twenty years of being sachin tendular...

shared by straight point on Tuesday, September 29, 2009

"He has competed against the best in the world across different eras; against grizzly pros when he was a kid and brash, irreverent young men now; he has played on feverishly seaming pitches and on raging turners, on cold, cloudy days and blazingly hot ones; at home surrounded by family and fans and away amidst loneliness; when the body is obeying all commands and when pain and fatigue bring you to your knees. And he hasn't just survived, he's left his imprint on every situation."

writes harsha the way only he can... on sachin ramesh tendulkar completing 20 years of intense cricket... when you see youngster struggling to carry their form from one season to another... which brings me to my recent post on bored 'suresh raina is on staple diet' in which i said...

"its not easy being great... for that you must have an insatiable hunger for runs... every time you step on to the field you must shoulder the weight of expectations... of not only the fans but more importantly your own... in short you need to do a sachin... over 20 years non stop... not necessarily of sachinesque level... not everyone can be... but at least there must be something burning inside you that keeps you going... challenging you to run that extra mile... so that when time comes knocking at your door... you have the presence of mind... skill and urge to grab it with both hands..."

isn't its irony that on one side sachin has inspired fans, players, hopefuls... yours and mine kids to play cricket they way he plays... "you play like sachin" is the ultimate compliment one can get today... but at the same time those who share the same dressing room with him are often left wanted...

although its almost a fashion to thank sachin at the drop of hat... but the true thank to sachin will be to take the legend forward... to learn from him how he converted his skills into monumental scores... in all conditions... against every opponent... without complaints... without ever offering excuses...





are we walking into times when the hero will be as good as his last innings...? when you will be judged by every friday like the cine stars are judged...? when term 'great' will be used only on the impression of couple of good outings...? is expecting some kind of consistency from today's youngsters is asking too much...? are we knocking at the wrong doors...?

or we don't want to ask uncomfortable questions fearing answers...

10 comments:

Purna said...

Here's the problem when you find a Sachin Tendulkar in your team SP. You depend on him too much. How many times has Sachin failed to score big and the team collapsed after? It's very unfortunate and unfair on the little man. It's time the others took responsibility for the team. 20 years is a long time!

India better be aware of the fact that Sachin will not be around in another 4-5 years. Look at what happened to WI batting post Lara.

achettup said...

A brilliant post SP. For me, it never fails to amaze me how little Sachin is appreciated every time he goes through a rough patch - you know what that means, he ends up averaging 48 instead of 60. The Sachin hate on forums and even blog comments has driven me away from them, its mostly kids who grew up in the 2000s and saw the likes of Sehwag, Yuvraj, Dhoni and maybe Dravid and Ganguly. What those of us following the man from the late 80s thru the the terrible 90s for Indian cricket saw, was a young soft spoken humble genius, that gave a nation hope and pride. Maybe I want to avoid the uncomfortable but inevitable question, but can you seriously blame me? Sachin once said he cannot imagine his future without cricket and I'm sure I am not alone when I say I cannot imagine cricket without Sachin.

Purna, the Indian team improved a lot in the 2000s and was able to do pretty well when he was injured. Yes for 15 years we depended on him like only the Windies have depended on Lara, but unlike in the caribbean, the interest in cricket has grown in India and Sachin has played a major role in inspiring so many people to take up the sport seriously. Sehwag based his entire game on Sachin. So even when Sachin does retire, he would have left the Indian cricket in good stead.

scorpicity said...

Superb SP... The players should read this one.

straight point said...

purna...

while not denying that we depended too much on sachin but as achettup has put in aptly... its been some time that we are standing on our own... now we still see match even after sachin gets out... so there has been progress and hence improvement in our overall game...

the shoulder's of youngster don't llok like that broad that they are ready to take the bait of expectation forward... they want to be hero by hitting their way out rather than grinding it our when needed...

but we do have some potential but untested players in ranks and if only dhoni... and selectors find time to look beyond the usual suspects... :)

straight point said...

thanks ach!

the greats are judged by their own standards and not on the scale of mortals... so don bradman was declared failed in body-line series despite averaging about 50!

whether we want to ask that uncomfortable but inevitable question, as you put it, or not... the time will answer it... and then who amongst the current crop will raise his hand...?

and those who are capable of answering it... see the show being run from the sidelines...

i mean when even after debuting four years ago players like rainas can offer this much who stops us at trying badris... pujaras etc for full series or two...?

straight point said...

thanks scorpy... if they need this post to get them motivated... we are already living in denial...

Purna said...

SP and achettup, I hope you guys are right. The Windies are in such a bad state these days..it takes the fun out of the game.

From all the discussions in the past few weeks, it sounds like Dhoni has a lot of power in the selection of players? How is that possible? Or do you guys just love to hate him?

straight point said...

purna...

we dont do it for the sake of it... and here is proof of that...

he seems to have formed some strong liking or disliking for certain set of playes... so you see ishant playing... rp playing and even yusuf playing... despite being it crystal clear to all and sundry that they are struggling big time... while players like mishra, praveen etc warm the benches... and if it were not for the defeat against pak we would have not seen them play...

mishra bowled like a pro even after coming in odis after almost seven years which is not easy... he is genuine spinner a rare breed amongs dart bowlers in the name of spin and yet inspite of all these never gets chance in first place coz of reasons only dhoni can explain... and then there is another player badri who even after gets selected in the game never gets chance to play in final xi... he was selected in west indies tour too but dint play... despite accusations that those who play were jaded of non-stop cricket...

so there are some gray areas too... which i feel should be highlighted too as much as we praise dhoni for what he has done till now... :)

Purna said...

No I get it, he has problems. But What I don't get is how he gets to have the final say in who should get a game? Captains don't make those decisions do they? They are only supposed to suggest...not have the final say!

straight point said...

purna...

selector did their job in selecting personnel like mishra, praveen etc in the team... so they obviously saw some merit in these guys... as also when they selected badri who dint had a single game in wi...

captain is almost a selector when touring... and his opinion counts very much in deciding final xi...

about me...

BCC!straight point (sp) is restless... relentless... but a fun loving guy... likes to live life to fullest... trying to discover himself through cricket... welcome to this little world of his...

sp is also a bored member at BCC!

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