It could be the little monster roaring at the age of 14 at Shardaashram Vidyamandir, or the unbeaten century on his first-class debut against Gujarat, or the masterful knock at Chennai against arch-rivals Pakistan, or his dancing down the track to hit Mike Kasprowicz on a windy day at Sharjah.
Or the latest hundreds Down Under. or reaching yet another milestone in a record-studded career, this time by passing Brian Charles Lara's accumulation of Test runs during the current second Test against the Aussies in Mohali.
But one thing will always remain the same with the legend (if not God) called Sachin Tendulkar - and that’s consistency.
Consistency, especially at a time when you feel the burden of more than a billion pounding hearts, consistency especially when you know that one bad knock and some seasoned fans would start questioning your place in the side, which to me is blasphemous. But there has been genuine appreciation as well, and fortunately in Sachin's case, from zillions.
If I take two appreciations out of the entire gamut that the god of cricket has accumulated, both come from a totally different perspective. One comes from match fixers who say that we bet only once Sachin is out because he is one guy they haven’t been able to even come close to. The other one comes from none other than Sir Don himself, who said to his wife while watching Sachin that “the kid resembles a bit like me”.
But the one that stands out in my memory is the comparative appreciation that my sports journalism faculty used to present in the class. He always said that the difference between a Sachin Tendulkar and a Sourav Ganguly, or any other great cricketer, was that Sachin has run behind buses to reach his practice grounds, which not many cricketers have done.
His obsession for the game, consistency towards scoring runs, relentless composure and mature head have made him stand out when so many have lost out. His own friend, Vinod Kambli, is an example of how glamour can take away most of the skill, talent and class you possess. But despite reams of newsprint written about the little master, the guy has always had his feet firmly on the ground.
The hunger is ever-present and the interest in ripping apart the best bowling attacks on a moody day makes him a standout performer who is still in the hunt for making himself one of the boys, since men seem to be older in Indian cricket these days.
He is often compared to another great batsman, Brian Lara, but the way Sachin has carried his career leaves defining differences between the two. Lara was not a favourite inside the dressing room; in fact, his altercation with senior Windies players often made headlines. But Sachin has been a saint by comparison.
Lara was not the same batsman when he was out of the team, he became fragile and mortal. Sachin is still a class apart and while Lara had his share of Page Three controversies, do I even need to highlight this aspect of Sachin? There are cynical Indians who will still say that Lara has a couple of triple hundreds and a 400 to his name - but will someone explain me how these runs in a drawn Test match make him a runaway success and leave him ahead of Tendulkar?
My arguments are not intended to undermine whatever Lara has achieved. His match-winning knocks against Australia cannot be deleted from memory of any cricket fan but at the end of the day if a Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne and a Shoaib Akhtar say that Sachin is the best batsman they have bowled to, the arguments made by some critics, if not cynics, can only be regarded as foolish.
Another criticism which comes his way is that he has not been as great a captain as a batsman and a team man. The reason is simple; such great guys who almost score runs at will, expect everybody to match them and this is one man management skill where probably the little man could have done better given his relentless pursuit towards learning the game. But whether that make somebody a better batsman than him is a question I leave open.
Lastly for me, the accusation of being an under-achiever. Even watching him walk to the crease makes me feel proud, and it’s there when he carries the hopes of the entire nation on his shoulders. What normal people would never be able to achieve in their lives, they look for Sachin to make up for, and if he cracks a century and India win, all of a sudden the world seems a better place.
It is often said that the common element to concepts of beauty is symmetry, a balance between all the parts. We can say the same about Sachin’s ability to bat; his articulate style often leaves cricket fans amused if not bewildered. But the best part is that even though he will continue to have critics in a country where even God is not spared, there’s no point worrying about them.
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