An Open Letter to Sachin Tendulkar thanking him for being a phenomenon

Sachin Tendulkar bats for India in 2011

Dear Sachin,

Greetings!

It is indeed tough to pen down a letter to you. For a man of your stature, words shall never justify who you are. As I write on, I am getting nervous and can feel a shiver down my spine. I have a fear – Will I be able to compliment the aura which I can aptly term as the Sachin Tendulkar era? Sir, you have not only created an era which we as Indians can be proud of, but let me tell you that this era will have its name etched till the world ceases to exist.

I feel the pain that I can no longer witness your show. The show which has enthralled every single human being who has ever watched you bat. The show which has always had a plethora of charm attached to it. My cheeks can feel tears every time I remember you playing a cover drive off the front foot. I get nostalgic every single moment I miss those lofted hits around the park. I can feel the void every time I visualize you dancing down the track and depositing the cherry in the stands.

The sweep shots or the orthodox reverse sweeps – these shots have lost their sheen.

Sir, I have tried hard with all my might to get the petty gray matter that I have in sync with your way of cricket. Let me tell you that every single attempt has led to a generic inference – “Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, you are a magician”.

Nobody else has the charm and wit to make people switch off their lives and switch on the television sets. I thank those folks who have studied technology and devised the television. Had it not been there, it would have been a monumental and irreparable loss to have not lived the life your way. As rightly said, a statistical frame could have never defined the deeds that you have done.

Sir, it is indeed tough to perceive your thought process running under that cranium metal every time you take guard. I can put all my money and say that science has failed to measure it over these years. Your career has spanned over two and a half decades and it would not be wrong to say that you have come out all guns blazing against the best bowlers in the business.

Inswingers, outswingers, carom ball, off spin, leg spin, cutters, yorkers, bouncers, beamers, chinaman, the ‘doosras’ – you sir, have mastered it all and have belted all of them with the same vigour.

It has always been a style which has been unmatched. Hammering bowlers and then walking across the crease in your signature style has always silently uttered a few words of wisdom to the bowler, words which goes like this – “There you go son, open the bible of cricket and turn to page number 24. You will find the remedy to this shot. But never ever try this remedy on me because it shall never work”. In the same situation if I try to read the bowlers mind, it would go something like this – “Sorry Sir, I was just trying to impress you. I just want you to feel that I am good at the end of day’s play.”

It is you who have made the opposition realize the art of not bowling bad deliveries; because you have always hit the good ones for boundaries. They could never afford a loose delivery. This in a way would have really brought in the discipline and must have shaped the careers of that bunch of bowlers who have had the chance to have a go at you. Sir, batsmen from the opposition have always fancied a chance to witness you bat so that they can pick out a leaf out of your book.

Sir, I thank you for setting a hallmark. I thank you for acknowledging the frantic appeal that has been made to you by our country. I thank you for bringing up front the beads of wisdom along with you. I thank you for having been born in India and nowhere else. I thank you for displaying the elegant poise and shouldering Indian cricket for 24 years. I thank you for having defined success in an impeccable manner.

As I end it, my mind has got a bit heavy and my fingers have started feeling the tremors. There is only one way to be back to normal life. So, I shall move on and ‘Youtube’ the India versus Pakistan match in the epic 2003 world cup clash.

Thanking you from the core of my heart.

Yours Sincerely,

A Fan(This is an understatement)