Tendulkar- The God Of Cricket

It was 23^rd March, 2003. It was the day of the final of the 2003 ICC World Cup. He was batting on 4, just when Australian Glenn McGrath caught and bowled him. (Correct me if I am wrong as I have written this on the basis of my fantastic memory. The date, obviously I have googled. I am not a memory card which stores exact dates of tragic events). And the moment he was out, the hopes of a billion people were thrashed, and sadly India lost the final. Such is the mental expectation of a team and a whole country. This is Indian Cricket. This is Mr.Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.I still remember the day when, studying in the nursery section of my school life, I and one of my classmates were looking and discussing about the pictures in one of our class books, where a picture of a cricketer was given to make us familiar as to  how a cricketer may look like. I don’t know why, but in those days, I used to know this cricketer by the name of ‘India’. Yes, you heard that correct. Now, that’s too dumb, you see.  It was an insane thing that I didn’t know the name of the greatest cricketer of the modern era. Sachin Tendulkar. Now, obviously I know even his middle name. That’s an added knowledge gained over the years. Also, I didn’t even know that ‘India’ was the name of a country, in which I was born and raised. Jai Hind. Too dumb a story of mine to start with. But I promise this post is all about Sachin Tendulkar. Let’s start.

Only player to score 100 international centuries. First player to score a double-century in One- Day Internationals. Only player to have had played 200 tests before retirement. (This record would be accomplished in the next test series). First player in history to have scored 34,000 runs aggregate in all formats of the game in international level. You name the record, he holds the one.  Remember those matches when the whole nation prayed for only one batsman. And that is Tendulkar. People used to pray for Tendulkar, wishing he cracks at least a century in every match even if that wish may backfire India’s win. I was one of those great intellectuals too. Perhaps, we all knew that the amount of time Tendulkar spends on the pitch has a direct link to the probability of India’s win. Tendulkar has been a player both on and off the field. On the field he plays some beautiful cricket. Off the field he has been to every record book and has been a great personality. For the last 24 years he has been in every Indian’s heart, irrespective of caste, creed, religion and sex. He has a very humble personality and is very down to earth. (Too cheesy a line, but it’s a true fact) Probably the greatest cricketer of all time, Sir Don Bradman was so impressed seeing Tendulkar bat, he exclaimed that he saw himself in Tendulkar when Sachin batted..  I don’t have the power to note down every achievement of Mr. Tendulkar nor his greatness, but I have it in me to have a whole blog post in his name. He probably has every record possible.  I still remember the day he scored that double-century against South Africa. I was left dumbstruck. Who wasn’t? I didn’t even imagine, even in my wildest of dreams that someone would go on to score a double-century in ODIs. Perhaps it was befitting on a player of Tendulkar’s stature to break that record.

After the 10^th of October,’13, the day when he announced his retirement, Indian cricket would never be the same. Tendulkar would not be seen wearing India’s jersey post the test series against West Indies.  Gone would be the days when cricket had Tendulkar. Cricket in India at least, will be of two eras: ‘Before Tendulkar’ and ‘After Tendulkar’ . (Courtesy: The Hindu.). A few years earlier I had never imagined a day, when I would be wondering how it would be to watch cricket without Tendulkar. No doubt younger players would get oppurtunities in his place, but it is something people of India never would have even imagined of. Tendulkar-less cricket. It would be like a Bollywood movie without songs. Few can imagine that. He was only one of the few male persons in India whose poster, we would find hanging on the walls of male persons in India. Quite an irony!  As the whole nation is gearing up to see Tendulkar one last time playing cricket, I would be praying that he gets to score at least a century in his last test match. That would be an icing on the cake. When India finally won the ICC World Cup after 28 years in 2011, Virat Kohli, one of the players who carried Tendulkar during the victory parade around the Wankhede stadium exclaimed, “For the last 22 years, he has been carrying Indian cricket on his shoulders, it’s time we carry him on ours”. Truly said, Mr. Kohli.  “If Cricket is a religion, then Tendulkar is God” will forever echo in our hearts. Do not forget to watch his last two test matches. Till then, be happy.