SRT - A Pakistani fan's view.

[Holysmoke]

In his first test match at Karachi in 1989, he was left with a bloody nose and a blood soaked t-shirt. His crime? He had dared to attempt a cover drive against the fastest bowler in the world Waqar Younis, he had dared to not be intimidated by Imran Khan and Wasim Akram in their own back yard. The audacity of the 16 year old boy shocked the world as he refused to leave the field, deciding instead to bat on and fight it out. If test cricket is what differentiates the men from the boys, then there never was a more quintessential example as a 16 year old boy proved his manhood. 20 years, 30000 runs and about 90 international centuries later, we know that boy as Sachin Tendulkar, a legend, a phenomenon, a champion. Although I was first introduced to cricket back in 1992, I had very little understanding other than the fact that I was to celebrate like everyone else around me then and not ask too many questions. It was not until 1995 that I began to understand the game a little better, began to understand the concept of bat and ball. Very soon I had also learnt to be jealous of the fact that the best batsman in the world was an Indian. Nope, no way, Saeed Anwar was a better batsman, and soon the world will acknowledge. This continued for a couple of years, when I would vociferously argue about Saeed Anwar?s superiority over Sachin Tendulkar and I had good reason too because for a couple of years in the mid 90s, they were neck and neck in terms of the number of ODI centuries. Back then, Desmond Haynes held the record for most ODI centuries and I was hoping Anwar would break his record before Tendulkar and prove to the world that the best batsman in the world played in the Pakistan cricket team. Alas, that was not too be as Anwar suffered a slump in form and Tendulkar went on to not only break the record but leave Anwar way behind in terms of number of centuries. Around this time, I also realized that not only was Tendulkar ahead of Anwar in ODIs, he was also way ahead of him in Test cricket. Australia toured India around this time for a test series hailed as Warne vs Tendulkar, the best spinner in the world vs the best batsman in the world. I was obviously on Warne?s side, hoping he would win the battle and prove once and for all that Tendulkar was no big deal. Alas once again Tendulkar broke my heart as he darted Warne all over the park in that series like a school boy and such was the effect of the maestro on Warne that he later admitted to having nightmares of Tendulkar coming down the track and smashing him. I had to find someone else. This someone else happened to be the burly Inzamam ul Haq, who had been hailed by no less than Imran Khan himself as an equal of Tendulkar and Lara. Yes, I had found my new hero, Inzamam was the best batsman in the world. My argument this time? Inzamam?s ability to win matches for Pakistan, his ratio of match winning centuries being much superior to Tendulkar?s. I would listen to Imran Khan speak about Inzamam and then copy those arguments in my case for Inzamam, he was a great player of fast bowling, has so much time, and has tremendous ability to handle pressure. Everytime he played against Pakistan, I wanted him to fail. I moaned the fact that India never played Pakistan in test matches for most part of the 90s because I wanted Wasim and Waqar in full flow against Tendulkar. But over the years, as my understanding of cricket developed, I realized that he surely knew how to bat. I realized that by wanting Pakistan?s best bowlers to dismiss him, I had already acknowledged him as a champion batsman, otherwise why would it be so important for Wasim Akram to be able to dismiss Tendulkar? I considered Wasim the best bowler in the world, so the only logical explanation was that Tendulkar was also the best batsman in the world. When young Mohammad Aamer dismissed Tendulkar with an away going delivery in a Champions Trophy match last year, I jumped from my seat. But it was not out of malice, but rather it was the respect and admiration I had for the man that made young Aamer getting that wicket so special. Tendulkar has hurt me many times, his innings at Centurion against Pakistan in World Cup 2003 ensured in Pakistan?s ouster in the first round. I remember a shot he played against Wasim Akram in the first over, a back of a length ball bowled by Wasim, which has often given him wickets, timed with perfection and placed with disdain between cover fielders for a four. That was in the first over, and that told me that the champion was at his best today, and that meant he could take the game away from Pakistan. Saeed Anwar had scored a century in that match and Tendulkar was going play a knock to rival that. As a cricket fan, regardless of which team one supports, one cannot help but admire Tendulkar. Its not just his cricketing prowess but the level of dedication, sportsmanship and aura he brings to the game. Just watching him on the field tells us just how much he loves the game. Today I no longer have to fight any contradictions inside me. In 2004 he was unbeaten on 194 against Paksistan in Rawalpindi when Rahul Dravid declared the innings and it upset me as I knew he deserved a double century that day. I have no shame in acknowledging that there is Brian Lara, Inzamam ul Haq, Ricky Ponting and Rahul Dravid, and then a few notches higher, there is Sachin Tendulkar, if not in terms of cricketing talent, then in terms of his impeccable commitment, sheer strength of character and utmost humility. That sums up Sachin Tendulkar for me. About 12 years back, my Mathematics teacher with whom I used to engage in various cricketing discussions had told me that Tendulkar would one day get 50 centuries. I disagreed vehemently, not so much out of disrespect but simply because I could not imagine someone could get to 50 centuries in international cricket. He proved me wrong once again just like he had done on countless occasions before. But today it does not upset me. Instead I am too busy admiring a great achievement by an extremely talented man, who never tried to substitute that talent for hard work.

