Why Sachin should go for gold and more

One wonders how much Sachin Tendulkar will be thinking of those 172 runs he needs to overhaul Brian Lara as the world’s top run-getter, when he walks in to bat against Sri Lanka next month?

Whether he thinks about it or not, I am sure Sachin’s followers around India have it in their mind whenever talk of cricket comes up. We will wait with bated breath when Sachin nears the mark and erupt into frenzy when he crosses it. After all, cricket is our Religion and HE is our GOD!

Having said this, idol worship of this magnitude is sure to impact the man who has conquered all conceivable cricketing frontiers. By now, Tendulkar would have probably started practicing hard to forget his proximity to this landmark and the hype surrounding it.

Already he has borne the brunt of public expectations when it came to scoring that elusive 35th century to go past the original Little Master Sunny Gavaskar and how relieved he was when he got that particular century out of the way.

Of course, for a country yearning for more real-life heroes, Tendulkar’s feat of going past his buddy’s test aggregate of 11953 runs has already acquired a national fervour with television channels and media latching on to it big time.

However, on closer inspection of the list of cricketing greats at present, one would actually wish Sachin injury-free health so that he can continue playing for another three to four years. We should also be praying that the Little Master’s appetite for big runs doesn’t diminish from here on.

For, there is a real danger that for the second time an Australian would snatch away the record from Indian hands and all we get in return could be a Tendulkar-Ponting trophy to replace the current Border-Gavaskar one!

If Sachin is just 171 runs away from the summit, Ponting needs only 1854 runs more to get abreast with Lara’s aggregate. The Australian captain, who is scoring at over 58 runs per innings should logically get there within the next 31 innings or say 15 test matches.

Though records are only meant to enhance a reputation and not create one, I hope that Sachin lords over that top position for much longer by accumulating a few thousand runs more so that Ponting doesn’t even bother attempting to scale that summit in a career that should last at least 4-5 years more.

There’s no doubt that players of the caliber of Vivian Richards or Sachin don't need the crutches of record books to prove their greatness

Just Do It Sachin !!!