He arrived on the big stage in a very quiet manner. He didn’t score much in that series and the results weren’t very exciting in context of the matches played. But, even before he made his international debut, he had followers, largely the ex-players who had seen him burst on the domestic scene. There were stalwarts like Dilip Vengsarkar, the recently retired (in 1988) Sunil Gavaskar, and many ex-players in domestic circuit who saw him score debut-centuries in Irani Trophy, Duleep Trophy and Ranji Trophy (a record which is still in his name). He was even exposed to on-his-peak Kapil Dev in one practice-session by Dilip Vengsarkar to see if he could handle international bowlers. Sadly, he missed his tour to West Indies in 1989 and had to wait a few more months.
The tour to Pakistan in November 1989, therefore, is an interesting point in his career, albeit because it was his debut tour, but more because, he was exposed to a quality bowling line-up comprising of Imran Khan and the cricket-ball-wizard, Wasim Akram and the fast-and-furious debutant Waqar Younis who famously bloodied his nose in the match. Here was a young lad of barely 16 years who everyone was monitoring microscopically; and they still do after 22 years. Even before he had faced his first international delivery, people had started expecting wonders from the wonder-boy, Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.
Not long ago, another Mumbaikar, Sunil Gavaskar had set a new batting record in Test matches, scoring 10,122 runs and 34 centuries. And Sachin was touted as the next Sunil Gavaskar, immaculate in defence and fearless in attitude. All this at a tender age, when boys of his age worry about which college and which stream to take admission to. Ironically, he faced passport issues because of his age, and no one could believe that a small teenage boy could play international cricket. This same teenage boy showed his first glimpse in an exhibition match against Pakistan when he took head-on another ball-wizard, the famous leg-spinner Abdul Qadir and slapped him a few sixes (against the spin) when batsmen over the globe were finding it difficult to play his spin.
But, in my opinion, the high-point of his glory would still be his match-saving century against England, his first, the way he batted, the way he chose the strokes and played, the way he bisected the field, the way he ran between the wickets, choosing wisely when to run, that is the hallmark of a great batsman and he was just 17. Then he scored 2 back-to-back centuries against Australia in Australia and that’s when he started earning respect around the cricketing world. The Aussies come hard against him, but they also love and respect him more than even their own players. They cheer for him even when he scores against them. He has never looked back since then.
So what makes him one of the greatest ever who has played the game? Just by going the abovementioned antics, should we call him one of the greatest, or even arguably the greatest ever? Sure, there have been many other players, some within the Indian team, who have been better than him. Sanjay Manjrekar had enough of talent to be better than what he was. We also missed the left-handed Sachin, as he is referred to now, Vinod Kambli who could have gone miles ahead if he had used up his potential. Azharuddin was more artistic in batting, leagues ahead of what VVS Laxman is today. A Sehwag is more destructive than what Sachin has ever been. But we still hear “Sachin… Sachin…” even after 22 years.
There is something magnetic about him. Not only because he is the highest scorer in both formats. Not only because he has highest centuries in both formats and just one century close to the never-seen-before magical figure of 100 centuries. Not only because he has won so many matches for the team and has highest ODI Man-of-Match awards and India’s highest Test Man-of-Match awards. Not only because he is the only person to score a double hundred in ODI.
It is the manner in which he has played over the years. It is the way he has changed and adjusted his game to the changing times. It is because the way he builds up his innings, slow-and-steady, but still leaving enough time to allow the team to win (or draw) the matches. It is his consistency with which has been able to dish out brilliant performances, maybe not centuries. It is the way he has behaved on and off the field, and become inspiration to hundreds of aspiring cricketers. Ask any player in current team or who has played in this team over the past decade. Not one would deny his part in helping them on improving their skills, be it a bowler or a batsman.
The bowler-centurions, Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh, attribute their batting skills to him. Players like Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag and many other juniors admit his guidance has helped them improve their batting skills. Moreover, even seniors like Dravid and Laxman look up to him when in doubt. He is not just a complete batsman; he is an encyclopedia of cricket. His knowledge of the game is not restricted to batting, his tips and guidance has helped bowlers too. He is loved for that, respected for that. And for me, that is something I would worship about. He may be the highest scorer of the game, and may have records, that might never be broken. But he is also someone who would never hold back things for himself. Brian Lara, Sachin’s closest competitor, never was interested in other things. He used to practice at times, play the game and go. He never showed interest in bowling. He wasn’t really the one who would take initiative, sit with newcomers and help them. But he was exceptional in the field and at times even better than Sachin, scoring heavily whenever he scored centuries. Almost all of his centuries are big ones.
