Sachin Tendulkar to Virat Kohli: Passing the baton of batsmanship

1st March 2003, almost 13 years ago. A 9-year-old, third-grade attending boy was eagerly waiting in front of the TV, checking the clock desperately. That day nothing else mattered to him in the world. All he wanted was to witness a good cricketing match between the biggest rivals in the world with a hope of his team coming on top. For him, his country's win was the biggest thing. For him, losing against Pakistan was not even an option.

I am talking about the 2003 World Cup, a super-six match between India and Pakistan at Centurion.

The hype was real for this match with so many individual battles within the teams – Sachin vs Akram, Sehwag vs Akhtar, Anwar vs Srinath, Inzamam vs Kumble, Ganguly vs Waqar and many more. Even though this boy didn't have much knowledge about cricket back then, one thing he knew for sure was that it is not going to be easy for India given their poor record against Pakistan.

There were so many emotions running: excitement, nervousness, happiness to see these two nations compete against each other. And then finally, the moment arrived.

Like always, India's strength back then too was their batting, and batting first was the natural choice – but if only everything went their way. Ganguly lost the toss and Pakistan chose to bat. Their batsmen came out with some purpose and managed to score 273 thanks to a century from Saeed Anwar (101) and a quick partnership between Younis Khan and Rashid Latif towards the end.

Back in those days, this was considered a very good score in 50 overs cricket. And with the kind of resources Pakistan had in their arsenal it was a tough task for the Indian batsmen to chase it down.

All eyes were on one man: Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. With so much talk about Shoaib Akhtar's pace and Wasim Akram expressing his desire to take Sachin's wicket as his 500th in ODI at the start of the tournament, fans were expecting a treat. But not even in their wildest dreams would they have imagined what happened next.

The opening duo of Sachin and Sehwag came out all guns blazing and smashed Wasim and Shoaib all over the park, scoring 50 runs in just 5 overs. However, in the 6th over Waqar Younis dismissed Sehwag and Ganguly in consecutive deliveries to bring Pakistan back into the match. At 53/2, India found themselves in a tricky situation.

Stepped up the Master Blaster and played one of the best innings of his career. He shouldered the expectations of 1 billion people and guided India home but that was more than just another innings from the great man. For that young boy, everything changed after that day.

With every shot Sachin played, that boy got closer to the game. With every run that was taken, he was living the game. He found a purpose, he found a religion. That day many youngsters of his generation fell in love with this beautiful sport.

Kohli takes the baton

This will go down as one of the most iconic moments in Indian Cricket

19th March 2016, Once again India and Pakistan were ready to meet at the world’s biggest stage. Another World Cup, another must win game except a lot had changed now. Format was different, Cricket was no more the game it used to be, Sachin was no more playing and neither was that boy a young one anymore but what remained constant was the rivalry, the expectations from fans and that boy’s desperateness to watch the match and what would have been a better venue than the Eden Gardens.

Everything appeared like a deja vu. A lot of controversies happened before the match, a lot was said in the media and in place of Wasim and Sachin this time, it was Virat and Amir. Those who scripted India’s win in 2003 were all in a different role now. Dravid, Zaheer and Sehwag were in the commentary box, Ganguly was looking after the arrangements and the big man Sachin was in the audience to witness this epic encounter, less he knew what was to follow.

After some hide and seek with the rain, we finally had an 18-over match. India won the toss and elected to bowl and with a disciplined performance by the spinners managed to restrict Pakistan for a mediocre total of 118. India’s chase didn’t start on a positive note as Mohammad Sami brought back the memories of the 2003 match when he dismissed Dhawan and Raina in consecutive deliveries. At 23/3, India was once again in some serious trouble.

On a pitch that was tough to bat, Virat Kohli played an innings of supreme class and guided India to a superb win, scoring 55 of just 37 balls. 90,000 people inside the Eden Gardens and 1.25 billion in the whole country were filled with joy. Their team had done it again. They were proud again.

Today, this generation had found a hero. Kohli raised his bat towards the stand, the camera moved to Sachin Tendulkar. He was smiling, he was happy and showed a thumbs up to Kohli. THIS! This was the most beautiful sight ever in the history of Indian cricket. It was a sight that had the power to bring tears to many eyes.

This moment had the power to make people forget everything. They may be having a thousand problems in their lives, they may have grudges against each other, but at that moment all that didn’t matter. That was the moment of pride, a moment of celebration. A country that keeps fighting over silly issues stood united that night.

Today, that young boy had relived that moment. He had the same emotions that he had back in 2003. He knew Indian cricket’s future was in the right hands.

I won’t say Kohli is our next Sachin, I would say he is our Virat Kohli. He is not a legend yet but he is a legend in the making.