few more that can be bracketed with Mr. Manjrekar but I would not like to waste virtual ink on them.
I am not an emotional person but I am dismayed when Indian or rather anyone fails to respect Sachin for what he ahs done. I happen to watch India versus England at Wankhede when the brits last toured India. On the last day when Sachin failed to score and was out ultimately India lost the match Bombay crowd booed Sachin. I was moved to tears. I never expected Bombayites to curse the man they had applauded and worshiped all these years. It was the most shameful embarrassing moment in the history of India. ( I do mean it ) . This was more unacceptable because it happened to the ground which is Dons home ground. This is the same ground where Shewag had scored heavily and was out but still the crowd was jubilant and celebrating along with the West Indians not because they had put their money on West Indians but because the emperor was entering the field. I would request the government to charge all the critics with criminal offence.
Young Swashbuckling player with lot of arrogance and ruthlessness now a more solid and crafty batsman who is difficult to be dismissed has all the shorts in and out of the book. The upper cut is the shot which was practically invented by him against SA Bloemfontein has these days changed the way batsmen treat short pitched balls. Few of his amazing knocks I would like to designate are the one against Pakistan where he scored 130odd at Chennai. The match was lost not because last four batsmen could not score 16 runs collectively but because he could not complete it. He played after being advised not to play because of horrible back injury. He played in spite of excruciating pain. I would rate this innings as the best innings played by any cricketer.
The two innings against Australians in the Coca Cola Cup at Sharjah in the semis and finals are most cherished by the fans. I remember him going on the dais on many occasions in the presentation ceremony to collect all the rewards. He single handedly took India to finals and won the trophy for the Indians. Same happened in the last commonwealth cup in Australia. The difference is that Indian team was much more balanced then the one at Sharjah. His world cup record in exemplary, better than any one. India has not won a world cup only because of week bowling attack. Sachin not winning a world cup would be like Bjorn Borg not winning a US Open.
Sachin was every mothers son, all the grand moms loved and prayed for him, every father wanted a son like Sachin. There were cases when weak hearted people suffered a stroke when Sachin was out in 90s. People still shut the television sets when Sachin is dismissed. All things have to come to an end so will his rule. I cannot imagine cricket without Sachin and Sachin with out cricket.I saw a banner in crowds whcih says it all...
" Commit all your crimes when Sachin is batting, because GOD also is busy watching him "
