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A letter to Sachin by 90's borns

It was 1997 and I was just a 8 year old Kid who had already taken cricket as his passion. At that time, there was a myth, when an Indian batsman goes out to bat, people switched on their television sets and switch off their lives and when he was out, people switched off their television sets. His wicket was equivalent to be India’s lose even opposing player used to feel that his dismissal meant they could win the game. Former Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga once said,” You get him out and half the battle is won”. But as I grew up, I realized that why this myth has been created. How many times, he drove the Indian team on a winning note singly handed. I am not talking about “Sachin Ramesh Tendulakar”. I am talking about “God of cricket”.

No indivual is bigger than the game, But in the case of Sachin, one could definitely say that he is bigger than game. It is right that the glory of his name exists because of cricket. But in some cases he has defined cricket. Most of the Indian initiated to follow cricket due to Sachin. For the people living in Indian subcontinent country’s like Nepal, Bhutan and China, Cricket is a game which is played by Sachin Tendulkar . On one occasion, President of the most powerful nation, Barack Obama said,” I don’t know about cricket but still I watch cricket to see Sachin play. Not because I love his play it’s because I want to know the reason why my country production goes down by 5 percent when he’s batting”.

Some of the greatest cricketing legends praise the Sachin in one way or other…

Brian Lara - Sachin Tendulkar is a genius. I’m a mere mortal.

Mark Taylor – We didn’t lose to a team called India …… we lost to a man called Sachin.

Andy Flower – There are two kinds of batsmen in the world. One Sachin. Two all the others.

Waqar Younis – He can play that leg glance with a walking stick also.

Daniel Vettori -”He has been in form longer than some of our guys have been alive.

Anil Kumble – I am very privileged to have played with him and seen most of the runs that he has scored. I am also extremely happy to have shared the same dressing room.

Rudy Kortzen – I never get tired during umpiring whenever Sachin is on crease.

Harsha Bhogle – There is no better sight on cricket field than watch Tendulkar bat.

Australian Fan – Do your crime when Sachin is batting, because even god is busy watching his batting.

Tendulkar is not just a name its like a habit to Indian people. I still remember, how my grandfather used to ask those two questions during India’s Match- First India ka score kya hai (what is India’s score)? Second Tendulkar kitna banaya (how much runs did Tendulkar score), without even confirming that whether Sachin is in India’s squad or not. Still all non cricketing fans are in the practice of asking these two questions. For more than two decades now, People have been debating with their friends and fellows for him, have sticked to their television and radio sets as long as he was out in the field with his willow, students bunked the classes, people skipped there important meetings just to see him play, there are people who wish that India should be 2 down as soon as possible in test match so that the little genius could walk out to play and if he was out without putting up a good show, they wished India’s 2nd innings should came as early as possible even at the cost of a few less runs for the team in the first innings. Sachin was the reason why the apparently innocent power supply staff had to experience the ugliest possible abusive languages from us and our friends for his guilt of power-cut in our area during his batting. If by chance, after the power supply resumed, one more wicket down then we wished that fall wicket was not of Sachin.

One good cover drive or a late cut made their day. A vintage video from youtube could bring us back to our childhood. The more we see him, the more we want to see him. He made us do so many stupid things and we enjoyed doing us because Sachin was such an obession of everyone. We didn’t want him to quit because it would mean our childhood was over. There is a saying that “21 days are enough to change a habit”. But how can we change this habit which is a part of our life for the last 24 years. From kids to old folks, from teenager to senior citizen, from followers to co-players, it has been a hard thing to imagine an India team without Tendulkar. Also it couldn’t have been easy for Sachin Tendulkar to bid an adieu to the game since cricket has been his life, his dream his solitary love outside the family.  But he leaves behind an aspect of cricket that he defined. It’s going to be an emotional time for the whole of India.

