Ever
wondered if truth is actually a dream? Ever found yourself in a
position where you desperately wanted the fact to be confirmed false and
simply kept waiting for it to happen, defying all logic? Yeah, we all
would have experienced these in our childhood. But I found myself in
similar situations over the past month. Not that my childhood is over, I
am still a child in his 3rd decade!! But despite the fact of
Tendulkar's retirement from ODI, it took almost one month, and an entire
India-Pakistan series for me to half heartedly accept the fact.
With the retirement of Tendulkar from ODIs, a part of my childhood is at jeopardy.
He set his foot into ODIs in 1989, the year I was born. His first ODI
century was hit in 1994, the year I entered schooling. And from then on,
there has been no stopping. All my schooling in cricket was watching
Tendulkar. Watching him hit those straight drives with wide open eyes,
has to be one of the most cherished moments of my childhood. To me, Tendulkar resonates with my own dreams of victory and now I am anxious if my dreams will be orphaned?
Our only family TV show back then, was when Tendulkar held fort. Mom and
Dad, though were not cricket crazy, simply stopped in front of the TV
screen to catch a glimpse of the phenomenon that brought life and joy to
millions of sports lovers the world over. The agile Tendulkar, though
short was fast and smart enough to fox the fielding side to pick a
single though the ball remained within the crease. This one fact was
something that always left my dad awe struck.
I vividly remember that World cup Indo-Pak encounter in 2003. My Dad,
never cricket crazy, got a call and he replied he could not come till
Tendulkar stood strong in the crease! That innings was magical. That six
into the stands set up the successful Indian chase. We talk of chases
and we don't talk of that mammoth chase against Australia! He stood like
a Gladiator that day, anchored the entire Indian batting line up and to
every cricket fan, that was a victory in defeat! Chasing 350 against
one of the finest teams in contemporary times, Tendulkar scored a legendary 175(141 balls) and proved why he
was the master of the craft. Who in India will forget the first 200 in ODIs?
Why only the milestones? Moments of exuberant cricketing genius fill my memory. That daring attempt to direct the ball over the slip cordon along its way to the fence, that ability to play lofted shots along the spin over the bowler, that flick of the wrists to guide the ball on the leg side, and my personal favorite - the straight drive. Oh, what maturity in that batting of his! That movement of his eyes as he read the ball pacing towards him, that
sweet sound when the ball was hit from the middle of his bat, that humility in his celebration and the agony in us when the ball knocked off his stumps -
Nahi boolunga mein, jab tak hai jaan, jab tak hai jaan!
The tragedy of cricket in our country is that it is not a sport. As they say, it is more of a religion - a religion which thankfully remains above communalism. But is prone to most of the flaws that religions are subject to in India - extreme admiration, unreasonable loyalty, baseless beliefs, illogical expectations, bigotry. Every
admirer of sports knows victory and defeat are inevitable to any mortal.
But to most Indians, Tendulkar was always looked up as an exception. To
us, he was the God of Cricket. Every time he took guard, we wanted him to
score another century. If anyone has betrayed Tendulkar the most, then
it is we, his own country men. We denied him any concession, at least
those chances of failure, every mortal is entitled to. Yet, the great
man was the most unlikely to loose cool and kept us entertained and educated us with his skills on field and behavior off field. We mounted such immense pressure on him that one single measure of his greatness lies is his composure, the finest among any contemporary sportsmen.
Sachin's game was not one of passion, but of vigorous passion. There was
energy to it, enthusiasm in it and over all a child like eagerness in
it. He too has had his failures. The nervous nineties were something
very characteristic of Tendulkar. He holds the record of maximum 90s
too! At times, we have seen him being too edgy and scratchy. Maybe the
100th century will be best remembered for how scratchy an innings it
was. Lean patches occur in the careers of the finest of the finest and Tendulkar too was no exception. The law of averages did catch up with the God of Cricket, I wonder if the supreme God himself is actually exempt from it?
Maybe the statistics and record books will paint varied pictures of the legend that Sachin was, but to a true sports lover it is not the number of records that bear his name against them, but it is some of the finest moments of cricketing joy that Tendulkar has given us to cherish that make him the legend we adore. In Indian mythology, it is believed that the only instance when time stopped was at the beginning of the Kurukshetra war when Krishna preached the Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna. The late Peter Roebuck wondered if there have been more of such instances because time stopped in India when the little master held fort in the peak of his form.
Now, that he has announced his retirement from ODIs, I find my heart singing to
him, one of Urdu poetry's finest poems pleading the loved one not to insist on leaving -
Aaj jaane ki zid na karo
Yoon hi pehlu mein baittey raho
Aaj jaane ki zid na karo....
Tum hi socho zara Kyoon na rokey tumhe
Jaan jaati hai jab utt ke jaatey ho tum
Tumko apni kasam, jaane jaan
Baat itni meri maan lo....
Aaj jaane ki zid na karo
Yoon hi pehlu mein baittey raho..
(Don't insist on leaving tonight
Just sit by my side
Don't insist on leaving tonight...
Give it a thought, Why should not I withhold you?
My life departs as you rise to take leave of me
My love, swear by me
This small request of mine, agree to it...
Don't insist on leaving tonight
Just sit by my side....)
