 "Sach was life: Tendulkar on field was raw emotion, a happiness pill")
Wish he was playing! Wish one could use Dr Strange’s ‘Time Stone’ and turn the clock back. If only we could, life would be what it was with Sachin Tendulkar, that 5-foot-5-inch, curly-haired cricket’s GOAT, the country’s go-to guy. Here’s how magical it was.
Bored of Board exams? There he is, to upper cut Shoaib Akhtar over gully at Centurion, South Africa during a 2003 World Cup game for a six on March 1. That’s a shot of freshly-brewed coffee. Now go back to studying. Or can you?
Can’t wake up early? You have to, he’s going to bat the best part of the opening two days at the Sydney Cricket Ground, without playing the cover drive — his favourite shot. That’s calmness, that’s yoga.
Go a little further back to 1999. “Boys Don’t Cry” is drawing tears, but we are experiencing the contrarian view. Fighting back pain, and Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Saqlain Mushtaq and a deteriorating Chennai pitch. The target: 271, He’s made 136 and is out, and India have lost by 12 runs. He’s seen weeping in the dressing room and doesn’t even come to collect his Man of the Match trophy.
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Leap back a year. Yaa, that’s the one with the desert storm. Tendulkar has created a whirlwind with his magic display against the Australians – Michael Kasprowicz in particular — with power-hitting unheard of in those days. And then puffs of dust enter the Sharjah Cricket Ground as though even the mighty one above is lauding what’s happening. Remember the late Tony Greig in commentary, saying “What a player!” and, “They’re dancing in the aisle at Sharjah”?
The day was April 22, and he’d got India to qualify for the tri-nation final with 143 of 131 deliveries. The stage was set for an India-Australia final two days later – when he’d turn 25. We know the rest – Tendulkar 134, India win.
These are just miniscule parts of the Tendulkar masterpiece. He wasn’t just a cricketer; he was raw emotion. That happiness pill, that sleeping pill, even that anxiety pill. “What if he gets out? What’re we going to do then?”
India could lose, perhaps, but Tendulkar scoring in the game was a win in itself. India winning was one thing, but Tendulkar winning it for India was three cheers – one for the country and two for him.
He’s easily the most-loved Indian sportsperson ever, admired by seniors and respected by colleagues and juniors.
Remember what the great Don Bradman said? “I saw him playing on television and was struck by his technique, so I asked my wife to come look at him. Now I never saw myself play, but I felt that this player is playing with a style similar to mine, and she looked at him on television and said, ‘Yes, there is a similarity between the two...’ His compactness, technique, stroke production –it all seemed to gel!”
Virat Kohli might end up getting more runs and more hundreds than Tendulkar. Brian Lara or Vivian Richards might have been more swashbuckling, and Rahul Dravid more dogged. Ricky Ponting might have more wins and World Cups. But if cricket is indeed a religion, then Sachin is truly its God.
As he turns 50, there’s just one thought: Wish he was playing!