End of the Sachin Tendulkar era

He was admired by all, even by his competitors and opponents. He never took his success to mind. Humbleness was one of his prime virtues and he maintained it throughout his glorious career. When a batting legend Brian Lara compares Sachin’s impact on cricket with Michael Jordan‘s in Basketball and Mohammad Ali’s in Boxing or when a majestic leg-spinner Shane Warne accepts that he was the greatest batsman of his era, you know he must have been a special player.

“What came out was that he was a genius who thought deeply about his craft. His mind was like an advanced computer which absorbed information, processed it, saved what was important.” This is how cricket columnist Amrit Mathur explained the genius of Sachin. In his latest piece, Rohit Brijnath gives some more insights on him and his way of thinking. When Sachin explains how he sometimes compels bowlers to do what he wants, you know he isn’t joking. That’s a master at work for you. He has done this on numberous occasions. There are many stories about Sachin and almost every cricket writer and his fellow cricketers have something to tell.

There are many memories of Sachin’s glorious knocks. People talk about his Perth knock, his Old Trafford hundred. I didn’t see those but I have seen most of his finest. His twin hundreds in Sharjah stands out. His aggression against Shane Warne during that Chennai masterclass, his onslaught against Shoaib Akhtar in that 2003 World Cup match, that Six over the point was sheer brilliance. His Chennai knock after Mumbai blasts, his handling of one of the best ever fast bowling spells by Dale Steyn. His 175 in Hyderabad and his ODI double hundred. That Chennai 136 against Pakistan came in a losing cause but that was undoubtedly one of his finest.

That World Cup winning night at Wankhede Stadium was the peak of Indian cricket’s golden age. India were Test No.1 then and even Sachin’s personal form was alright. I think even Sachin will consider it as the highest point of his career.

I find myself blessed to have seen it all and each one of these will remain etched in our memories forever.

People always talk about Sir Donald Bradman, they talk about Vivian Richards but I have never seen them bat, I only saw Sachin. For me, he is and will remain the greatest batsman ever. Cricket will always be there but it will be little less magical without the Master. Thank you Sachin!