On becoming the highest run getter in test cricket, I present before you as to why he is regarded one of the gentleman of sport.
15TH November 1989, a 16 year old boy took to the field in a pot boiler of a test match at Karanchi. At that point of time, no one would have imagined that nearly 19 years later, he would be regarded as one of the greats of the sport.
At the PCA ground in Mohali this week, Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar would be looking to overhaul perhaps the most coveted record that cricket has; of being the player to aggregate most runs in test history. Although, the fact that he was to reach this feat was pretty evident years ago with the way he has been batting over the years, now that he has reached that milestone is auhas been a consistent perform throughout his career. Apart from that, Tendulkar has been a magnificent ambassador for the nation as well as the sport. And that’s exactly what makes him a legend. There have been players of similar if not better talent and performance than him, but what sets him apart is his ability to conduct himself on and off the field.
There has hardly been any controversy related to him, the Mike Dennis saga was the only time his name came to the forefront, when he was accused of tampering with seam of the ball and thereby bringing the sport to disrepute, but he came out of that with flying colors. We have seen the likes of Brian Lara, Ricky Ponting, Mark Waugh and Shane Warne, but when it comes to a complete champion, none of them can match this Mumbaikar. He has been a picture of concentration on the field and a true gentleman off it. I have never seen him show any sort of reaction to umpiring decisions, and he has had some horrendous shockers in the long career of his.
Even after amassing nearly 30,000 international runs and smashing over 80 international centuries, Sachin has been a player who has always come up and helped the youngsters. He has been polite and down to earth like an ordinary person. Everybody knows what he has achieved on the field, but what sets him apart is his tremendous conduct and respect for people and the sport. During one of the tours abroad, he went to the venue riding on the floor of the bus. The reason for that can be anything but for him to agree for that was amazing.
He has opened the batting order in one day internationals when Navjot Sidhu was ill on a seaming track at Eden Park in Auckland and smashed the bowling to all parts of the ground for a magnificent 82 off 49 balls. After that there was no looking back. People have said time and again that Sachin plays for records, but I feel most of his two decades in the national side has been spent when the team lacked strength in the batting order and he had no option but to play his part. I do not think that he played selfishly at any point, its just that after playing over 150 tests and 400+ ODIs, you are bound to speculate on some of his innings.
Talking about Innings of his, I would like to point out few of them which shows why he is a master with the willow. Five of his best knocks over the illustrious couple of decades. Top of the ladder remains an innings of substance that launched Tendulkar into limelight. 114* at Perth in 1992, an innings that was played against the tide, batting on arguably the fastest track in the world at that point of time, against a bowling line up of Hughes, McDermott and Reid. That was arguably the best knock I have seen him play. Next in line would be 136 against Pakistan at Chennai, just like the previous one, this one also could not help India win the test but they were parrelesly close in doing so. India lost by 12 runs and Tendulkar was weeping in the dressing room, most of his innings, the maestro was nursing a back spasm.
Another test knock of his is of course 116 against the Ausies at Melbourne in 1999. The boxing day test went to the hosts but Sachin stood out tall amongst the ruins. Edgebaston 1996 is another occasion when Tendulkar tried his level best to take India out of a hopeless situation with a well compiled century on a treacherous track. Last but not the least is the century at Newlands in Cape Town. 169 and a tremendous partnership with the then captain Mohammed Azharuddin.
I hope in the remaining days of his career, he can rewrite the history books further.
15TH November 1989, a 16 year old boy took to the field in a pot boiler of a test match at Karanchi. At that point of time, no one would have imagined that nearly 19 years later, he would be regarded as one of the greats of the sport.
At the PCA ground in Mohali this week, Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar would be looking to overhaul perhaps the most coveted record that cricket has; of being the player to aggregate most runs in test history. Although, the fact that he was to reach this feat was pretty evident years ago with the way he has been batting over the years, now that he has reached that milestone is auhas been a consistent perform throughout his career. Apart from that, Tendulkar has been a magnificent ambassador for the nation as well as the sport. And that’s exactly what makes him a legend. There have been players of similar if not better talent and performance than him, but what sets him apart is his ability to conduct himself on and off the field.
There has hardly been any controversy related to him, the Mike Dennis saga was the only time his name came to the forefront, when he was accused of tampering with seam of the ball and thereby bringing the sport to disrepute, but he came out of that with flying colors. We have seen the likes of Brian Lara, Ricky Ponting, Mark Waugh and Shane Warne, but when it comes to a complete champion, none of them can match this Mumbaikar. He has been a picture of concentration on the field and a true gentleman off it. I have never seen him show any sort of reaction to umpiring decisions, and he has had some horrendous shockers in the long career of his.
Even after amassing nearly 30,000 international runs and smashing over 80 international centuries, Sachin has been a player who has always come up and helped the youngsters. He has been polite and down to earth like an ordinary person. Everybody knows what he has achieved on the field, but what sets him apart is his tremendous conduct and respect for people and the sport. During one of the tours abroad, he went to the venue riding on the floor of the bus. The reason for that can be anything but for him to agree for that was amazing.
He has opened the batting order in one day internationals when Navjot Sidhu was ill on a seaming track at Eden Park in Auckland and smashed the bowling to all parts of the ground for a magnificent 82 off 49 balls. After that there was no looking back. People have said time and again that Sachin plays for records, but I feel most of his two decades in the national side has been spent when the team lacked strength in the batting order and he had no option but to play his part. I do not think that he played selfishly at any point, its just that after playing over 150 tests and 400+ ODIs, you are bound to speculate on some of his innings.
Talking about Innings of his, I would like to point out few of them which shows why he is a master with the willow. Five of his best knocks over the illustrious couple of decades. Top of the ladder remains an innings of substance that launched Tendulkar into limelight. 114* at Perth in 1992, an innings that was played against the tide, batting on arguably the fastest track in the world at that point of time, against a bowling line up of Hughes, McDermott and Reid. That was arguably the best knock I have seen him play. Next in line would be 136 against Pakistan at Chennai, just like the previous one, this one also could not help India win the test but they were parrelesly close in doing so. India lost by 12 runs and Tendulkar was weeping in the dressing room, most of his innings, the maestro was nursing a back spasm.
Another test knock of his is of course 116 against the Ausies at Melbourne in 1999. The boxing day test went to the hosts but Sachin stood out tall amongst the ruins. Edgebaston 1996 is another occasion when Tendulkar tried his level best to take India out of a hopeless situation with a well compiled century on a treacherous track. Last but not the least is the century at Newlands in Cape Town. 169 and a tremendous partnership with the then captain Mohammed Azharuddin.
I hope in the remaining days of his career, he can rewrite the history books further.
Author: Asif Islam, A dedicated sports lover since 1989, following closely the various aspects of popular sports worldwide. Writting articles and analytical reports on players and events since 2003.Email - asif2311@rediffmail.com
