Sachin Tendulkar moments: Forever to be cherished

Sachin Tendulkar

It was not a Bradmanesque end after all. Though the little master could not wrap up his career by scoring a century in his final innings, he did manage to score a flawless 74 much to the delight of his home crowd, who were cheering their heart out for him. That was it. It was very much evident by then that they were not going to see another stint from the most celebrated icon of Indian sports. After all the Indian team was up against a beleaguered West Indies side which was finding it tough to go past even 300, both innings put together. So, the writing was on the wall when Sachin departed for 74 that India was not going to bat again in the Test match. But we can take solace from the fact that the great man has given so many moments for us to cherish which will remain indelible in our memories.

The maestro did not have a great start to his international career when he debuted against Pakistan. In his very first innings he was bowled by a certain “toe crusher” called Waqar Younis for just 15 runs. But that disappointment did not succeed in holding back his passion to play for India. As a sixteen year old, in an unofficial one day international in Peshawar – he lifted the veteran Pakistani spinner Abdul Qadir, not for just one, but for four towering sixes.

The Pakistani himself later admitted that he had not offered any freebies to the youngster and was bowling like he used to do in any forms of serious cricket. A modern day Vivian Richards was born. Well it was not just that. In the final Test at Sialkot, he did something which was not expected of a debutant and that too at a tender age of 16. In spite of getting hit on his nose by a Waqar Younis bouncer, he scored a gutsy 57, declining any kind of medical assistance.

So, in Tendulkar India found a batsman who was not only aggressive but also mentally strong – enough to confront fast bowlers, possessing horrendous pace. Those were not the moments which went on to just showcase his brilliance as a child prodigy but on the other hand, such incidents went on to indicate to us that the Indian team had got the services of another Mohinder Amarnath who never used to get intimidated by the boorish nature of the faster bowlers.

As soon as Sunil Gavaskar retired in 1987, India was looking for a batsman who could thrive in any sort of conditions, including unfriendly batting tracks. Everyone knew it by then that Sachin was a great talent but the question which was in everyone’s mind was whether he will be able to perform outside the subcontinent. The Indian team, back then, did have in its disposal, a great deal of senior cricketers who have had the experience of playing in English soil. But the retirement of Gavaskar, three years ago, looked almost certain to haunt the side, unless a hero emerged out of nowhere. Even a gritty century by Mohd.Azharuddin and a blitzkrieg by Kapil Dev were not enough for India to save the first Test at Lord’s, who came under the firing line of Graham Gooch.

The veteran English batsman scored a triple hundred in the first innings and followed it up with a century in the second innings. So, the struggle seemed to be certain for India in the ensuing Test which was staged at Old Trafford, Manchester. However, the little master who made a paltry 37 runs in both the innings put together at Lord’s had other ideas, going into the second Test. That Test match, in Indian context, was purely his. He scored a handy 68 runs in the first innings and remained not out at 119 in the second innings to save the Test for India, batting alongside Manoj Prabhakar. That was also incidentally his first ever Test century which came after eight Tests. The fact that he made it in England under trying conditions gave everyone hope that India did get a player who was good enough to play on tracks which were not supposedly batting paradises.

It was then the most important moment came in the life for Sachin which was his first ever tour to Australia. This was the country where India had never won a Test series before and as I write today, the situation remains the same. If the movement off the air and off the seam foxes the batsmen in England, it is the bouncy nature of the tracks “down under” which terrifies the batsmen, especially from sub-continent. The Indians, however, had always been relatively comfortable batting in Adelaide and SCG which were not as menacing as the other tracks like Brisbane and Perth.

The WACA ground in Perth, in particular, was known as the fastest wicket in the world and is still regarded so. So, the century by the Mumbai teenager at SCG was not all that surprising where he disfigured an upcoming leg spinner, better known as Shane Keith Warne. But what enraptured the cricketing world was his performance at Perth which beguiled everyone. It was as if his known backyard, playing back and cross, he cut and drove the likes of McDermott, Hughes and Whitney at will and went on to score his second century of the tour, which even now, according to experts, is his best ever Test hundred.

