What Sachin meant to me.....

[Lurker]

To understand and appreciate Sachin Tendulkar you have to be an Indian. Better still you have to be a children of 80s and 90s India. The first time Sachin Tendulkar burst on International cricketing scene, yours truly was fighting on streets of Mahendru Ghat, Patna as part of anti-Mandal agitation. Amidst tubelight and electric rods wars (plus Bihar Police showing up der se), there was a proverbial uncertainty about the future, of yours as well as the country. Two days later regardless of where you stood, everyone was sitting on floor watching India play Pakistan rooting for their team. There were no sides, just a national team at play. This was also the time when India badly needed a hero to rally around, and hero it did find. One has to wonder if in Indian history there has been a more turbulent period than perhaps that between 1989-1995? Perhaps closely countered only by partition of India (1947) and Emergency (late 70s). Just look at what hit India and it looks like a laundry list from hell. Reservation (and anti-reservation saga), pawning Indian gold reserve to get International loan, Bombay bomb blast, Harshad Mehta scandal, match fixing scandal, Babri Masjid riots. India needed to dig deep to find heroes who would instill a sense of belief, it needed its Abul Kalaams and Leander Paes, its Manmohan Singhs (the economic minister not the PMs) and Amitabh Bacchans, and it needed its Sachin Tendulkar. The week before Babri Masjid went down in the annals of Indian history was perhaps the darkest and most apprehensive since days of partition. Every state in India was overcharged. Back in Patna, most of students who stayed in my hostel would get indoors before dark. There was no distinct enemy and yet there was somebody. It is hard to put in words, you have to live through that era. And in this era, in this week, was when Sachin hit his first hundred in South Africa. History will show he scored 111 runs at Johannesburg against White Lightning that day but its effect on junta is hard to quantify. This is pre-cable, pre-internet, pre-tablet era. I can recall students converging at the chaiwaala in the morning, and jumping from one newspaper to another trying to read and re-read the exploits of a hero. And so we grew. Me, my generation and Sachin Tendulkar. All together. And so did India. From college to Engineering college and into jobs. You grew. And so did he. From boy wonder he was the numero uno batsman. Lara came close, on good days even better but Tendulkar was the total package and always consistent. As the Indian economy opened and IT boomed, suddenly Indians were thrown in the deep end of world economy. Most Engineering, and other high education, grads suddenly had a chance that our parents never had. A chance to rub shoulders with the best in the world. I wonder how many of these folks went about their job and in a moment of desperation/disappointment opened up Cricinfo, checked scores and Sachin uplifted them? I wonder how many guys walked into a conference room inspired by what Sachin had just scored a ton against the very best? And when we got better and either moved abroad or to a different town within India in search of better pastures, life improved, responsibilities increased, more action, more challenges and growth opportunities. And yet we all shuddered at that dreaded 3am call. Our parents and the older generation were left behind, not getting any younger and not perhaps even understanding how best to fit in this suddenly changed world. And thus when Sachin lost his Dad an entire generation identified with that as well. When he chose to play after his Dad passed away and dedicated his century to him, I doubt there was any Indian who witnessed that and didn't tear up. For a man with over a hundred century I still believe that was his most important. When India met Pakistan right after Kargil war an entire nation stood behind Indian team as India played Pakistan in 1999 WC. Sachin didn't disappoint and ensured a solid start. 4 years later he made it even better by playing that many believe was his finest performance at Centurion against Pakistan. This time I was in a shanty little town in Little Rock, Arkansas with about 40 odd people in a small room. The wide applause for Sachin's six off Shoaib was matched only by the sheer distaste and hatred for Rameez Raja, when the latter commented how only way for Pakistan to win was to hurt Sachin and retire him. It may seem a hyperbole but the two nation may have gone to war had that happened. Today India has matured in more ways than one. No major religious riot in well over 2 decades (outside of Gujarat). It may seem not a huge thing but once upon a time such riots happened every year. Economy has certainly improved and in many ways we are an emerging and hard to ignore world power. We are also multiple champions in World cricket and is thus fitting Sachin decides to move on handing power to next generation. So where does Sachin Tendulkar fit in the pantheon of Indian greats? Personally I believe Kapil Dev is the greatest Indian cricketer. Partially because in a country who have produced some of the world's top batsmen having a pace bowling all rounder who was a dashing batsman is hard to overlook. And also because childhood bias die hard. And Kapil was childhood hero. Sachin I feel would be right behind him. What about Sachin compared to his contemprories? Dravid was a great batsman who would one day become a good Administrator, Sehwag a swasbuckler, Kumble a great bowler and even better trier, Ganguly a good leader of men, Dhoni the captain cool. What about Sachin? Sachin is perhaps an idea, a philosphy, an ideal, the embodiment of India. Had Sachin not been born an Indian, India would have had to invent him. xxx

[Sarkar]

Kapil dev is not the greatest indian cricketer sachin is the greatest cricketer of all time and batsman as well

[Kohum]

Waah ustaad ! what write up. Sums up Sachin pretty well. Sach is life.

[Guest BossBhai]

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[goose]

There is definitely a sense that he never grew up. The Michael Jackson of cricket. Debuting at such a ridiculously young age caught our imagination in a way that endured forever more. He promised so much and delivered again and again. I would say, however, that the adulation was not restricted to the shores of India. Indians born abroad loved him at least as much if not more.

