There are 2 kinds of batsmen in the world. One- Sachin Tendulkar. Two-All the others.
His critics would be partying hard tonight. They have got the best surprise Christmas gift they would have ever thought of; for Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar announces retirement from the One Day Internationals. And if I be very honest, from the core of my heart, this has come as a surprise and a shock. I knew it was inevitable and would happen some day but today was not the day anyone would have thought of! I was out the whole day and was unaware of the news and got to know from FB and then googled it for authenticity. The news as a matter of fact is true. And thus 23rd of December becomes a sad day for many cricket fans like me. I still cannot believe that I would not be able to see him in that Blue “10” number jersey which was synonymous with his name “Ten”dulkar. The gentlemen’s game would not see this great gentlemen playing in colors anymore.
He should have retired. As his fan, I was dejected by seeing him struggle and wretched. Or rather I must say he was made to struggle by none other than us; we-the people. I am sad but he has done the right thing. People were not allowing him to breathe. He was being targeted so that he breaks down. Form is temporary, class is permanent; this is one of the toughest thing to explain to people. He was trapped in the glory of his own self trying to find himself. That needed time. I am sure he would have bounced back rising like phoenix. He has done in the past. But were we allowing him to compose, recollect and reorganize himself? National debates, Newspaper reports, Articles by so called Cricket Experts eta al; what not we have done on his poor form? I can imagine the plight of the man. Yes I am saying man because even God feel pain when they take manly form. Not long back, we were talking about his 100th international hundred. And in that discussion we never ever mentioned that he has got 99 glorious hundreds to his kitty and it’s a matter of time when he get the 100th one.
I agree to the fact, form is dripping; runs are drying up, reflexes showing the age as he is getting bowled too frequently. Everything said agreed upon to. Sometimes harder you try, more you fail. But did we give a kind consideration to his Self Belief, to the fact that we are talking about the man who gave everything for this game; for this country? If he is saying there is still Cricket left in him, wasn’t it our obligation to believe him and have patience? We are talking about the man whose commitment can just be measured with the fact that he joined back with his team just after doing final rites of his father. Those who are saying that he wants to play on for personal records or numbers are forgetting that the man has made a lot of compromises and put his body in the line of fire every time he has gone to bat for India.
How many of us are capable of holding the hopes of a billion Indians in and around the world for 23 longs years? Yes! 23 years. When he made his debut in 1989, Lionel Messi was still in his nappies. We are burdened even by small hopes or expectations of our parents, peers, friends for a short span of time so imagine how that man carried it without an iota of complaint for so long? We never acknowledge that.
The irony is that the man despite giving everything for the game in the last 23 years had to face, bear and hear so many things. The blame for an Indian loss is still associated to him. Anything going wrong, the fingers are pointed at him. Come on people, what the hell other 10 were doing? It’s a team game! He was given the weakest of teams as a Captain, and was labeled as failure. The man, great as he is, never retaliated. Even likes of Saba Karim or Atul Wasan who do not know ABC of Cricket gives him advice on how to bat or use footwork! No offences intended but when Mr. Kohli hits a century he jumps as if there is no tomorrow. This man has 100 100s. Have you ever seen him once doing like that? He visits to Siddhivinayak Temple in the wee hours so that general public is not disturbed. He never endorsed an Alcohol ad despite being offered crores of rupees. It gives an insight that how humble he is.
People of my generation became adolescent watching him play, devastating some of the finest bowlers in the world cricket. Somewhere in our tiny little eyes we dreamt of becoming like him, play like him. Many would have chosen Cricket over other games just because of him. Can we forget his signature straight drives? Can we forget that epic Sixer off Shoaib Akhtar in the 2003 World Cup game against Pakistan? Can we forget him making mince meat of Shane Warne and the Aussies in 1998?
May be I am not his craziest or the most famous fan, but I am a fan. And yes, I would be a fan till eternity. I was a mad fan in my childhood. God did not bestowed me the curly noodle hairs, yet I always wanted to be like him, play like him whatever form of cricket I played; in-gully cricket, school cricket, college cricket etc. I would hold bat like him, would try to stand like him; aping every possible thing I can do. And that made me happy. Whenever there was an India match, I would be glued to TV forgetting the world. If he gets out early, I would cry.
I distinctly remember I used to have a diary where in I used to write the details of every match that Sachin was a part of. How he played, what shot he hit and on what ball, everything. I never intended to be a Cricket Statistician yet used to do that activity religiously. I had another notebook where in I cut and pasted each and every photo of him that used to appear in the newspapers. I insisted my parents on purchasing Boost because he endorsed it. I took Pepsi over Coke because he endorsed it. Yes I was mad! And may be I am not in to those childhood activities, yet I am mad about his game, his personality and his attitude of being so down to earth despite sitting at the pinnacle.
For some he may be a God, for some a mere ordinary man who played more for himself than team, for some he may be Hero, for some a Zero. But for me he will always be a God who became man to make Cricket worth playing and worth watching.
Good bye Sachin. I shall always love you, no matter what anyone says. You have given us a story to tell to our kids.
We would not be seeing you on fields for ODIs but we are definitely going to enjoy your game live. I am starting with the 2003 world cup Pakistan match!
Cheers!
God Bless!
Adi
PS: For those who think he played for records or himself, keep in mind he retired when he had 49 ODI hundreds.
