December 1989, national stadium, Karanchi. A one day international, which was turned into an exhibition match because of poor light conditions turned out to be a turning point in not only the cricket history of India, but, the sport as a whole.
Sachin Tendulkar, at the age of 16 years took on the might of the Pakistan bowling attack, with the likes of Wasim Akram, Imran Khan, and Abdul Qadir, with such ease and authority that for once Imran Khan complemented the young boy by suggesting that he is the only tiger in a team of lambs. For a player Pakistan to shower such accolades on an Indian player was thoroughly unprecedented, most of the cricket fraternity took notice of that particular innings and a star was in the making. Just for those who do not know, Tendulkar smashed Abdul Qadir for three consecutive sixes, and that was after he took apart Waqar and Imran. India lost the match by just five runs but Tendulkar won a billion hearts.
I have been following the cricket as well as the life and times of Tendulkar from this very day, and I had no doubts in my mind that one day this prodigy from Mumbai would break Sunil Gavaskar’s records, but I had no idea as to the zenith of his achievements. Last week, he did what many thought was beyond him.
When you think of someone who has been a stalwart in his discipline over two decades, who has mystified the world with his eloquent behavior of the field and has mesmerized the world by his stroke making on it, you would say, what is left for him to achieve? What drives him to go all out each time he is on the field. I guess the answer lies in his passion for the sport. The drive and urge to just play for India, no more and no less.
It has been months since last time I wrote anything on this site, and am as lazy as the fat lady to write these days, but it’s a pure pleasure when it comes to putting thoughts together for a person who has been the epitome of success for over two decades. Today Sachin boasts of innumerable records in both forms of the game. If there were no bradman, tendulkar would have been the king of cricket by a long way. It is just unfortunate that we cannot have the great Don and the Bombay bomber playing in the same era. The debate over who is better between the two has again got momentum with Tendulkar smashing 200 in a one day knock. I feel there should not be any debates over matters which are generations apart. Bradman played in an era when pitches were uncovered, matches use to take place under what we call today, bad light and poor field conditions, add to that the bodyline series which caught, all accept the great bradman, by surprise. Apart from that there was a small matter of the Ausie playing without any protective gears. This all leads me to think that if he were playing today, even with brilliant fielding, analytical tools, enhancement in bowling skills, Sir Don would have scored with the same rate and average as he did about seven decades back.
Think of it, if we look seven decades further, we may get someone playing akin to Sachin and then there would be a further debate as the one doing the rounds today, hence I believe these comparisons would continue eternally.
Hence its better to concentrate on the present. Today and arguably till now, there has been no batsman apart from Tendulkar, who have taken the one day cricket by storm.He is growing in stature and performance with time. After the catastrophe of the 2007 world cup, it seems the genius have found a motivation in adversity to perform at the helm and lead India to what many see his only uncherished dream, a world cup win. One of the television commentators once said, statistics are like short skirts, they reveal more than they could hide. Same goes for the man who currently holds the record for most number of centuries, most runs, most half centuries, most man of the match awards, and the most recent, highest individual innings score in one day internationals, he is simply the best the one day game has seen and may remain the best for a long time to come.
Today, as the world of cricket has been taken over by the Lalit Modis and the IPL, there are very few batsmen who would attract more than capacity crowds to test matches, Virender Sehwaag is one and to an extent Gilchrist or Hayden in their prime may have done the same, but is their a better sight than watching Tendulkar go on the front foot to a seaming delivery and punching it down the ground for a trademark boundary? Would anyone care if that shot is played in a test or a twenty -twenty? I guess not, and that’s what makes greats like Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, special.
People struggle to come to terms with his balance on field and in life. Carrying the burden of more than a billion people, Tendulkar has been a true ambassador of the sport. I hope that in the remaining career of his the batting genius would continue to bedazzle the world with his master class on the field and his humility of it.
