“For someone who never had a single poster in my cupboard all my life, who never went to the streets to burn an effigy of an opponent, who never waited on the road for hours to go to see a glimpse of his star, this title is as abjure as the recent political comment made by our beetle chewing railway minister that his opponent has his teeth in his stomach….”
Over the last few days, I have been subjected to countless debates on whether Sachin is really the greatest ever to seeing his team loose a heart-breaking game against Rajasthan to ensure that commentators continue to say- “The game is not over till it really is…” It took me down memory lane… Who can forget his fighting 136 with a sore back against Pakistan in Chennai only to see his team not cross the line with 17 runs to win and 4 wickets in hand once he went back. Switch to 2009 and his team (however different it might be) achieved another un-enviable task of not scoring 6 runs of 10 balls with 4 wickets in hand.
For a legend with the most decorated career ever, he has had his share of challenges and a whole baggage of bad luck. Wonder what this great man would have achieved if only he had not received more than 40 wrong dismissals over his career.425 one day internal matches, 150 odd tests, 25,000 runs, 85 centuries later, we still question the greatest cricketer mankind has ever seen. Is it our Indian attitude of questioning greatness or is it adage, “The grass is always greener on the other side.”
I remember as a 12 year old, I woke up in the middle of my sleep, woke up my mother as well and questioned her on what Sachin would do to Mcdermott tomorrow. My mom would inevitably shoo me away and I would rather unassumingly continue the process of questioning and short practice in bed and eventually fall asleep wondering which way things would go tomorrow. Who can forget those days in the mid 90’s when we switched off the TV sets when he got out.
From Malcolm Marshall, Wasim Akram to Glen Mcgrath & Shane Warne, he has played them all and ‘differently & successfully’ at that…There is not one weakness in his batting that has been exposed over a sustained period of time. I remember the late 90’s when Pakistan found a new way to get him. Bowl wide at Sachin, place 2 short-covers a shake hand away from each other and he would guide the ball into one of their hands. Turn to Ashley Giles who would bowl wide outside leg-stump, frustrate him and eventually get him to commit a mistake.
He did not take these challenges lying down, but he countered them by inventing two of the finest shots in cricket- the “upper cut” & “short paddle sweep”. No player really played this shot outside of their backyard till he mastered this shot and showed the world the way to do it. Today we see the Gilchrist’s and Sehwag’s of the world playing the shot. You might ask me what is so great about inventing shots. Petersen invented the “switch shot”, Douglas Marillier invented the ala Lagaan shot of placing the ball over the wicket keeper’s head. What was different between what the little master developed and what the others invented has been the longevity of these shots and that has been the essence of this legend- longevity on the back of consistency.
“An artist dies…..but his art never does”
On similar lines, Sachin will retire but his cover drive, upper cut, leg glance, pull, paddle sweep or his “lip-smacking, earth shattering, heart stopping on drive” would live on in the memories of those who were privy to it and his scores, to the pages of history books for our children to read and aspire…I find it excruciating to explain to people who question this magician. They question his match winning capability, his captaincy, his performance at a country-by-country level and the fact that he has played all these years… Is match-winning all about scoring the last run only? Or is it about contributing to a win in terms of the runs scored?
The man averages 56 against Ponting who averages 39 and Waugh who averages less than half of his 56 in tournament finals. And yet we claim Ponting and Steve Waugh are better in finals? What’s more you compare an opener (ODIs) with middle order players who come in once the new ball has been seen out invariably. What can the man do if most of his life he had to play with the ever-promising players who never really promised? Ajit Agarkar, Vikram Rathore, Nilesh Kulkarni, Ashish Kapoor and so on….
Compare that with Australia which has had 11 match-winners from Hayden and Gilchrist to the Waugh brothers to Warne and McGrath….He makes a shoddy captain and that is for all of us to see but to question his ability by looking at each state and country he has played in is the most outrageous debate I have been a part of. An artist is a human being. Tiger Woods never wins every tournament he plays. Yet, he is the undisputed leader in golf. Cricket is not an individual sport and hence the presence of the greatest cricketer ever does not make an average team great.In the last 18-months alone, he has been lynch-pin to some of our finest wins- the VB series finals in Australia, the New Zealand series win, drawing a test match against Australia from a seemingly un-real situation and chasing down a mammoth 387 against England.As I write this article, I think I have found my answer to the question on why many of us believe Sachin is getting tastier like vintage wine. He has not changed his batting style by a mile nor has he suddenly become a match winner which anyways was born to be one. The answer lies in the fact that today he has 8-9 genuine match winners/ seasoned performers in Gambhir and Sehwag to Raina, Dhoni, Yuvraj and Zaheer. He can rely on them unlike the 90’s. With that the weight of expectation has drastically reduced and hence we are seeing the free-spirited Tendulkar re-born and cracking all over again!!!
In my view, he is greatest Indian cricketer and the greatest batsman ever seen. I have grown up admiring and following him. During these 18 odd years, I have gone to bed many times than not excited and enthused at what he has done and that is the essence of the player he really is…..
World Cup What did he do? Result
1996 Highest scorer in the WC Reached Semi-Finals
1999 Lean patch - Father’s death Crashed out in the 1st round
2003 Highest scorer in the WC Reached Finals
2007 Lean patch - Just not his WC Crashed out in the 1st round
2011- HOPE Highest scorer in the WC World cup winners
As his career nears an end, I look forward to 2 things:Ø The evolution of new playersAll his bad-luck culminating in him winning the 2011 world-cup, for what can be a more be-fitting reply to this walking legend’s platinum studded career…..Rohit Nambiar(I call myself the greatest fan of his art - his batting…..)
