Sachin at 50, remembering a hero
ft. My favourite Sachin memory, His thought on the game's future
Being in North America now and following the NBA in particular, one of the more common conversations surrounding LeBron James in the latter stages of his career is the appreciation for the expectations that were set for him to possibly become the greatest player of all-time when he was still just in high school and the fact that we can look back now and say he has largely delivered on that promise without hardly ever putting a foot wrong and avoiding any major transgressions.
James is now the all-time leader in points scored, fourth on the all-time assists list, ninth in steals, and could finish inside the top 20 in rebounding when it’s all said and done. He’s chasing his fifth NBA championship, has four regular season MVPs, and 19 all-star appearances. The most controversial thing he’s ever done is announce which team he would join in free agency on national television. It is truly the stuff of legend.
The part of this conversation that gets amusing for me is when people covering basketball talk about there having been no other athlete who’s ever had that level of expectation at such a young age and then delivered in such resounding fashion. It’s amazing how perspective changes everything.
While I’m sure there are other examples, on his 50th birthday, I present to you, India’s hero Sachin Tendulkar.
Representing the country for the first time at 16-years-old after being fast tracked as someone many saw as cricket’s golden child, Tendulkar’s 24 year career saw him become the highest run getter in test cricket and ODIs, score 100 hundreds, and carry India through a battling but mediocre 90s to dominance by the time he was set to say farewell a couple decades later. His baby face and mild mannered approach made the love showered upon him unanimous across the cricketing globe, and his perfect batting technique made you feel the way you did when watching Roger Federer play tennis or Michael Jordan play basketball or insert any athlete you watch and think was just born to play their respective sport.
His biggest off-field controversy was when Fiat India gifted him a Ferrari and the Finance Minister waived the taxes (they were later paid by Fiat).
What Sachin did for Indian kids — including myself — growing up in the 90s was make them believe they could be the best at something. To see a 5-foot-5 Indian with no intimidating physical characteristics pulverize the best bowlers across Australia, South Africa, Pakistan, and more had you genuinely beliving you could do anything. We memorized his batting stance, the little ticks whether it be the head nod or the crouch or the smile as the bowler ran in, maybe even adjusting the abdominal guard.
It’s no surprise that when the generation that grew up watching him had a chance to team up with him in 2011 in an effort to win the World Cup was able to dig into the absolute depths of their talent and will to get his hands on the trophy he wanted most. For heaven’s sake, we later found out Player of the Tournament Yuvraj Singh was vomiting blood between matches and was later diagnosed with cancer. Nothing was getting in the way of lifting that trophy. That tells you how much Sachin meant to so many people.
I don’t think it’s possible for cricket fans and more specifically Indians to appreciate Sachin more — he’s literally worshipped at temples and considered a God — but it truly is astounding to reminisce about everything he accomplished despite all the expectations that were piled on him from such a young age.
DEEP POINT
My favourite Sachin memory will always be his hundred against Australia in the final of the Coca-Cola Cup at Sharjah on April 24, 1998. Australia batted first and during their innings, Sachin had come to field right in front of the stand I was sitting in and in my delight I yelled out, ‘Happy birthday, Sachin!’
The next thing I knew, the entire section started singing the Happy Birthday song to him, it was incredible. And that was such a small part of the memory.
My dad was at the ‘Desert Storm’ innings a few days prior when Sachin scored a breathtaking 143 off 131 balls to bring India to the final in windy conditions that included a stoppage for a sandstorm. Australia and Steve Waugh didn’t think lightning could strike twice, but for India, Sachin made you think anything was possible.
He scored 134 off 131 balls to lead a chase of 275 and India won the final by six wickets. Every vintage shot we remember him for was played that day. Straight drives past fast bowlers, the most sublime cover drives, the patented flicks, and of course, down the track to Shane Warne for six.
I missed church that day but I saw a God.
SILLY POINT
In a recent interview, Sachin was asked about the state of the game and what he’d like to see change. He feels as if the balance of power has shifted to far in favour of batters in white ball cricket, and changes are needed.
He suggested one-day cricket do away with a new ball at each end in an effort to bring back reverse swing in the latter stages of an innings. He also added that the discolouration of the ball as well as it getting softer added a challenge for batters and that’s no longer the case.
One change I would like to see is to the LBW rule. Whether it’s a switch hit, reverse sweep, or scoop shot, batters are capable of playing 360 degrees in numerous ways. Yet, bowlers are still discouraged from pitching the ball outside leg stump. With all the ways a batter can manipulate the field now, viewing a ball pitching outside leg stump as a “negative line” is outdated thinking.
Let’s take away that element for LBWs. As long as the impact of the ball hitting a batter is in line with the stumps and is going on to hit the wicket, it shouldn’t matter at all where it’s pitched.
Batters are evolving by the day because they are unlimited in what they can explore, can’t we at least open a window for bowlers to breathe a bit easier? Sport is at its best when there is an even battle between attack and defence, stack the odds one way or the other and the product suffers. We crossed the equilibrium point quite some time ago.
SLIP CATCHING (UP)
Sydney Cricket Ground named gates after Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara, and the two became the first non-Australian players to be bestowed this honour. Sir Donald Bradman, Alan Davidson, and Arthur Morris are the Australians.
Sharjah Cricket Stadium also renamed its West Stand to the Sachin Tendulkar stand for the 25th anniversary of his twin centuries at the ground.
Cricinfo’s Alagappan Muthu wrote a nice tribute to Sachin titled, ‘The stranger we kept calling by his first name.’
New Zealand spectacularly defeated Pakistan in the final match of their best-of-five T20I series, recovering from 73/4 in 9.5 overs to chase down 194 for victory without losing another wicket. Mark Chapman scored 104 off 57 balls while Jimmy Neesham finished with 45 off 25. Mohammad Rizwan top scored for Pakistan with 98 off 62.
It’s amazing seeing what Ajinkya Rahane is doing for the Chennai Super Kings. He’s got 209 runs in five innings at an average of 52.25 and a strike rate of 199.04! There’s something extra inspirational about older players reinventing themselves — perhaps because of my own age now — and to see him sort of reinvent the wheel of his batting approach deserves praise from all angles. Who knows, maybe with the way Shreyas Iyer has struggled with injury and Suryakumar Yadav has struggled for form in ODI cricket there may even be a place for him in the ODI World Cup squad.
There’s a great gallery of Sachin’s career in pictures on Cricinfo today:
https://www.espncricinfo.com/gallery/sachin-tendulkar-s-career-in-pictures-434025
"What Sachin did for Indian kids — including myself — growing up in the 90s was make them believe they could be the best at something." If you know nothing else about India got where it is then this is all you need to know.