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Life & cricket was so complicated before that particular name cropped up in all our lives – Sachin Tendulkar. A child prodigy at 15, everybody had heard of him and contributed their two bits on whether he should make it to the West Indies tour in 1989 not really caring how he would fare in future. Kapil Dev still ruled Indian cricket hearts and there was no place for anybody else. And then the Abdul Qadir over happened. Then the tour to New Zealand happened. England followed. By the time the Australia tour came up, the Mumbai tabloid ‘Mid day’ had already branded him ‘Ton’dulkar though India lost dismally and Merv Hughes became every Indian cricket lover’s bugbear (“too cocky, too flamboyant!”) But one truth was established by that time.
Superman was born!!
And from then on, it did not matter whether India won or not. Cricket became the ‘Sachin Tendulkar’ game (at least for me). Sachin Tendulkar came, saw and conquered. The promises of higher achievements made sure that there was always a heavy air of expectation whenever he walked onto the field donning his helmet and wielding a bat. Most times it was pulsating and what was magical was that one knew there were people in diverse parts of the country who fraternized in the same unifying emotion. It would be nigh impossible to imagine another mortal man who could do THAT to so many people at the same time and in the same way. He succeeded in single-handedly forcing so many people to hold their hearts when watching any match. Sachin Tendulkar did that & more with style, élan and a lot of dignity. I remember a test match in Mumbai against Australia. Sachin was not out overnight and when my cousin & I entered the stadium on the 4th day, there was only one player, one chant and only one mantra – Sachin. Even without actually talking to people, you could feel it in the very air of the stadium. The noise was deafening and even reticent people were willing to lose themselves and be part of the same infectious energy.
Harbinger of a billion hopes – he walked into the hearts of a billion Indians time and again with his exploits. Sachin had become so iconic that one tended to remember personal happenings in one’s life around Sachin Tendulkar moments. “When he hit Abdul Qadir for those 27 runs in one over, I was picnicking with friends in Alibag”. “My neighbour had that accident two days after the India Pakistan World Cup match where Sachin square cut Shoaib for a six…I think it was March 1, 2003.” Bingo!!
Maybe he does not fight 10 people at a time and win the heroine. Maybe he cannot mouth those Rajini dialogues. But just give him a bat and a helmet and have him walk out in a packed stadium and try denying the passion that he arouses in a billion hearts.
There are still some of us who wish that maybe if Indian cricket had not got its current match savers, we could still have had Sachin in his purest avatar – a mortal trying to snatch at glory, a neophyte warrior involved in a gladiatorial contest, a real life superhero making impossible targets seem real. We all have been part of this journey from prodigy to superstar to icon and these memories will always be part of Life so long as we live. Maybe he is not as exciting as earlier; maybe he is not dominating as earlier, maybe with age and injury he has lost a bit of his touch. But for all those sensational moments through his teens and twenties, for making an entire generation look beyond Bachchan, for making middleclass values look ultra-cool, Sachin Tendulkar – take a bow.
After all even superheroes are allowed to fail at times, even demigods are frail and all idols are mortal too…but Sachin Tendulkar? Naah…no way!
Superman was born!!
And from then on, it did not matter whether India won or not. Cricket became the ‘Sachin Tendulkar’ game (at least for me). Sachin Tendulkar came, saw and conquered. The promises of higher achievements made sure that there was always a heavy air of expectation whenever he walked onto the field donning his helmet and wielding a bat. Most times it was pulsating and what was magical was that one knew there were people in diverse parts of the country who fraternized in the same unifying emotion. It would be nigh impossible to imagine another mortal man who could do THAT to so many people at the same time and in the same way. He succeeded in single-handedly forcing so many people to hold their hearts when watching any match. Sachin Tendulkar did that & more with style, élan and a lot of dignity. I remember a test match in Mumbai against Australia. Sachin was not out overnight and when my cousin & I entered the stadium on the 4th day, there was only one player, one chant and only one mantra – Sachin. Even without actually talking to people, you could feel it in the very air of the stadium. The noise was deafening and even reticent people were willing to lose themselves and be part of the same infectious energy.
Harbinger of a billion hopes – he walked into the hearts of a billion Indians time and again with his exploits. Sachin had become so iconic that one tended to remember personal happenings in one’s life around Sachin Tendulkar moments. “When he hit Abdul Qadir for those 27 runs in one over, I was picnicking with friends in Alibag”. “My neighbour had that accident two days after the India Pakistan World Cup match where Sachin square cut Shoaib for a six…I think it was March 1, 2003.” Bingo!!
Maybe he does not fight 10 people at a time and win the heroine. Maybe he cannot mouth those Rajini dialogues. But just give him a bat and a helmet and have him walk out in a packed stadium and try denying the passion that he arouses in a billion hearts.
There are still some of us who wish that maybe if Indian cricket had not got its current match savers, we could still have had Sachin in his purest avatar – a mortal trying to snatch at glory, a neophyte warrior involved in a gladiatorial contest, a real life superhero making impossible targets seem real. We all have been part of this journey from prodigy to superstar to icon and these memories will always be part of Life so long as we live. Maybe he is not as exciting as earlier; maybe he is not dominating as earlier, maybe with age and injury he has lost a bit of his touch. But for all those sensational moments through his teens and twenties, for making an entire generation look beyond Bachchan, for making middleclass values look ultra-cool, Sachin Tendulkar – take a bow.
After all even superheroes are allowed to fail at times, even demigods are frail and all idols are mortal too…but Sachin Tendulkar? Naah…no way!
