Growing up with a Genius- Sachin

Rewind. 18 years. Stop. That day, we got our first ever TV at home. Till that day, the word 'cricket' didn't mean much to me though I had visited the mecca of Indian cricket "Eden Gardens", as a toddler. My only other information on the game were the things which my father used to tell me, which honestly I found hard to comprehend. One of those days just after the TV became a part of the household, we saw a small program on cricket in the exciting and only one channel called doordarshan(yes, it was exciting then). They were talking about an immensely talented young cricketer and his latest exploits. I didn't understand much of what they told. But the smiling face of that youngster got imprinted somewhere deeply in my heart. Then after some days, one of my neighbours, a big guy who used to come to play with us told me a story. A story about a braveheart cricketer who as a 16 year old playing his first match against a team boasting of some fearsome fast bowlers. Sadly, he got hit many times on his body by the ruthless bowlers. At one point of time, he was bleeding too. But, he declined to be carried away in a stretcher and played some audacious shots. Though, he didn't score much, he had made his mark. After the story, I made him repeat the name of the guy many times to me as I was finding it hard to pronounce and remember that name. The name was, as you might have guessed, "Sachin Tendulkar". From that day, that name's been on my lips whenever I think of the game of cricket. No wonder, my favorite ad those days was the boost ad featuring old Kapil and a young Sachin saying "Boost is the secret of our energy".

