Ritesh Misra, Surat, 11 May 2024
On 24 February 1988, Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli stitched together a 664 run partnership for their school Shardashram Vidyamandir versus St Xaviers.
On 14 November 2013, after an eventful career, Sachin Tendulkar retired from International cricket. He had played 664 international matches for India, comprising 200 Tests, 463 ODIs and 1 T20 International. 664 and 664, what a coincidence!
Many describe Sachin as the God of cricket. A few get angry and upset at hearing this. Why? Does it matter? Is it important if he is described as such? Who did so first? Was it Matthew Hayden ? The belligerent former Aussie opener and current mentor of the Pakistan cricket team had said, “I have seen God. He bats at number 4 for India”.
Did someone else say so as well? That doesn’t matter too. It’s just that the description caught the imagination of many, and it became popular. By the way, Sachin himself initially was amused and a bit surprised. Let me share his reaction when I showed him the picture of a close friend touching Sachin’s feet. Not the real Sachin, but Sachin’s wax statue at Madame Tussaud’s, London. Seeing this picture made the real Sachin distressed and disoriented for a good 2-3 minutes, and he kept on repeating, “your friend should not have done this, I do not like this. Please, please tell him not to. No one should do this, no one.”
It is widely stated that Sachin is the best batsman since Don Bradman. What did Don himself say about Sachin? “I never saw myself play, but I feel this fella is playing much the same as I used to.”
Some say that Viv Richards was the best after Don Bradman. What does Sir Viv say about Sachin? “He has been a genius when it comes to ability, a Trojan when it comes to work ethic, and manic when it comes to his focus.”
Just two more quotes, one from a fellow great who debuted with him, and another from his close friend Brian Lara, who is also in the list of best batsmen of all times.
Waqar Younis says, “He can play the leg glance with a walking stick!” Lara says, “Sachin is a genius; I am a mere mortal.”
Anyway, it certainly is not important why Sachin is called the God of cricket. What is important is does he deserve this accolade or it can be dispensed with. He will be the first to cheerfully dispense with it, by the way.
What is important is that a young boy started playing cricket and he played it well. When he scored a hundred in his Ranji Trophy debut, there was discussion that the new Sunil Gavaskar has arrived. Kapil Dev cautioned that there have been prodigies before, so don’t rush. Dilip Vengsarkar disagreed with Kapil and even asked him to bowl to Sachin at the nets. Fittingly, in Sachin’s debut test, the man of the match was none other than Kapil Dev.
Thanks to a brilliant Selection Committee, he played early for India. Raj Singh Dungarpur said, “usse lag jayega toh?” Naren Tamhane thundered, “Vo lagane vala player hai, lagne vala nahin hai.” The astute Raj Bhai agreed with Tamhane and Sachin was selected to play for India and he went on to have a memorable career.
Interestingly Sachin was not selected only because he was young and talented. That he was, but he was also considered for selection because he had played a full Ranji season for Mumbai and was the highest run-getter. I once asked Sachin how he felt about being a mentor to so many and whether he offfered advice to his fellow cricketers. He replied that he had no issues but his only request was that the player should ask for the tip, as he did not want to be seen as overbearing or dominating. In fact, Sachin with his keen intellect and study of the game was instrumental in recommending Mahi to be the captain of India and Mahi became the most successful captain in Indian cricketing history.
One thing remained in his cricketing bucket list for long and that was winning the ODI World Cup, since it was the 1983 win which inspired him to take up the lovely game. That too was achieved at Mumbai in 2011.
Winning abroad had already been achieved under the captaincy of Sourav Ganguly. It was important to be the world’s top test team. That too was achieved. Many milestones were surpassed and many successes were achieved over the 24 years of Sachin’s career.
Thank you Sachin Tendulkar for the wonderful memories! You are one of the finest Icons of India.