His deeds on the field are folklore, but it was the way he carried himself off the field that sets him apart. Despite all the adulation and love which can be stifling at times, he was the perfect role model for youngster, and that is why parents want their kids to be like Sachin. He has been  an ambassador of cricket around the world. For past 24 years he is the lightning rod for our emotions; a Tendulkar century could lift spirits on the gloomiest of days, a failure could plunge the country into deep despair. No other single Indian has had the ability to make the entire country smile. Definitely, Sachin retirement’s day would be a gloomy day not only for Indian cricket, but as well as for world cricket also. In the honor of the Master Blaster, BCCI should retire India jersey number 10 and preserve it forever. After 200^th test, Sachin will retire from cricket, but he lives in the memory of all who saw his batting wizardry. Cricketers like Sachin come once in a lifetime and we have privileged he played in our time and literally, we are feeling blessed.

Definitely, it is worth to saying that  who knows even GOD has just sent him to play this beautiful game on his behalf as he might himself wanted to play Cricket.

THE BATTLE FOR NO.1......

The highly anticipated test series between Australia and South Africa has started on the 9th of November. The reality is that this series is comprised of only three Tests but it could have the intensity of a longer contest as South Africa are involved in their fourth battle for being the No. 1 test team since 2010. This time, South Africa are the title-holders and their opposition the challengers. This is the South Africa’s tenth tour in Australia. The Proteas once won a test series in Australia. On the Down Under tour, South Africa are looking favourites to win.  It could be the last tour of great all-rounder Kallis in the land of the kangaroos. So he would certainly want to leave it on a high note. Both teams have met in 88 test matches, out of which, SA won 19 and lost 50 matches. Whereas, out of the 35 played in Australia, SA was able to win 7 and lost 20 matches.

There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work and learning from failure. Success and failure are never final. Australian cricket is being criticized all around the world. After the retirement of the some legends, undoubtedly, Australian Cricket is going through a rebuilding phase and will want to seek further proof of their rejuvenation. It is just a cricketing cycle where a country has some of the greatest players in the world and they keep winning, so their team appears to be the best. When the team is doing well, it doesn’t matter, but when the results are not on your side, things begin to look ugly.

The Proteas proved that teams don’t grow strong without a struggle. Under the coaching of Gary Kirsten, SA got the No.1 rank in the longest format. One of the best bowlers of all time and the Proteas’ bowling coach, Allan Donald called his country’s current pace attack the best he has seen. Most of the cricketing stalwarts’ and followers’ attention has centred on the quality of the South African pace attack, spearheaded  by Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander and Morne Morkel, and how Australia’s rookie top order will deal with them. AB de Villiers will be eager to prove that as wicket-keeper, he can still make the kinds of scores that marked him as one of the world’s best and most dangerous batsmen. Hashim Amla is looking impregnable. Graeme Smith’s side is settled and well-groomed. Star-studded South Africa looks formidable, like the Australians of the last decade.

Amid a sea of new faces in Oz squad, James Pattinson can be the danger man for Proteas’s experienced batsmen. A young bowler with aggression and raw pace might just surprise the South African batsmen. Inexperienced top order batsmen and Shane Watson’s injury are the main niggles of host side. Rob “Bobby” Quiney will be making his debut as baggy green cap’s holder 429. Surely, Rob will be wanting to grab this opportunity with both hands and cement his place in the side. Experience always comes in handy in the long run and Ponting and Hussey have proved that in last India Down Under tour.

This series is the contenst between the former and current World No.1 test teams. South Africa will retain the top spot on the ICC Test rankings with a drawn series. Australia will claim the top spot from them with a series win. Finally, the battle for No.1 in test cricket will be over in the first week of December. The team that will remain ahead in the close contests between bat and bowl will win this trophy. But remember, fielding skills play such an important role in the game and often prove to be the difference between winning and losing. For claiming the No.1 tag, both teams’ players will sledge and still want to kill each other on the field but have a beer and chat about hair off the field. This series will show the clash of two great teams with sportsmanship.

After all, some of the best batsmen of modern era – Ricky Ponting (13,348) and Jacques Kallis (12,641) will all be playing in this series. Kallis is fourth on the all-time run-scoring list and the only all-rounder to have scored over 11,000 runs and taken more than 250 wickets. It will be interesting to see whether Ponting  surpasses Kallis’s record for the second highest number of test centuries, and inches closer to the little master’s milestone of 51 test centuries. For cricket fans, it is a great pleasure to see the two batting maestros on a single turf.

CITIUS, ALTIUS, FORTIUS .....