Speaking for Star Sports yesterday, Sourav Ganguly who was present during that tour also corroborated to the experts’ view. He said the wicket at Perth during 1990s was much faster and bouncier than what we are seeing now. So, these memorable moments in England and Australia in the early 90s did give hope for India that the baton of leading the batting order overseas had been passed on from Gavaskar to Tendulkar. The master blaster did not disappoint either. Till the date he retired, he remained the premier batsman outside subcontinent for India. He never allowed us to miss the retired stalwarts like Gavaskar, Viswanath and Amarnath who were collectively used to be good abroad, as he possessed the qualities of all the said three.

Sachin Tendulkar

Very soon due to his batting exploits, he came to be known as India’s best batsman and not anyone, save Brian Lara, was reckoned as his competitor in the international arena. From thereon, especially in 90s, there was no stopping him. Team India totally relied on him in winning matches. He even won them a match with the ball, bowling the last over against South Africa which took his team to the final of the Hero Cup 1993. Sachin not only used to get his team going by his aggressive batsmanship but also used to drive the Mexican wave out of the spectators in the stadium.

There was one particular banner, held by the spectators, which I still remember seeing during England’s tour of India in 1993. It read, “Our kids Sachin and Kambli vs Your Grandpas Gooch and Emburey.” One thing was very much visible from that post, setting aside the humour element in it. The fans treated him to be a kid bestowing loads of affection on him. It was clear by then that he had become a household name at a very young age of 20.

During those days, people watched cricket only for Sachin and used to switch off the TV screens as soon as he got out. It should not be viewed as fanaticism. When everyone knew what was in stored for them as soon he got out, why they should ever bother to have their TV sets tuned on. Those days the hopes of victory for India used to vaporize along with Sachin whenever he took a long walk back to the pavilion. The 1996 world cup league match against Australia, the semi final match against Srilanka in Eden Gardens, the Chennai Test against Pakistan in 1999 – every instance of those matches indicates the over dependency of India on Tendulkar. He created history and carried the burden of India totally upon his shoulders for close to a decade before Ganguly, Dravid and Laxman made their way into the side. We cherished uncountable moments during his 24-year tenure – too difficult to be encapsulated in a small article.

His accomplishments in Pakistan, England and Australia, elaborated at the beginning of the article were the byproducts of his batting talent. Once he settled as the best batsman in the team, there were only records and records and records. But there were several other moments which would exemplify other adorable qualities of the batting maestro. As he said during his farewell speech yesterday, he was deeply saddened by the demise of his father in 1999. He loved his father the most as he himself admitted. For him though, serving the nation has been as important as serving the parents. Carrying the agony of losing his father he returned to England to score a century against Kenya which helped his team to stay in contention for Super Sixes stage of the World Cup. Who can forget that patriotic moment? We may miss to remember a few of his centuries but can we ever erase this incident from our memory? We may never be able to do it.

Everyone knows he has been subjected to many bad decisions throughout his career. During an epic encounter between India and Pakistan at Eden Gardens, he was out run out due to obvious interference from Shoaib Akthar. It was then the crowd turned volatile and started disturbing the proceedings of the match. So who came for the aid? As it has always been, it was Sachin. He came and calmed the crowd down which let the match to continue. Not for once, he expected to get the opponent’s sympathy to have him recalled. Had he wanted, he could have allowed the commotion to grow which might have put Pakistan under severe pressure to recall him. He took the decision, although it was bad, in right spirit and went back to the dressing room. Can anyone forget this moment?

Above all, the most important Sachin moment came during his farewell speech yesterday. It left millions and millions of watery eyes. Was he one among our family? He was not. But still we cried. Hadn’t we? It was after all a twenty four year bonding that we had been sharing with him. So, the tears gushed out of our eyes even without our knowledge. Should anyone’s departure bring in so much of emotions, it only means he belongs to history. And how did he create history? Very simple, he lived those moments, where we all had vested interests. We enjoyed his stay in the wicket and he obliged to our prayers.