Sachin Tendulkar

The second batsman getting out in the Indian cricket team would have to be the most unlucky sportsperson in history as the crowd’s reaction on the dismissal is a roar – a roar that sends shivers down the opposition’s spine, for it is Sachin Tendulkar that will walk in.

The man, if we are allowed to call him that, walks in unperturbed with the bat tucked in under his elbow as the chants get louder. As he reaches the centre and takes guard, one can be assured that the innings he is going to play is going to become a favourite discussion over tea time for the next few days. A Tendulkar innings in never over when it is over. There will be a million people analyzing the knock or blaming him for throwing his wicket away. Sachin Tendulkar has become a pastime, a habit, a debate – a national obsession.

After scoring an avalanche of runs in Junior and Domestic cricket, Sachin was thrown into the battlefield as a 16 year old when he was picked for India’s tour of Pakistan in 1989. After being hit on the nose on debut and a couple of ducks later, people began questioning the wisdom behind his selection. But Tendulkar silenced each and every one of them with some phenomenal knocks over the next few years including a classy hundred on the fastest track in the world at Perth against an attack that comprised of Merv Hughes, Craig McDermott and Paul Reiffel.

After starting his career in the middle order, Sachin began opening the innings in ODI’s in 1994 while he continued to plunder centuries in Test Cricket and by the end of the 1996 World Cup, he became the No.1 batsman in the world. As we near the end of 2010, Sachin still remains the No.1 batsman in the world.

The best leg spinner in the history of cricket, Shane Warne, once said that he saw Sachin in his nightmares after the maestro had taken him to the cleaners during a Test match in Chennai. Sachin’s father passed away during the 1999 World Cup. After attending the funeral, he flew back to England and exorcised the demons by doing what he does best – hammering a century against Kenya! Such is the man’s passion towards the game that he was so disappointed that he stayed back in the dressing room after India narrowly lost a Test to Pakistan, refusing to even come and collect his Man of the Match award after he had battled back spasms and made a fighting 136.

There is no better sight than watching Sachin straight drive a bowler past the stumps or timing a drive crisply through the covers or frustrating a spinner with his trademark paddle sweeps. Cricket has seen Lara, Ponting and Viv Richards in full flow but none of them has enjoyed the superstardom that he enjoys. The silence in the crowd when Sachin gets out is just deafening!

After 22 years in International Cricket with over 30000 runs and almost a century of centuries in his kitty, the Little Master still walks onto the field with the enthusiasm of a 16 year old and on the field, he is just like a genius at work. With the ball in his hand, he can swing it both ways. He can rip those leg breaks and then come up with the best of googlies that many a wrist spinner would have envied. He can take those sharp catches in the slips or throw a bullet from third man.

However one feat that eludes the champion cricketer is being a part of a ICC Cricket World Cup winning squad and he will be looking to set that record straight by winning the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 – in front of his most devout supporters.

Tags: Cricket, Cricket World Cup, God, ICC Cricket World Cup, India, Indian Cricket Team, Indian Sports, Sachin Tendulkar, Sports, Sports India, Sportsperson