The sun shone brightly in Mohali yesterday afternoon when Sachin Tendulkar, the cricket run machine, achieved the glorious feat of becoming the highest scorer in Test matches.
It’s a triple whammy from him, given that he is also the top run getter in one-day cricket and has the highest centuries in both forms of the game.
As he raised his bat and looked up to the sky after breaking Brian Lara’s most Tests runs just after the tea break, Indians across the world let out collective sigh of relief. The man they put on a pedestal long ago had held his place!
And for those thousands in Chandigarh, Diwali came early. Play was stopped as firecrackers brightened the sky to celebrate another cricketing landmark for the man Indians have adored for nearly two decades.
Sachin, as Indians know him as, is a sporting legend who has sat on the top of the heap despite the wear and tear due to long years of cricket. For years Indians have cheered the crack of his willow as nervous opponents stood chewing their nails in the field waiting for him to unleash his strokes. It’s become a habit, for Sachin has given Indians around the world a cause to celebrate.
Sachin not only lives in the hearts and minds of Indians – wherever they are – he is part of the Indian psyche – a good enough reason to be an Indian and celebrate India. Tomes have been written in his honour and the man with a boyish grin indeed carries a huge burden on his shoulders. His every step is watched as he walks on to the ground. Women write his name on their foreheads and every man wants to be him.
Indians cry for Sachin, they pray for him, they clap for him, they worry about him, they name their sons after him, spend hours discussing him and watching him on television. They celebrate him like no other sportsperson is celebrated in any other country.
The only other person who the nearly 1.3 billion Indians tend to put up on a pedestal is probably Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan. But there is a difference – Sachin is a 20-year-old phenomenon; Bachchan transcends generations. But ask Bachchan about Sachin and he is as likely to express as much “shock and awe” over the little master’s abilities as a cricketer and a binding national force as Kantibhai Kanaklal from Kanpur (whoever he might be).
The more Sachin plays, the more he surprises his grudging opponents and the more his supporters want him to continue. If Indians have their way they would ensure he batted till the day he died. Statistics tell their own story: 152 Test matches, 247 innings, 12,000 plus runs, 39 centuries … the list goes on.
Yesterday was no different. Sitting in Dubai and watching a much older and wiser Tendulkar fend the Australian attack with his usual panache was a treat, as it was one fine December afternoon two years ago when he got a very special hundred in New Delhi.
December is probably the best time to be in the Indian capital. The air is cold and crisp, woollens are out, you don’t sweat and the dust and grime of the summer months has been left behind.
The only other person who the nearly 1.3 billion Indians tend to put up on a pedestal is probably Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan. But there is a difference – Sachin is a 20-year-old phenomenon; Bachchan transcends generations. But ask Bachchan about Sachin and he is as likely to express as much “shock and awe” over the little master’s abilities as a cricketer and a binding national force as Kantibhai Kanaklal from Kanpur (whoever he might be).
The more Sachin plays, the more he surprises his grudging opponents and the more his supporters want him to continue. If Indians have their way they would ensure he batted till the day he died. Statistics tell their own story: 152 Test matches, 247 innings, 12,000 plus runs, 39 centuries … the list goes on.
Yesterday was no different. Sitting in Dubai and watching a much older and wiser Tendulkar fend the Australian attack with his usual panache was a treat, as it was one fine December afternoon two years ago when he got a very special hundred in New Delhi.
December is probably the best time to be in the Indian capital. The air is cold and crisp, woollens are out, you don’t sweat and the dust and grime of the summer months has been left behind.
December 10, 2005 was a fine day. Delhi was buzzing on the first day of the second Test against Sri Lanka as hoards made their way to the Ferozeshah Kotla grounds with hopes to watch Sachin whip up another masterly century — only this time with a more deeper meaning than probably the first ever he hit so many years ago.
I watched the game live on television in a hotel room in Bangalore, feeling the lump in my throat get bigger as Sachin got closer to his century – which would bring him the record of hitting the highest number of hundreds by any cricketer in the world. Every ball mattered, every run did too.
When on 99 he struggled a bit and the thousands of people in stadium let loose huge roars of disappointment, I, one of those millions glued to the television across the country, joined them. I had a camera ready to record the historic moment.
But when he finally flicked the ball off his legs to score his 100th run, the inevitable happened as can happen only in India – power tripped and the television screen went blank for a few moments before the generator spluttered to life. History was lost.
However, thanks to the wonderful slow-motion replays you can see over and over again on television, I did manage to catch pictures of Sachin pumping his arm as he ran across the wicket and I stood up along with millions more across the vast land to cheer the young man who makes India proud.
I watched the game live on television in a hotel room in Bangalore, feeling the lump in my throat get bigger as Sachin got closer to his century – which would bring him the record of hitting the highest number of hundreds by any cricketer in the world. Every ball mattered, every run did too.
When on 99 he struggled a bit and the thousands of people in stadium let loose huge roars of disappointment, I, one of those millions glued to the television across the country, joined them. I had a camera ready to record the historic moment.
But when he finally flicked the ball off his legs to score his 100th run, the inevitable happened as can happen only in India – power tripped and the television screen went blank for a few moments before the generator spluttered to life. History was lost.
However, thanks to the wonderful slow-motion replays you can see over and over again on television, I did manage to catch pictures of Sachin pumping his arm as he ran across the wicket and I stood up along with millions more across the vast land to cheer the young man who makes India proud.
I cried for Sachin, as I believe many others would have. I cried again yesterday, in Dubai.
Sachin, thank you once again for making our day. Stay on a while longer, as you will be missed when you do finally hang that heavy bat of yours.
But Sachin should not only be seen as making India and Indians proud -- he is the pride of cricket. He belongs to everybody who has anything to do with the game. Sachin has been feted wherever the game is played, and by those bowlers who he has dispatched over the boundary. Legendary cricker Sir Don Bradman had good words for Sachin, as did Lara whose record he broke. And Australia’s Shane Warne -- with whom the Indian batsman has a running on-field battle -- has had only appreciation for the world’s highest run getter.
Sachin, thank you once again for making our day. Stay on a while longer, as you will be missed when you do finally hang that heavy bat of yours.
But Sachin should not only be seen as making India and Indians proud -- he is the pride of cricket. He belongs to everybody who has anything to do with the game. Sachin has been feted wherever the game is played, and by those bowlers who he has dispatched over the boundary. Legendary cricker Sir Don Bradman had good words for Sachin, as did Lara whose record he broke. And Australia’s Shane Warne -- with whom the Indian batsman has a running on-field battle -- has had only appreciation for the world’s highest run getter.
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