Cricket - The Religion and Sachin- The God

I don’t believe in role models, simply because they are humans just like us and hence susceptible to making mistakes. It really hurts you if your own role model doesn’t rise to your expectations. But still if someone ever came to being close to an idol, it has to be Sachin Tendulkar. I might know or understand a lot of sports but till date I follow cricket and that is because of Sachin Tendulkar. So this blog (one after a long time) is dedicated to the Little Master. An attempt to remember Sachin’s career all these years! Do click on the highlighted words to enjoy related videos from youtube.

Early memories of Sachin go back to the days when he was close on heels with Vinod Kambli in being the number one batsman for India. Azhar was out of sorts and we hardly had anyone else in the team. I vividly remember listening to radio commentary (as my dad did not allow cable TV at that time) when Sachin opened for India for the first time against New Zealand in 1994 and hit 82 off 49 deliveries. He had just stamped his status as India’s one day opener for the rest of his cricketing career. He took time to his first century but that was worth the wait. That too it was against Australia in 1994. He never looked back after that.

I had started following Sachin’s career closely after I knew about cricket. Yes, cricket is Sachin for my mind. His famous last over against South Africa where they required 6 runs to win remains etched in my memory. Sachin just snatched the ball from Azhar’s hands and took the mantle of bowling the last over and gave just 3 off it. We won the match and Brian McMillan stood there bemused. He had made India proud.

The 1996 world cup was the eye opener to the Indians of the fact that if Sachin gets out there is no way in hell that we can win. It was a common place event for people in India to switch off the TV sets once he gets out. I literally prayed to god with folded hands when Sachin scooped one in the air against West Indies in 1996 world cup in a low scoring match while he was still on 30 odd. He went on to score 70 and we won the match. His series against Australia in India in 1998 where he thrashed Shane Warne made Australia look so ordinary. I was reminded of the historical analogy where Sunil Gavaskar was most successful against West Indies, the then dominant force in Cricket and now Sachin was becoming successful against Aussies, the dominant force in cricket today.

He never let one bowler dominate him. The way he thrashed Henry Olanga after he took his wicket in the previous match in Sharjah is a proof of this statement. Almost all the greats have had a taste of Tendly’a(called fondly in Mumbai) wrath. Right from Abdul Qadir, Imran Khan to Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Fanie De Villiers, , Curtly Ambrose, Courtney Walsh to Glen McGrath, Shane Warne, Shaun Pollock, Shoaib Akhtar and many more.

I always wanted him to lead the team as I never wanted him to fall in the category of great batsmen who could not be great leaders. But I still believe he would have done heck of a good job if only he had the team that either Dada or Rahul had. But no regrets with him any which way. The real milestones I still believe in Sachin’s career were his back to back centuries in Sharjah against Australia and that too one on his birthday. I remember my mom crying out loud to me to study but hell no. I just watched both of his innings with immense delight. The occurrence of the sandstorm in one of the matches and Sachin still going strong gave a cricket enthusiast his ultimate high in terms of watching cricket at its highest level. Never ever have I seen Australians in awe and shock of anyone other than Sachin! A piece of history that comes to my mind here is how the Australians led by Shane Warne waited for Sachin at the end of the match to get his autograph. I remember Tony Greg’s unforgettable commentary and especially the line, “Indians are dancing in the aisle!!”

To end the first part, I like to mention why he is close to my role model. His undying hunger for runs shows his passion, his continued fitness amidst 17 years of stringent cricket shows his commitment, and his strong desire to dominate the bowlers shows his aggression and ambition. He is the only player who has never been dropped from the national side on basis of performance and till date he is the fastest between the wickets in the Indian side. Many a times he has mentioned that he does have a target in mind as to when he should stop. I like this trait of his, to disclose the goal only once you have reached it. He is a wonder considering how he has maintained himself all these years with 2 billion eyes always upon him.