Just like with A.R.Rahman's music, it was a case of growing up together. Those days, in school, there was no question about who the world's greatest cricketer was. We were all Sachin fans, so there were no fights in that regard. India didn't have frequent matches like we have today. So, we had to wait patiently for months at a time to see him play. And, there were no ways to see the overseas series. Thats when I first started touching the newspaper. As soon as I get it, its a frantic rush to the last page to see the cricket scoreboard. My eyes first went to the middle of the score board, where Sachin's name used to appear. Only then would I proceed to see the team score. It gave me immense pleasure whenever he had a good score. The hero-cup semifinal match against South Africa when he bowled the last over, with them needing 6 runs and he conceeded just 3 runs is still fresh in memory.The madness reached its heights during the 1996 world cup. The whole country was glued to the television. Though Jayasurya and his mates from the island won the cup, for Indians it was Sachin all the way till that horrible day at Eden Gardens. The Titan cup with him as captain is unforgettable. In the matches that India won, including the finals he made sizeable contributons with the bat. Though many others scored tons of runs, I never bothered. None of them gave me the sheer pleasure that this guy gave. His straight drives and cover drives were enough to make me jump up from my seat and scream. Whenever he failed, it was heartbreak. I would switch off the tv and would forget about the match. The images of him walking back always made me sad.
Talking of images, I had this hobby of keeping paper cuttings. There are 1000s of images of Sachin that I got from 'The Hindu', the local 'Mathrubhoomi' and 'The sportstar'. His shots, his ADs, his public appearances, everything were cut up and neatly stacked in my collection. Still, there were sometimes when I thought he's not that a good player as I expected. He's failing many times. There were some days when I just hated him. Thats when the year 1998 came. Sachin was everywhere. From decimating the Aussies, right from the tour match against Mumbai to the deserts of Sharjah, Sachin once and for all tore that elements of hate and doubt away from me. He kept me happy the whole year. I read and re-read the "I'll be going to bed having nightmares of Sachin just running down the wicket and belting me back over the head for six" comment by Shane Warne. Those 2 nights in Sharjah are worth adding to the 1001 Arabian nights for its sheer beauty. Then came 1999 world cup and tragedy struck. His father died. A world cup without Sachin was unimaginable. India lost the first 2 matches. Then he came back, placing his country first. And what a comback it was. A blistering 140 off 101 balls, coming from a man who's coming to terms with a tragedy in his life. They won some more matches. But sadly, this time also India didn't win the cup. We used to watch India's matches at a house near our school. I still remember watching his innings of 186 against New Zealand one whole morning and coming to class with a beaming face in the afternoon. Around this time, Sachin's classic cover drive made it to the cover of the TIME magazine.
Sachin kept going. Records kept tumbling. And we were treated to more innings of heavenly quality, most notably the 136 that he made against Pakistan at Chennai battling an injury. When the other batsmen fell like nine pins and India lost by 12 runs, he was blamed for not finishing th game. That was the start of the age of mindless Sachin bashers. They questioned everything from his commitment to his greatness. As a stupid poll in NDTV asked 2 days back , just before his 12000 runs in test cricket, "Is Sachin Playing for his records alone?". And close to 50% of those who voted said yes. Is this what we should give him for being a tireless warrior who put his everyting into the game for 2 decades? How can anyone forget what he has done to Indian cricket starved of brilliant players? We look into the filtered statistics which point out his failures and conveniently forget his victories which are larger in number. If he scores runs against minnows, its a sin. At the same time, we forget that he has scored the maximum against the invincible Aussies. He was ridiculed as an injury prone cricketer. 'Try playing international cricket for 20 years and come out unscatched. Then speak.' Thats what I've to say to these so-called learned critics who consider themselves to be the grandfathers of W.G.Grace.
In the 2003 World cup, India started off with a string of very bad losses. The fans back home were baying for the team's blood. Sachin appealed to the home fans to show a little patience and promised them that they will deliver the goods. From then on, we saw a different Sachin. Every bowling attack was torn apart as he went on to score 673 runs and win the player of the tournament. England's Caddick said-"Sachin's just like another batsman in the Indian team". Next match he saw this another batsman hitting him out of the park and scoring 36 off his 19 balls. That pull shot off Caddick which went out of the park is another unforgettable one. Then, the sublime innings against the Pakistanis. That was just perfection. Still, the failure in the finals saddened him. He had nothing much to do after the bowlers conceded 358 runs to the Aussies. The critics as usual quickly forgot those 673 runs which took India to the finals and tore him apart for the runs he didn't score in the finals.
Last week, I fulfilled the long cherished dream of watching him live,at Bangalore. I passionately joined in that earth shattering roar that always accompanies Sachin's arrival at the crease. Its a reception specially reserved for him, no other cricketer ever commanded that much fan frenzy. The 'Sachin Sachin' chants start from the time the 2nd Indian wicket falls to the time he faces the first ball. But sadly he failed in the first innings and my wish to watch him conquer the record was vanished. Yesterday, as he reached the pinnacle of world cricket by overtaking Lara's record and being the first person to score 12000 runs in test cricket, I was at office. I wanted to scream out loud, but the company policies don't allow me that. He is now the emperor of test and one day cricket with 12000 and 16000 runs respectively. In one days, no one is even near his record. Still, I saw stupid people arguing on Sachin's commitment to the team. What is enough for them, I dont know. What more do they need, God knows. I can't find a more perfect role model than him in Indian sports. If there's a human equivalent of 'down to earth', it is him. He's an example for everyone on how to carry success and brilliance on one's shoulders. Coming to on-field behaviour, there's no one better. The only guy to be given 'head before wicket' hasn't bothered to turn back or show dissent on even a single occaion when he was wrongly given out. He still lives the simple life of a family man and stays away from 'page 3'. He does a hell lot for charity but prefers to keep it all a secret rather than boast about it to the media.
The critics have been talking about his retirement for too long. And yesterday, they got a fitting reply. "People sometimes throw stones and you convert them into milestones"-Words from a softspoken man who always made his bat do the talking. I just have one more wish for Sachin-the 2011 world cup. I hope he retires only after that. But once he hangs up his boots, cricket won't be the same again, atleast for me. I may stop watching cricket regularly as I did with Formula 1 after Schumi's retirement. India will never find a replacement for this man, a man as charismatic, and such a genius as this. Like Federer, like Schumi, like Maradona, he's an once in a lifetime player. And we all are lucky to have lived in this times. To all those criticize him mindlessly, we, the billions of Sachin fans around the world, are doing just fine without you. You can 'think' whatever you like, because nobody cares what 'you' think. Go, Sachin GO. The world is at your feet.
-with love, an ardent fan of 18 years

your crusader Praveen