Miss you Sachu...!

Finally, the inevitable happened. The most loved cricketer has put down his bat, albeit in shorter format. Sachin had already retired from T20, which I think was a very wise decision. Although he has been one of the most attacking player of his generation, the truth remained that at 33-34 he won't be the most feared batsman and it would require hell lot of energy. After playing for more than 15 years (at that time) and having a very busy schedule for that period it was important he focussed on more important version(s) of the game & not played the funny format. I strongly feel he should have retired on 2nd April 2011. That was the day he fulfilled his dream of winning the World Cup. That was the best time to retire. He hasn't added too much to his tally of ODI runs after that.

That, he has retired from ODI is not a big loss to the game because he hasn't been playing regularly in the format for a couple of years now. So it was only a surprise than a shock. Surprise, because Indian's strongest arch-rival Pak team is coming to play a few matches & it would have been good to have him play against them. He has often succeeded against them and been an important player in almost all World-Cup games we played against them. He has been Man-of-Match in 3 out of 5 WC games we played against them; 1992, 2003 & 2011. But then, only he knows what he is going through his mind. Maybe the pressure upon him would be doubled because of non-performance in earlier series, maybe the body isn't really giving him the positive signals to cope up with the ever-growing pressure. Especially the pressure of playing against Pakistan would be much higher than normal. Sadly, even after playing for more than 2 decades & being successful for most of the years, the pressure upon him is way more than others. That tells you the fact that he has always had the burden of expectations. Maybe it just got better of him now.

Over the period, he had already started choosing the ODI series to play which was a good move to retain & maintain the fitness of his body to prolong his illustrious career. But the problem was that he was playing less. For a person who has known nothing but being in the middle for better part of his life, it becomes little bit more difficult to adjust the ever-growing demands of the rigors of the game. Also, he seemed to be out of touch of batting. What he needed was more match practice. That's why I always felt, that he should have played more domestic games when "resting" from international games. He would have not lost his "form".

One allegation on him was that he was blocking youngster's place. I haven't seen a better joke for ages in cricket. Firstly, he was an opener in ODI format. Yes, Gambhir often had to sacrifice his opening slot for Sachin whenever he played. But, Gambhir didn't come to the game as an opener. It was always Sachin-Saurav or Sachin-Sehwag. Gambhir was a makeshift opener in absence of Sachin. Sachin had already made it clear, he would want to remain as an opener in ODI format. In recent times, even Gambhir hasn't been in good touch in the ODI format. He was just nudging the ball around even in the shortest format of the game. Even he was in his early 30s. So there is no question of Sachin blocking the place of Gambhir. There was another cry of Ajinkya Rahane not getting place in playing 11. But then who said Sehwag was having time of his life in recent times as an opener. Even Sehwag was failing regularly. Ajinkya could have replaced Sehwag easily. Manoj Tiwary has been warming the bench even when Sachin wasn't playing ODIs. So Sachin, wasn't blocking his place either.

Scoring 18,426 runs in 463 games with 49 ODI centuries & 96 half-centuries at an average of 44.83 is just a statistic that the cricket-records would throw. Ofcourse, these are humongous numbers and it is very difficult to believe these would be broken in another couple of decades atleast. But even if they are broken, it doesn't negate his contribution to the Indian cricket. If Sunil Gavaskar is credited to bring India on cricketing map with his heroics (batting department of the game), particularly against the giants of Carribean, Sachin has taken the name to a different level. Yes, there have been other performers with the likes of Azhar, Dravid, Ganguly & Sehwag, one name has always shone head-and-shoulder above all others; Sachin Tendulkar.

When he batted, you would rarely notice the non-striker even if it would be one of the abovementioned. When he scored, others would be over-shadowed. This was not only because he was a great batsman, but because he was artisctic, his approach seldom surrendering and his hunger/desire to excel in any given scenario was unquestionable. The way he batted was amazing, scoring shots when others would defend, placing the shots in gaps where others would give easy catching practice to opponents. He was a true master in batting even in ODI format and thats what sets him apart from other contemporaries who have graced the game. He can only be compared to Brian Lara, not even Ponting.

The only thing I can say is "MISS YOU!". Miss you, for all the joy you have given to us for these 23 years. Miss you, for fulfilling our dreams of winning games when we had lost all our hope after the match-fixing scandal. Miss you, for the unchallenged records you made & made it a routine for us who always thought our team can never win. Miss you, for the intensity & hunger you brought to the team. Miss you, for you changed the face of Indian cricket. Miss you, for the quality & ability to stay firmly rooted to the grounds despite of all the adulation & fame you have received. (Hope youngsters are listening!) It has been a well-thought and good decision. Yes, it was bit late. (Sorry Sachu, I hate to say this.) But, watching ODIs without you, knowing the bitter fact that we would never see you wearing the blue colors for India, I don't think I would be able to digest it. You are the only reason I got attracted to the game. Earlier, I was one of the countless number of people who played gully-cricket and understood only one thing, see the ball & hit it. But you made me learn the finer aspects of the game. And now that you are not going to play regularly (only Test format) I feel like disconnected from the game. There is a big-bigger-biggest void.

I sincerely hope this decision would help you prolong your Test career & you play well against the coming Aussies. The Test team certainly needs you. But please continue to play in domestic games. The domestic game has been desperately hungry for your contribution.