From cricketweb.net http://www.cricketweb.net/blog/features/267.php

[Asoka]

nice read

[DomainK]

Interesting read. Praise from a rival fan is always good to read. Quite a lot of cricket fans took their own time admitting Tendulkar. There have been numerous comparisons over the years. Anwar, Inzamam, Jayasuriya, Ponting, Lara, Hayden, Mark Waugh, Steve Waugh, Dravid, Ganguly, even Jadeja, KP....the list is endless. Tendulkar stood firm left all of those players far behind. I remember the time the author refers to when Tendulkar and Anwar had the same number of centuries. In fact, at one point of time three players were tied on 12 centuries: Sachin, Anwar and Mark Waugh. There had been serious debates over who would end up breaking the world record. The debates lasted a few days only as Sachin changed gears and the other two were left miles behind in no time. Then of course, the anti-sachins went looking for another player to compare with Sachin.

[mhr123]

Well... 1) Our arch rivals have admitted him to be the best.. 2) People who saw Don Live have admitted... 3) Best bowlers of Past have admitted... 4) All yesteryear's great admitted... 5) Best bowlers of Present have Admitted... 6) Best Batsman of Present have Admitted.. 7) Was talking to a die hard pakistani fan the day SRT made 200 N.o. .. he said " TBH Sachin deserved the record than Anwar".. Even he admitted.... but still some of the posters who are not even fit to play gully cricket write pages to arguing his stature..... Well Two words for them... " Feeeck out"

[Nova]

This was a good read. I liked how Mr. Rahman talked about his struggle to start admiring and acknowledge SRT as a great not only on the basis of stats but overall character and contribution of SRT towards the game we all love.

[Guest BossBhai]

-- Removed on request of the user --

[EnterTheVoid]

Fantastic read

[Roshanrocks]

:hail: I wish i cud write like that :sniffle:

[gaurav92]

Terrific read :nice:

[Hindustani]

tl;dr version please

[DomainK]

Well... 1) Our archive rivals have admitted him to be the best.. 2) People who saw Don Live have admitted... 3) Best bowlers of Past have admitted... 4) All yesteryear's great admitted... 5) Best bowlers of Present have Admitted... 6) Best Batsman of Present have Admitted.. 7) Was talking to a die hard pakistani fan the day SRT made 200 N.o. .. he said " TBH Sachin deserved the record than Anwar".. Even he admitted.... but still some of the posters who are not even fit to play gully cricket write pages to arguing his stature..... Well Two words for them... " Feeeck out"

Well said.

[rkt.india]

Superb..:two_thumbs_up:

[b555]

:hatsoff:

[Pak_Fan_4_Eva]

I bet that's the first time a Pakistani got this much appreciation on ICF:winky: I've been saying this for ages. Sachin is cricket's greatest ambassador and a sportsman everyone should look up to. Not only is he a great player, him modesty and humbleness makes him all the more great a person I said this back when Sachin reached his 200* and will say it again: " If i wished there was a non Pakistani who deserved to break Anwar's record, it was Sachin and no one else":hatsoff:

[Cricket_Guru]

ye pakistani ne likha hai? aur is writer ki tareef ho rahi hai on ICF....EMM..Possabel

[Cricket_Guru]

I bet that's the first time a Pakistani got this much appreciation on ICF:winky: I've been saying this for ages. Sachin is cricket's greatest ambassador and a sportsman everyone should look up to. Not only is he a great player, him modesty and humbleness makes him all the more great a person I said this back when Sachin reached his 200* and will say it again: " If i wished there was a non Pakistani who deserved to break Anwar's record, it was Sachin and no one else":hatsoff:

I think i got well more than that, it depends, which way you behave in, you got to keep one thing in mind, this is ICF....so anything which is over the top, is ofcourse a definition of a troll, ignoring facts over passion a definition of troll. i have never thought, i would have reached where I am now been to many forums, been to many sites but ICF, just WOW here you only see 2 kind of posters, one friendly and one just like a crow although nobody seems to care, i do some time raise my left eye brow to be fair this shouldn't stop just yet, let the heat build up for now wait for year 2012, I've heard the world is going to end, don't know how!

[Roshanrocks]

here you only see 2 kind of posters, one friendly and one just like a crow!

we have a poster by the name ...kalia_the_crow or something to that effect :cantstop:

[panesarv]

Nice poetry there Cricket_Guru :p

[ravishingravi]

CG you also have to understand that 2008 mumbai attacks have completely polarized the public wrt Pakistan. Anyway this off topic. OP, I don't need a Pakistani fans or anyone's specific approval here. We are talking about a maestro here, who has taken the game to a new level. Anybody who question his greatness, needs to first question his understanding of the game. Ofcourse, when we talk of greatest ever there can always be arguments and we have seen plenty of those here.

[Sachinism]

I think i got well more than that, it depends, which way you behave in, you got to keep one thing in mind, this is ICF....so anything which is over the top, is ofcourse a definition of a troll, ignoring facts over passion a definition of troll. i have never thought, i would have reached where I am now been to many forums, been to many sites but ICF, just WOW here you only see 2 kind of posters, one friendly and one just like a crow although nobody seems to care, i do some time raise my left eye brow to be fair this shouldn't stop just yet, let the heat build up for now wait for year 2012, I've heard the world is going to end, don't know how!

We allow a certain leniency towards posters, but if you feel any of the posts are crossing the line, feel free to report them and a moderator will take a look at it. We do usually step and remove most rule-breaking posts