Tendulkar – Rightfully iconic…Congratulations to the Master!

Reposting this one again. Congratulations Tendulkar for creating yet another record!

Tendulkar, successful,resolute,humble and iconic. These are the words that can be associated with this wonderful sportsman without a doubt. I have followed Sachin ever since I was in high school. I would sneak in a portable radio into class by hiding it under the blazer or a handy thick woolen sweater. I would listen to the commentary by putting my head on the desk and placing my ear over the blazer, which was in turn over the small squeaky radio. The volume would be at its minimum and I would strain myself beyond reasonable doubt to hear Gavaskar whispering coyly into my ears very huskily ” thats a six” ! The much awaited three words would instigate an unknown passion within me which had to be instantly supressed as there was no scope to unleash the same in a class full of attentive students and a boring, bespectacled lecturer. I would lift my head every time Tendulkar would move to the other end of the pitch and pay attention to the proceedings in class with an intent look. I am proud I have never been caught for my devious acts and regret that the sleek i-pod headphones were not invented then.

The reason I started following Tendulkar is actually rather round about. I am a big, huge, gigantic, atlantic, pacific fan of the Argentinian icon Diego Armando Maradona who I followed like a little puppy from 86. He was fresh from the 86 World cup victory and had attained a God like stature with his hand of God. I would buy the weekly Sportstar / Sportworld to cut his pictures and stick it on millions of Maradona scrap books. Somewhere during my ritualistic thesis of Sportworld and Sportstar magazines in 89 I had read that Tendulakar loved Maradona. So, I loved Tendulkar who loved Maradona who loved somebody else and not me. This was precisely the moment when I had attuned myself to yet another perfect ten called Tendulkar. I was the common link between the two perfect tens who had no idea I even existed despite my daily acts of devotion to these men. I had collected thousands of Maradona and Tendulkar pictures and could have challenged the archiving techniques of Anand bazaar patrika and the Hindu group single-handedly. The two men who had scored perfect tens, who wore perfect ten jerseys were also directly responsible for my dismal show in my own academic accomplishments in my school going years, where scoring a perfect ten was a regular feature. Ten on hundred that is.

My admiration for Tendulkar has grown over the years. It has grown from love to respect, with age comes maturity in all our thinking.A man who has let his bat do all the talking despite trying times. A man who has broken record after record and never succumbed to the pressure that this country repeatedly pumps him up with. How this man fails not to explode remains a mystery to me. He raises the barrier every time and hurls himself over it. He has shown deep respect to his coach, his parents, his family and friends. He has maintained his privacy like no other iconic Indian celebrity has. A few need to take lessons from Tendulkar in how to do so. I have never seen him hogging the limelight unnecessarily despite people having heart attacks when they unexpectedly run into him in a lift. There have been a few such casualties during India Pakistan matches too in the past in war like situations. Tendulkar has slammed every critic who has “advised” him to retire. How does he do it? He does not temperamentally shoot off in press conferences but takes his hallowed willow and slams it into his critic’s faces, bleeding their noses and bloodying their faces. Injuries have not bogged him down and he has fought over every single obstacle that dares to come in between him and his love for the game.

A one man iconic trail blazer who we “expect” to perform every time all the time, no matter what. So much so, that Tendulkar’s early wicket would become a jinx factor for the remaining ten men. Such is this man’s responsibility on sealing fate. How dependent are we on this one man to win the battle for us? The enemy lines are drawn and the conch is blown. When Tendulkar looks up to the skies and shakes his head, imaginary streaks of lightning converge on his willow, his prayers answered by the Gods who have granted him the Brahmastra. The wailing crowd egging him, amidst the sound of rolling drums and blowing trumpets, Tendulkar lifts his thunderbolt and slams the hapless victim into the skies. Such is the power of this one man called Tendulkar. How can you expect the ordinary mortals not be impassioned by this phenomenon?

When the recent “phir mile sur” was released, the absence of Tendulkar, an iconic Indian, was glaringly conspicuous. As if as an afterthought the makers have decided to now include him. Lame critics have said that Tendulkar plays for himself and not for the country. What is the difference? In my opinion he stands by the motto ” Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country”. Every time he wears the blue jersey and breaks records , he does it for the country. He has never had unreasonable expectations from us as much as we have had from him. When the Shiv Sena were slamming him, he kept a dignified silence. He had made it amply clear Mumbai is for India, just once yet firmly. There was no need for him to repeat himself, he did not involve himself in a verbal duel. The Sena backed off and concentrated on other individuals who they knew will drag the issue.  Without making a ruckus, his demure attitude hits back on those who try hard to bring him down. His resolve is by far the strongest in any celebrity. Even the Don could think of no other to compare himself with. Tendulkar is a national treasure who needs to be safeguarded. He should not be drawn into silly controversies and we must let him focus on what he is good at, playing cricket for India. He remains India’s cherished icon.

A look at his milestones –

* The only Indian to have played for over 20 years – between December 18, 1989 and February 24, 2010 – 20 years and 68 days to be precise.

* Holds a world record for the highest run-aggregate – 17,598 at an average of 45.12.

* Holds a world record for most hundreds (46).

* Only one to register four hundreds against South Africa.

* Only one to register nine hundreds against Australia.

* Only one to post eight hundreds against Sri Lanka.

* With 1859 (ave.35.07) in 54 ODIs, holds a record for the highest run-aggregate against South Africa.

* His aggregate of 2965 (ave.45.61) in 78 ODIs is a record by any batsman against Sri Lanka.

* Only player to aggregate 3,000 runs against Australia – 3005 (ave.46.23) in 67 matches