The man who sold a freaking Ferrari

In today’s dog eat dog world, it’s hard for anyone to be kind and generous without having an ulterior motive. Even Santa Claus requires you to be good, before he climbs down the chimney and fills your stockings with gifts all covered in soot. So when someone with a clean heart does unimaginable feats, its hard to not shower praises on him and not believe he is actually a Demi-God. Sachin Tendulkar has been hailed as the God of cricket for long now. His clean on-field image has led us to believe that he is a true gentleman. But as he enters the twilight of his career, it would seem that Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar is losing, a little, the aura that surrounds him.

Everybody remembers the time he sold the Ferrari which he got as a gift. After all the squabbles about the waiver of import duty, Sachin sold his Ferrari to a car aficionado. The car was presented to him by Michael Schumacher, a legend himself. I’m sure Schumacher didn’t care about what Sachin did with the car, but one would imagine Fiat would have been awfully offended. It wasn’t a very gentlemanly thing to do, but we let that slide. A demi-God is allowed to slip up sometimes. But the scars of that guffaw, still linger in the sub-conscious of his fans. More recently, the whole drama surrounding his retirement has piqued this writer’s interest as to who is Sachin Tendulkar? He made a comment that, retiring when one is on the top of his game is selfish. Dravid made a similar statement when he was asked why he didn’t retire after the England tour. But an examination of the careers of both these batting stalwarts tells us whose statement was more honest.

Dravid, for most of his career, played for the team. From donning the wicket keeper’s gloves to batting at number five, he’s done it all without complaining. Sachin on the other hand has expressed his displeasure of being pushed down the order on more than one occasion. More often than not, each time he reaches the nineties, his strike rate seems to slow down. In a run-out situation, I can’t imagine Sachin sacrificing his wicket for his partner. Sachin has long maintained that he will keep on playing as long as he still enjoys the game. In India, as far as batting is concerned, there doesn’t seem to be a dearth in talent. Hence, when someone who does not fit into the future plans of Indian cricket blocks up a place because he enjoys it, seems a little selfish. The Test team of India, still needs him to stick around, especially since Dravid’s retirement. But the one-day outfit seems a more cohesive unit in the games which Sachin sits out.

Sachin has never been a great captain. Captaincy is more about strategy, player management, identifying each person’s abilities and limitations and other such psychological terms. It also, however, involves listening to advice and knowing which one is worth an ear. So which of these did Sachin lack? Was he not a good listener? Did he not identify limitations? Did he always do what he felt was right? Let’s skip this psycho babble and move ahead.

At the felicitation for Rahul Dravid organized by the BCCI, Sachin Tendulkar was absent. Of course his trip to London to see his doctor was pre-planned, but was a recorded message too much to ask for? Was an acknowledgement of Dravid’s contribution beneath Sachin?

This is just conjecture, of course. While Sachin the batsman continues to grow from strength to strength and the aura that surrounds him while batting can be seen from as far as Shoaib Akhtar’s run up, the halo around Sachin the person seems to be dwindling. Does he continue to play for the team or for self? Just like he relinquished Mumbai Indians’ captaincy because he knew it was appropriate, will he retire from one-day cricket? Will the end be a dampener on a legendary tale or will it immortalize him? Until it comes…..