Over the last few days, I have been subjected to countless debates on whether Sachin is really the greatest ever to seeing his team loose a heart-breaking game against Rajasthan to ensure that commentators continue to say- “The game is not over till it really is…” It took me down memory lane… Who can forget his fighting 136 with a sore back against Pakistan in Chennai only to see his team not cross the line with 17 runs to win and 4 wickets in hand once he went back. Switch to 2009 and his team (however different it might be) achieved another un-enviable task of not scoring 6 runs of 10 balls with 4 wickets in hand.
For a legend with the most decorated career ever, he has had his share of challenges and a whole baggage of bad luck. Wonder what this great man would have achieved if only he had not received more than 40 wrong dismissals over his career.425 one day internal matches, 150 odd tests, 25,000 runs, 85 centuries later, we still question the greatest cricketer mankind has ever seen. Is it our Indian attitude of questioning greatness or is it adage, “The grass is always greener on the other side.”
I remember as a 12 year old, I woke up in the middle of my sleep, woke up my mother as well and questioned her on what Sachin would do to Mcdermott tomorrow. My mom would inevitably shoo me away and I would rather unassumingly continue the process of questioning and short practice in bed and eventually fall asleep wondering which way things would go tomorrow. Who can forget those days in the mid 90’s when we switched off the TV sets when he got out.
From Malcolm Marshall, Wasim Akram to Glen Mcgrath & Shane Warne, he has played them all and ‘differently & successfully’ at that…There is not one weakness in his batting that has been exposed over a sustained period of time. I remember the late 90’s when Pakistan found a new way to get him. Bowl wide at Sachin, place 2 short-covers a shake hand away from each other and he would guide the ball into one of their hands. Turn to Ashley Giles who would bowl wide outside leg-stump, frustrate him and eventually get him to commit a mistake.
He did not take these challenges lying down, but he countered them by inventing two of the finest shots in cricket- the “upper cut” & “short paddle sweep”. No player really played this shot outside of their backyard till he mastered this shot and showed the world the way to do it. Today we see the Gilchrist’s and Sehwag’s of the world playing the shot. You might ask me what is so great about inventing shots. Petersen invented the “switch shot”, Douglas Marillier invented the ala Lagaan shot of placing the ball over the wicket keeper’s head. What was different between what the little master developed and what the others invented has been the longevity of these shots and that has been the essence of this legend- longevity on the back of consistency.
“An artist dies…..but his art never does”
On similar lines, Sachin will retire but his cover drive, upper cut, leg glance, pull, paddle sweep or his “lip-smacking, earth shattering, heart stopping on drive” would live on in the memories of those who were privy to it and his scores, to the pages of history books for our children to read and aspire…I find it excruciating to explain to people who question this magician. They question his match winning capability, his captaincy, his performance at a country-by-country level and the fact that he has played all these years… Is match-winning all about scoring the last run only? Or is it about contributing to a win in terms of the runs scored?
The man averages 56 against Ponting who averages 39 and Waugh who averages less than half of his 56 in tournament finals. And yet we claim Ponting and Steve Waugh are better in finals? What’s more you compare an opener (ODIs) with middle order players who come in once the new ball has been seen out invariably. What can the man do if most of his life he had to play with the ever-promising players who never really promised? Ajit Agarkar, Vikram Rathore, Nilesh Kulkarni, Ashish Kapoor and so on….
Compare that with Australia which has had 11 match-winners from Hayden and Gilchrist to the Waugh brothers to Warne and McGrath….He makes a shoddy captain and that is for all of us to see but to question his ability by looking at each state and country he has played in is the most outrageous debate I have been a part of. An artist is a human being. Tiger Woods never wins every tournament he plays. Yet, he is the undisputed leader in golf. Cricket is not an individual sport and hence the presence of the greatest cricketer ever does not make an average team great.In the last 18-months alone, he has been lynch-pin to some of our finest wins- the VB series finals in Australia, the New Zealand series win, drawing a test match against Australia from a seemingly un-real situation and chasing down a mammoth 387 against England.As I write this article, I think I have found my answer to the question on why many of us believe Sachin is getting tastier like vintage wine. He has not changed his batting style by a mile nor has he suddenly become a match winner which anyways was born to be one. The answer lies in the fact that today he has 8-9 genuine match winners/ seasoned performers in Gambhir and Sehwag to Raina, Dhoni, Yuvraj and Zaheer. He can rely on them unlike the 90’s. With that the weight of expectation has drastically reduced and hence we are seeing the free-spirited Tendulkar re-born and cracking all over again!!!
In my view, he is greatest Indian cricketer and the greatest batsman ever seen. I have grown up admiring and following him. During these 18 odd years, I have gone to bed many times than not excited and enthused at what he has done and that is the essence of the player he really is…..
World Cup What did he do? Result
1996 Highest scorer in the WC Reached Semi-Finals
1999 Lean patch - Father’s death Crashed out in the 1st round
2003 Highest scorer in the WC Reached Finals
2007 Lean patch - Just not his WC Crashed out in the 1st round
2011- HOPE Highest scorer in the WC World cup winners
As his career nears an end, I look forward to 2 things:Ø The evolution of new playersAll his bad-luck culminating in him winning the 2011 world-cup, for what can be a more be-fitting reply to this walking legend’s platinum studded career…..Rohit Nambiar(I call myself the greatest fan of his art - his batting…..)
2 comments:
good work, man.............
World Cup What did he do? Result
1996 Highest scorer in the WC Reached Semi-Finals
1999 Lean patch - Father’s death Crashed out in the 1st round
2003 Highest scorer in the WC Reached Finals
2007 Lean patch - Just not his WC Crashed out in the 1st round
2011- HOPE Highest scorer in the WC World cup winners
this is the best part,sir.....very nice
Post a Comment