SACH IS LIFE

A couple of days back a friend of mine asked, what's so special about Sachin and why people are going crazy over his retirement? She wasn’t looking to underwhelm the Master but was just filled with curiosity. For someone who hasn’t followed Tendulkar during his formative years, it isn’t too bad a question.

Sachin isn't special for the number of runs & centuries he scored, for the dozens of years he played at the highest level, for the millions of fans he has been able to attract, for the bundles of games he had won for the country, for the insurmountable amount of respect he has acquired worldwide and so on! All these achievements can (miniscule chances do exist) be matched or bettered by someone in next 100 years or more. The most vital aspects that made Sachin so special, are all intangible - Discipline, drive, hunger for self-improvement, fearlessness, hard work, mental toughness, sacrifice, preparation, humility and most importantly his deep understanding on the moral values of life. Neither success nor the money that followed got to his head. As he admitted in his final speech, he was talking to his brother Ajit even during his last match, on technical adjustments. That's how meticulous he is.

Sachin Tendulkar was blessed with an extremely balanced temperament. Have you anytime seen him reacting angrily for rough decisions (he got many) or when an opponent tried to get under his nerves by sledging? He just believed “The bowler’s duty is to bowl and mine is to bat. If he tries to breach his boundaries, I need not follow suit. I have been taught to be more civilized. I know how to deal with it”.

Being a person of very high self-esteem, he regularly made a point to the bowler during those occasions. When our own clown Sreesanth sledged him in a Challenger's trophy game, the Master jumped out of the track the very next delivery and deposited the ball into the crowd. English bowler Andy Caddick passed a cheeky little comment about how they had worked out a plan for Sachin, before the 2003 WC match. The little man responded with an aggressive half century and this monster of Caddick's bowling is one of the biggest I have ever seen - speaking about making a statement, there we have one. Henry Olonga dismissed him in embarrassing fashion in a match at Sharjah and celebrated vociferously for obvious reasons. Sachin proved it was merely an aberration by thrashing him all around the park in the game that followed. Though he looked timid from the outside, he carried a monster inside who can only be thrilled when bowlers are ripped apart.

“I was 16 when I missed my first Test hundred”, says one of his earliest Boost commercials, Tendulkar referring to his near miss against Newzealand. A quick thought on what you and I were doing at that age, will explain the mammoth nature of the task that was handed over to Sachin, a 16-year old boy in 1989. Apart from the odd series or two, historically India has been poor playing abroad, at least on the batting front. 9 out of the first 10 test matches that Tendulkar played were outside India. How he dealt with that at such a tender age isn’t something that could be answered easily. His 114 on a blistering pitch at the WACA against a fiery Aussie pace attack remains the Master’s own favorite knock of all. Perth those days used to terrorize Asian batsmen with its pacy strip, take a look at the other dismissals to understand.

There cannot be a better example for commitment to the cause, than the innings against Kenya in the 1999 World Cup. Sachin had just lost his Father after India’s first game and as he returned home to perform the rituals, the country had lost it’s second game agonizingly to Zimbabwe. Tendulkar returned swiftly to National duty and duly scored a breathtaking century. When he looked up skywards, he was thanking his Dad - from then till his last century, he was doing only that to celebrate. It’s worth mentioning an inspirational story about Virat Kohli, who went a step beyond the Master himself. Few years ago in a Ranji Trophy game, Delhi was struggling to avoid the follow on and Kohli was at the crease overnight. His Dad passed away early morning next day, Virat went to the ground to resume his innings, took his team to safely and then went home. Can you better that?

It’s always about getting the basics right for being successful on the longer run. Sachin’s technique is impeccably sound, both offensively and defensively. He started off as a predominant boundary hitter and one of his greatest strengths is knowing exactly where the fielders are and directing his strokes with precision. I was blessed to have witnessed an astonishing hundred from the Little Master, scored against England in the World cup game in 2011. The match was moved from Kolkata to Bangalore very late on and we had to pull out all our tricks to get the tickets. Check how he moves from 78 to 86 off consecutive deliveries and that will explain what picking the gaps is all about.