[Sarkar]

There is definitely a sense that he never grew up. The Michael Jackson of cricket. I would say, however, that the adulation was not restricted to the shores of India. Indians born abroad loved him at least as much if not more.

of course he shall remain like that my college teacher used to say your really a big supporter of sachin as i used to wear india jersey i ll buy another new jersey with sachin name on it

[Guest BossBhai]

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[jalebi_bhai]

The wide applause for Sachin's six off Shoaib was matched only by the sheer distaste and hatred for Rameez Raja, when the latter commented how only way for Pakistan to win was to hurt Sachin and retire him.

Do you remember some of the gaalis that people were giving Rameez? :haha:

[Sachin=GOD]

Wonderful article. You really should write more. On topic, for me he has been pretty much the only constant in this ever changing world and an immense source of inspiration but more than all that, an example of how to stay humble and grounded.

[Zap_Brannigan]

My 1st memory of cricket was the shastri sweep heave off a spinner to lose the 87 WC semifinal. I have no idea how i remember that as a 8 year old. My 2nd memory was the Azharudin catch to tie a WI game in the tri-series just before the 92 WC. My 3rd was the jadeja catch in the 92 WC against Aus.I have some vague memories of matches played every year since then and Sachin has been the constant till yesterday. Pretty much every cricket game i watched has sachin in them or make me miss sachin because he was injured or resting. Every time we would lose a game i knew that sachin would fight it out in the next game. Every time we were behind in a series, i knew that sachin would play a magical innings to keep us in the run. Every time Sachin was still not out, i knew we always had a chance no matter how the odds were stacked against us. In the 90s, Sachin meant HOPE. In any situation, in any condition, against any bowler, against any team, as long as we had Sachin, we were never out of the game. With the advent of dravid, laxman, dhoni, yuvraj,sehwag,ghambir and recently kholi in the last decade, i had someone other than sachin to look forward to against all odds along with Sachin, but for 21 years that i had watched cricket, Sachin has always been there. I grew up with his career and he has outlived all my other interests.

[EnterTheVoid]

Considering how diverse India is in terms of its language, cultures and ethnicities, this one fellow somehow manages to unite everyone and everything when he goes out to bat. That takes some doing!

[Tiger-Don]

beautiful report in Bengali...that's if you understand bXkOlMj_GYQ

[maniac]

Kapil Dev to me was almost a superhero as a kid but now some younger generation Indians themselves, talk about him as he was like some bits and pieces mediocre all-rounder in the Afridi mold. Gavaskar was a larger than life superstar,a symbol of courage but now to the younger generation he is that annoying commentator who used to be a slow boring batsman. 15 years from now kids will start picking stats and wonder why he had a god like status,Let me tell you why... Tendulkar was a top batsman of his era along with Lara,Kallis and all the other contenders who came along but as an Indian fan,was he just the best batsman in the team? Think again 1)He performed God-like miracles-Hero Cup with the ball in that miraculous last over and many other times when the chips were down or when the game needed to move along like those wickets in kolkatta test and some other breath taking moments. 2) Just like god he was the only hope amidst dejection-I will be the first to say it,some high profile losses made SRT bigger than he already was....As the famous hindi saying goes-Lose translation,just realized this op is by Lurker :nervous: God only shows the way,it is the humans who need to find the destination.The 96 World cup Semifinal,The 175 innings against Australia and the Chennai test come to mind. 3)Raising his game against the best or the toughest challenges-I would say the 98 Aussie tour to India was a defining moment in SRT's legacy,His total annihilation of Warne followed by the desert storm innings.His 2003 world cup innings against pak which might have given him the god moniker for the first time etc have done no less in making him a super hero. 4)He is clean cut and pure just like God-For me personally Kapil was my number 1 guy,after his retirement I was an Azhar fan...Not a hater by any means ,but SRT was only behind these guys but the match fixing saga of 2000 made me a full convert...Azhar was a traitor(whatever the verdict,we all know it in our hearts),Even Kapil was dragged in but one man who was away from the controversy and declared clean is none other than Sachin.Not a single allegation,Even the bad guys had goods thing to say about him.That for me right there was the moment that made him a god in my eyes :sniffle: Don't know how else to categorize this but becoming the first guy to show the world that 200 is possible in a ODI and many other such feats justifies why he has a god-like following in India

[CG]

Chacha 25 lakh lost my respect during 2000 saga.

[Sidhoni]

Nice writeup as always :two_thumbs_up:

[Lurker]

No he did not. He only grew physically. But the child-like exuberance and enthusiasm to get on to the 22yrds remained bottled and sealed never to expire or lose the fizz. This is the essence of Tendulkar and this is what I try to do in my own profession.

Growth is not one-dimensional BB :winky: One measure of growing up, as my dear Bihari Telugu mate Suri would say, is to realize what one can not do and channel energy towards what he can do. Quite true in case of Sachin. The first time he was offered the captaincy he took it with great honor, the second time when it came around he was happy to nominate Dhoni for the same. It was there for his taking but he realized he was not the best skipper and concentrated on being the best batsman instead. You could also make the same case about him cutting the cover drive when he hit double century down under. There is no denying his childlike exuberance. It remained through his career.

[coffee_rules]

WB, LurkerSaab. Nice write-up. In many ways, we all grew up along with Sachin. His life and achievements gives us a sense of achievement in our own lives. We started to appreciate other cricketers when he was down. Appreciated others' comeback just like he did many times in his career in 2004-2008. He had an amazing 2010. I wish he had retired in 2011 afte his amazing comeback to the top of the rankings (End of SA tour, he was ranked #1) and the WC win would have been the icing on the cake. But like all greats, we had to see him lose the abilities and retire on a low. But, one cannot deny his greatness and what he represents for India and what India represents because of him. #1 cricketer from India in my books.