Sachin has always connected with the people, viewers, fans, by heart. No wonder, he has the highest fan-following wherever he goes. We have had flashy players who had young-fan following and people loved them because of their flashy attitude towards life. People like Ajay Jadeja, Yuvraj Singh, Virat Kohli have been termed as lady-killers. They had young fans, crazy fans; no doubt they were good at the game too. But with Sachin, things are completely different. His fans are not bound by their age. Anyone who knows the game, who understands it, is his fan, irrespective of caste-religion-nationality.
No wonder, when Indian team was going through the black-era of match-fixing, it was Sachin who was able to bind the team together alongwith seniors Ganguly-Dravid-Kumble and other youngsters. Not only it helped the team, but it brought the fans back to the cricketing grounds, to the television sets. India had lost badly in the World Cup 1999 and also lost badly to South Africa in home-series. It was then when he stepped down from the captaincy and handed over the reins to Saurav Ganguly. No one could ever point a finger to him in all that black-episode, because he has played his game fairly. Navjot Singh Sidhu famously said, “You can doubt the Prime Minister, not Sachin Tendulkar”.
He may not have lived up to expectations of people. People still accuse him of not scoring centuries or match-winning innings in finals, especially after the 2003 WC in South Africa. Part of that argument is true because he has succumbed under pressure at times. But is that really the match-pressure? I feel, it is more of performance-pressure. Pressure of failing to live upto the expectations. Pressure of failure in-case he gets out, he knows others won’t really be good enough to win. Sadly, our team has always proved him right. We lost that dreadful match against Pakistan in January 1999 in Chennai, by just 11 runs. No Indian fan would forget that match. He struggled against chronic back pain, scored 136 and got out to a shot which he shouldn’t have played. But he knew if he doesn’t finish of the match, Pak bowlers are capable of winning the match even with low margin. And just that happened, sadly. He got out to McGrath in that 2003 WC final. But in the tournament, it was his batting that helped us score and reach the finals, along with the superb bowling performances by trio, Srinath-Zaheer-Nehra. If he had not scored that 98 against Pak, we were out of the tournament. But he lived up to his promise. He had famously quoted/promised the Indian fans after the loss to Aussies in league-stage that the team would play better and he would see to it that there would be no more hiccups. He lived up to it.
There has been another funny accusation; whenever he scores a century Indian team loses the match. That’s the silliest thing I have ever heard. And infact, that shows how immature the self-proclaimed critics are. In a cricket-obsessed country, we forget the fact that batting is two-person skill. You can’t score alone, the batsman at the other end has to give you support, either by rotating the strike or holding up his wicket. When Lara scored those 400 runs, he had a stickier than Fevicol, Shivnaraine Chanderpaul at the other end who scored 150+. When Sehwag scored his first triple hundred in Multan against Pakistan, he had Sachin at the other end who scored 196 not out. Whenever Sachin has scored a century and the team has lost, check out the scorecard for that match. I doubt you would ever find others scoring more than 50. It would be his show all alone. He might be God to the millions of fans, but he still needs someone to give support and score runs at the other end. Matches can’t be won with single person doing all the scoring. There are very rare occasions when it has happened, not to forget Kapil 175* against Zimbabwe in 1983 WC. That match still ended in a win for Indian team. Whenever the team has lost inspite of his century, there have been very rare occasions when others or one of the other players has contributed. Either the bowlers have failed, or the other batsmen. No point in saying, he steals the show by taking all the strike. It would hold well only if his strike-rate is below 90 (in ODIs) for that match. In all such matches his strike-rate has always been above 90 which means he has scored fairly rapidly and given enough opportunities to other batsmen.
Off-late it has been a fashion or pride in asking Sachin to retire, or saying he is blocking a place of youngsters. But, his performance doesn’t support this. He is 38, has played for 22 years, but he is still in good form and playing better than most youngsters. The only problem is he has been thinking a bit more than usual about landmarks. He slowed down when he broke Gavaskar’s record of 34 centuries. He slowed down when he broke Lara’s record for most runs. And now he has slowed down when he is about to score the magical hundredth century. Give him time, for he has given his prime age to the sport. Once, he is off that monkey, I am sure you would find him back to his ways of scoring runs, tons of them. Forget that landmark, forget the media, forget putting extra-ordinary pressure of it. Just let him be his own self. Let the crowd once again go “Sachin… Sachin…” I am kind-of hoping he waits and scores his 100th century against Australia in Australia. And I am damn sure about it. That would be the pinnacle of his achievement.
Oh! And by the way, I am sure the ever-hungry Indian fans have not forgotten, he is 2 centuries away from 50 ODI centuries. There is still enough left in us to put pressure on him. Let the roar aloud: “Sachin… Sachin…”
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