During the innings, I did observe the pressure the little man was put through each time he walks to the crease. Though he eventually said he enjoyed the “Sacheeeen Sachin” chants, it wouldn’t have been one bit easy. The only way anyone could focus on the task on hand in such a rollicking atmosphere is by “Getting into the Zone” and the Master is a real Master in doing that. His very last innings of 74 is a prime example of this attribute of his. The whole world was watching his every move and even during that, he unleashed a fantastic exhibition of all his trademark strokes with ease. Pressure, what pressure?

Any sportsman’s mental toughness will be put to test when they go through injuries, specifically career threatening ones and how well they stage a comeback. Tendulkar went through two major injury nightmares in his career - the back injury in 1999 and the tennis-elbow in 2005. He came through both of them rather successfully, by following a determined fitness regime. Tendulkar is a firm believer and practitioner of Yoga too, which was a primary reason for his longevity.

 

As much as I have loved each innings of his, if we have to dissect it ball by ball in Test Cricket, it was a pain being an ardent fan. Whenever Sachin batted, from the moment the ball left the bowler’s hand and hit the pitch, till the time the ball hit the ground again, I was dead and reborn. Only when I had realized that Sachin isn’t out, did I breath again - this cycle will go on until he gets dismissed. Even after that, there isn’t one instance when I didn’t anticipate that delivery to be a no-ball. Though I wouldn’t have to go through the trauma from now on, I feel deprived. I have had countless arguments with people who were insane enough to hate Sachin - but they form less than 0.01% of the Cricket loving population - maybe it’s time for them to feel sorry.

To speak about regrets I have with respect to his career, a Test match triple hundred was something I so eagerly looked for, which didn’t materialize. A test century at Lords evaded as well, so did it from Sunil Gavaskar, Ricky Ponting and Brian Lara. When a World XI took on the all-conquering Aussies at the end of 2005, Tendulkar missed out due to the aforementioned tennis elbow injury. The Combined XI fared miserably and lost every outing, Sachin would have certainly made a difference - he loved toying with the Australian bowling attack right through his career. There wasn’t one Test Century in his last 40 innings - that is a colossal underachievement for his potential in the longer format. His 100th hundred came at a labored pace and with painstaking efforts. It went a long way in allowing Bangladesh to chase a lesser target and that directly impacted India’s chances in the Asia Cup. His role in the Monkey-gate incident could have been a little more assertive. But being the team man he was, he dare not put Bhajji in trouble - though the latter always deserved punishment according to me.

His final speech happened to be the perfect icing on the cake. As was the case with each innings of his, it indicated preparation. The words used looked to have been carefully chosen and the delivery was classy. Throughout his career, Sachin Tendulkar valued and displayed humility. His last ‘innings’ was no different. He ensured that he thanked almost everyone who has played a part in his career. For a change, he was witty as well, amidst tears.

Wishing Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar a very fruitful post-retirement life. Your family needs you to be around. I’m delighted you are signing off on a reasonable high. With you not playing anymore, the dependency on Youtube just goes higher. #ThankYouSachin for the memories, which cannot be taken away from us till we die. You have been part of our lives - we are blessed.

My Apologies to Chennai 1999, Centurion Park 2003, Cape Town 1996 (My favorite innings), Rawalpindi 2004, Sydney 2004, Sydney 1992, Johannesburg 1992, Sharjah 1998, Sydney 2008 and many more glorious innings - the list is huge - for not being mentioned here.

Earlier Posts on the Little Master:

When he scored the first ever ODI Double Hundred

When he played the best ever innings on a losing cause in my perspective

When Sachin Tendulkar was going through a trough

Thanks espncricinfo - The post wouldn't have been possible without you!

srtendulkar@gmail.com