The grand exhibition of sports was over. From 27 July’12 to 12 Aug’12, this carnival delighted almost all the people all around the world. This sports jamboree also obtained the tag of greenest Olympics ever. For the first time, women’s boxing was included in the programme. Women made their mark on the Olympics like never before in London, the first Games ever to feature women in all 204 national teams and all 26 sports. Three of the five biggest delegations, the United States, China and Russia, brought more women athletes than the men, and the women came through in a big way. US women won 29 of America’s medal-table-leading 46 golds, while female competitors accounted for 20 of China’s 38. This statistics shows that women are no lesser mortals, when it comes to the world of sports. They have edged out men in academics, research, politics and now the Olympics of 2012 is the latest addition in their already decorated mantelpiece.

After 16 full days of competition, 302 Olympics titles were handed out and 46 world records were broken. More than seven million fans came out to watch Olympics event. Among 10820 athletes, some of them went home with the label of legend; Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps are popular among them. The duo proved that champions are always champions. Like force, champs also follow the Newton’s 3^rd law. At the setback comes in their life, they react strongly and come out with flying colours. Lightning Bolt was the first sprinter to defend both the 100m and 200 m titles and was also part of the amazing team that broke the world record in 4x100m relay by beating the clock in 36.84 seconds. By winning 4 gold and 2 silver medals, Phelps concluded the 2012 Olympics as the most successful swimmer of the meet for the third Olympics in a row. Flying Fish is the most decorated Olympian of all time with 22 medals (18gold, 2silver and 2bronze). It is true that champions are not supernatural; they just fight one more second when everyone else quits; sometimes that one second of effort gives you the victory.

Winning a gold medal in the Olympics is one of the biggest achievements for any sportsperson. But the most important thing is not to win but to take part. Amid a sea of athletes, Oscar Pistorius, Natalia Partyka and Im Dong-Hyun were in the limelight and admiration for different reasons. Respect for this treble, who had their disabilities, but refused to use it as an excuse. Oscar Pistorius became the first amputee runner to compete at an Olympic Games. “Blade Runner” participated in 400m and 4x400m relay race in which he qualified for the semi-finals of the 400m and the finals of relay event and finished eighth out of a field of nine. Natalia Partyka, born without a right hand and forearm, reached the last 32 of the London 2012 Olympic women's singles event in Table Tennis. Both won, not the Olympics medals, but our hearts. 

  

Im Dong-Hyun is a legally blind but he set a new world record in individual and team event and scores of 699 and 2087, respectively in the ranking round and captured bronze medal in team events.

Passions helps you enjoy the journey as much as achieving the goal. Passion is the lever that helps lift the mundane to the extraordinary, the mediocre to the excellent. This threesome had passion for their game. Oscar Pistorius said,” My mother used to tell us in the mornings,’ Carl put on your shoes, Oscar you put on your prosthetic legs’… so I grew up not really thinking I had a disability. I grew up thinking I had different shoes”. Hats off to this type of attitude.

This Olympics will create difference in many people’s life. Everybody must take inspiration from them. This trio will definitely boost up the morale of handicap and disable person and become a role model too. Everybody should learn a lesson from them that it is easy to sit up and take notice. What is difficult is getting up and taking action. Some of us have great runways already built for us. If you have one, take off. But if you don't have one, realize it is your responsibility to grab a shovel and build one for yourself and for those who will follow after you.

To represent our country in a big arena is the dream of every athlete. But Liemarvin Bonevacia, Reginald de Windt, Philipine van Aanholt (Curacao formerly Netherlands Antilles) and Guor Marial (South Sudan) are unlucky. After the National Olympic Committee of the Netherlands Antilles lost its recognition by the International Olympic Committee and National Olympic Committee of newest 54^th Africa’s country South Sudan had not formed, they competed under the Olympic Flag. Guor Marial said,” I will be wearing the Olympic uniform, but inside I will be holding the South Sudan flag in my heart. These are the people I will be representing at the Olympics.” What a love towards country.

All of us can only but imagine the feelings of medal winning athletes when their national flag is hoisted and the bands play their national anthem for them.

Definitely, this Olympics will give the new dimensions of athlete’s life and also encourage youngsters to choose athletics as a professional.

 

  

Adieu London…….. Congratulations Rio’16.