There will be occasions when the annual budget is passed, when SRK's new movie is released amidst elaborate promotions, when the President Of India addresses the nation on the eve of Republic day, and then..when Sachin bats. For the past decade and a half in India, nothing else has enjoyed even half the scrutiny, anticipation and celebrations that Sachin's innings have. Nothing else is deemed as significant. Nobody else has received deference and adulation enough to be nick-named the modern God of India...Indeed India is no longer the country where President is the first citizen.
And yet, as most of us, Sachin was born to a modest Tendulkar family on April 24, 1973 and was named by his brothers after Sachin Dev Burman, Marathi novelist and musician. As a youngster, he played both cricket and lawn tennis, only for the World cup 1983 triumph by Kapil Dev and his men to secure his unadulterated focus on cricket. And hence he set out to do what it takes to become the greatest odi batsmen in cricketing history and arguably the greatest batsmen of post Bradman era.
At times, it is more arduous to prove critics right than to prove them wrong. The virtuosic talent in Sachin was too overwhelming to remain inconspicuous as he made mockery of school level cricket amassing centuries (even 2 triple centuries) every time he went out to bat. He went on to make centuries on his Duleep, Ranji and Irani Trophy debuts stunning cricket pundits by his enviable maturity and incomprehensible cricketing prowess at the tender age of 14. He was already referred to as the next big thing after Sunil Gavaskar. Sachin had to live up to these wild expectations.
Sachin may not be as petrifying and gruesome as Viv Richards was, or as ruthless and flamboyant as Brian Lara, or as scintillating as Virender Sehwag. He relies on the simplest of techniques, precise foot movement, rock steady head, exemplary balance and the quirky idiosyncrasy, typical to only geniuses-to anticipate. Sachin could score all round the wicket, against any opposition, on any surface, in any format......
His mastery was eventually put to test at the highest level on November 16, 1989 when he debuted for India against the fiery pace battery of Pakistan starring Imran Khan, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis. In the second test, he was hit by Waqar on his chin. He got up, wiped away the agitated blood and continued to play with a blood-soaked shirt. Incidentally, he dismissed the next ball to boundary to herald the beginning of a new dominance in world cricket.
For most part of 1990's he single-handedly carried the torch of hope for India with stirring performances both home and away. He scored a 114 not out against a rampaging Australian attack in Perth, widely regarded as the bounciest fastest track in the world, far different from what Indians are accustomed. In 1998, he scored a whopping 9 odi centuries, including the desert storm innings, single-handedly taking India to the finals and then winning it from there against Australia, arguably the then best outfit. There also had been many heart-breaks for him and Indians, none more popular than the Chennai innings of 1999, when he defied an excruciating back pain, a fifth day cobra-spinning Chennai track, a determined Pakistani attack and indifferent batting from his fellow mates to almost script the most incredible victory thus far. Another equivalent heart break came on Nov 5th 2009 in Hybd, when an aging Sachin with 20 years of international experience but with just as much venom as before almost chased down 350 single-handedly in a chance less, epoch-making innings.
For one thing, nobody in the international circuit has had a career as lengthy and yet as consistent as Sachin. Yes, there had been injuries and relatively lean patches, but every time Sachin has come out of them in dramatic fashion, letting his bat tacitly riposte his critics.
Consequently, Sachin now has almost all batting records to his name. As Harsha Bhogle once wrote, "he has scored much more than any of us did looking out of the window during boring lecture hours". He has now more than 17k runs in odi, is closing in on 13k runs in test cricket. And with as many as 45 odi centuries and 43 test centuries he heads all these lists. He is so much ahead of his contemporaries in odi cricket that it seems increasingly impossible anyone will ever overtake. Still a few seasons to play, it is very difficult to over-estimate Sachin's final career stats.
It doesn't end here. Sachin is not just about his batting and the records that he has. He is undoubtedly amongst the humblest gentlemen to have ever played and a true ambassador of the game. To his achievements, you add the incessant expectations, all the hope, the folded hands, the whispering lips, the celebrations, the angst and everything, and you will find no one comes close. Surprisingly he has only gone from best to still better and has now unfailingly come good for India in recent times. For all the worship, faith and certitude bestowed on him, it has become difficult to find the human in Sachin. He is and will still be to a few billion people, the most important Indian today.
