Sachin Tendulkar - Age is just a number

Looking at the past few innings, you wouldn’t be wrong to think that an embattled Sachin Tendulkar would be under some pressure coming into bat for Mumbai against Baroda. “The face is the index of the character,” they say, but if you look at Tendulkar’s face, it has no emotions. When he was making his way into the centre, the crowds were cheering, clicking photographs of their favourite batsman, shouting “Sachin Sachin” and probably feeling the way Edmund Hilary would have felt after climbing the insurmountable Mount Everest in 1954- a sense of pride, joy and a feeling of contentment.

The Little Master turned up at his home ground for the second time this season. There is always a sense of awe when first-class cricketers get to be part of a match which features Tendulkar. The man has 100 hundreds and 34,000 International runs; yet he toils in the nets to rediscover the pristine touch and magical timing. It is a reflection of his precarious present.

January 6^th was a normal day in Mumbai until 8:30 a.m, when people had queued to see Tendulkar. The entry to the stadium was absolutely free. Tendulkar jogged, stretched and sweated before the game. Such was the enthusiasm that people started clicking his photograph and cheered for him. It was toss time then.

Mumbai won the toss and elected to bat – this news brought a great hope to the partisan crowd that was gathering to witness Sachin’s batting. Of late, Tendulkar has been found wanting against the bowlers who were not even born when he was wielding his willow like a dagger. The ball was swinging early in the morning and Mumbai lost two quick wickets. Out walked Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.

Ask the Baroda teams of 1994 and 2001. In those two innings, Tendulkar had decimated the Baroda attacks and scored attacking hundreds at a strike rate which exceeded 100. At the RCF ground, Mumbai, India discard Rashid Patel tried to bounce out the little master at the start of the innings. But Tendulkar was in no mood to tolerate these tactics- he launched an assault against the Patel first and then rest of the bowlers. He hit 22 fours and eight sixes, and his 141-ball essay produced 175 precious runs. The then-selector of Mumbai, Dilip Vengsarkar, watched Tendulkar’s innings and was awestruck just like any other spectator on the ground. In 2001, Tendulkar scored a 95-ball 108 and toyed with the Baroda bowling at MIG Ground, Mumbai. Despite the fact that the bowlers have a great challenge bowling to Tendulkar, they certainly become household names if they can dismiss the maestro cheaply.

Is getting Sachin’s wicket a gate-pass into the national team?

The domestic bowlers get this rare opportunity to bowl at Tendulkar – who is playing only his 35^th domestic game in 24 first class seasons. Getting Tendulkar’s scalp would be a great addition to a bowler’s resume. Who knows, it might even earn him a national call-up. Piyush Chawla, S Sreesanth and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar have all had the fortune of dismissing the Little Master quite cheaply. All the three men have represented the country. So when Murtuja Vohra was bending his back and getting good movement in the initial hour- it was understandable why he was doing that. That he got his reward six hours later makes it no lesser of an achievement, but at the start of his innings, Tendulkar was a man on a mission. He weathered the initial storm and then made batting look easy. It is amazing how Tendulkar is able to turn the clock by playing those exquisite straight drives, slog sweeps, paddle sweeps, not to forget the smashing square cuts, the wristy flicks and the cover drive of the highest quality. His batting is an addiction for anyone who watches.

When Mumbai were piling on the runs against Baroda, India were getting floundered by the Pakistani attack at Delhi. There was no doubt that Tendulkar was missed in the ODI series against Pakistan, especially in the heavily crowded Vijay Merchant Stand. If anyone had any doubt about Tendulkar’s absence, the master made him eat humble pie with his repertoire of shots at the Wankhede Stadium. He is still hungry. From hunger stems the motivation and from there comes the desire which has seen Sachin scale unimaginable heights. The way he defended spinners Bhargav Bhatt and Ketul Patel shows how Tendulkar does not take his cricket for granted.

There was a phase where the Baroda bowlers bowled a tight line. Tendulkar played the waiting game to perfection. Even when the part-timers were on, Tendulkar did not play a single loose shot against them. Batting on 98, he tucked Ambati Rayudu behind square leg for a couple of runs he brought up his 80^th first class ton. One fan ran onto the ground and touched Tendulkar’s feet. This just goes to show what Tendulkar means to the people of India.

He was out bowled for 108, just a few minutes before stumps. Tendulkar admonished himself. He wanted to score more. But rest assured, Tendulkar will iron out that flaw in his batting, for Tendulkar seldom repeats the same mistake twice.

Will this be Tendulkar’s last appearance with the bat at Wankhede Stadium? No one can know. There has been a lot said and written about him, but this man has the ability to surprise everybody. Looking at his batting, one can be safe to say that his reflexes are not slow and the age is not yet caught up with him. After all, isn’t age just a number?