About Me

Sunday 17 November 2013

24 years of living on 22 yards!

Sachin Tendulkar retired from test cricket recently, ending his 24 year cricketing career. Just thought of writing what I feel about him& all other things around him. Again, MY OPINION.
  
 
His advantage as I see:
He made his debut at a very young age of 16 when most of us carried our 11th standard books to school in a cycle. So, the selection committee had long time to invest in him considering that if he clicks then we will have a solid player for at least 20 years..!

Also, he got a chance to play bowlers like Walsh, Ambrose, W. Akram, W. Younis, Glen Mcgrath etc., in the initial years of his career which made him more stronger. When these legends retired and new players came in, he was already a senior player & was very comfortable to handle them.
My favourite Sachin moments:

There are 34000 odd runs that he scored but there are sure to be some favourite moments for all of us. For me, his back-to-back centuries in Sharjah against Australia – one to make India qualify for finals & other to win the final was awesome – Master class & ability to dominate any bowling attack.

I’m not quite a fan of heavy runs scored in the flat Indian pitches. But this one was special – the mighty 103* against England on day 5, successfully chasing 487 in the Chennai test in 2008 – talk about composure.
Batting with a sore back during the Chennai test Vs Pakistan scoring 136 (where India folded after his dismissal and lost the match) and his emotional century against Kenya in 1999 World cup – a day after his father’s death – these show his level of concentration & focus on the game.

Now, what I think was missing-
As much as I’ve seen, I hardly saw Sachin farming the strike with tail-enders and extending the total or Lead.  Recently, Rohit sharma batted with No.11 (Shami Ahmed) and made a partnership of 80 runs - that is what I mean!





With 154 ODI wickets & 47 test wickets, Sachin was a potential all-rounder who could send down some variety of spin. But he bowled only in less than 50% of his total matches. Whether he himself opted out – or did the captain not use him properly – or was there fitness concern – is still a question! (Wait for an auto-biography ;-)

 




When did it all go wrong?
This again is a simple logic explained in “3 idiots” movie – don’t run behind success, thrive for excellence & success will follow you by itself”. In the earlier part of his career, Sachin didn’t care about anything and he batted fluently. Runs were coming easily for him and records were broken. But when public & media started calculating his statistics like 50th 100, 100th 100, 100 in all countries, 100s each year, etc etc., pressure was inevitable.  When he entered the 90’s, he started becoming nervous.
Even in his last match, as Sachin was entering the ground to bat for one last time, people started to tweet that he should score 153 runs so that he can end with 16000 test runs etc.,

A highly-optimistic fan even tweeted that Sachin should open the bowling as he is 3 away from 50 test wickets..!!
This shows how obsessed people are with numbers. – The same disease that grows from schooldays where a report card is more valued than the conceptual knowledge of a student.

As the funny old saying goes ‘Statistics are like bikini’s; they hide the important thing”. The pitch & conditions in which runs are scored, , the toughness of the bowling attack are all not explained in the statistics. Sometimes a 35 not out is better than a century. But these mad fans don’t just understand that and end up pressurising the player.
His enemies-

I won’t name Australia or England or Pakistan – because they only made him work harder & improved him. His real enemies were a select group of Indian public & the media who pressurised him unnecessarily. They failed to understand that he was a Human and not a machine.

And his injuries – needless to say – they break your momentum and tie you down. To recover & regain form quickly is stunning display of talent & commitment.
The build-ups –

Need to mention here - I’m an Anti – “Sachin fan”. (Not an “Anti–Sachin” fan; there is a large difference).  I like Sachin but hate those hard-core fans who portray him as a larger-than-life character by switching off TV once he gets out etc.,. The logic is simple
No individual is greater than the game. The game created the players and whatever performance the player does is a service to the game & their nation”.

In the recently concluded WI series, where Kolkata & Mumbai crowd cheered & celebrated the fall of 2nd Indian wicket (as Sachin would come to bat) was too much.
It’s actually funny to notice that Media & larger public were behind his blood for the last 2-3 years indirectly forcing his retirement because of non-performance in critical tours. And when finally he announced retirement, there is a huge build-up to it – asking India to sacrifice innings victory & make him bat for second time!! Come-on guys..!
In my opinion - he should have retired after the 2011 WC win, when India was also No.1 in test rankings.  This is already 2.5 yrs late, but nevertheless, an excellent career.
To play for 24 years is not a big thing - but to do so while scoring at an average of 45 & 53 in ODI's & Tests, amidst all these media hypes, pressures, Public demands & expectations, whole-lot of injuries - is simply CLASS.

As Farhan Akthar tweeted – Don’t think it is unfortunate to see Sachin retire; but think we are fortunate to have seen him play all these years.

I only hope that Sachin uses his remaining years in life to serve the game & nation in some way or other rather than picking up some non-productive things like commentating, article writing etc.,

Thank you Sachin,