The date 16 November 2013 will be remembered
as a red letter day in the history of
Indian cricket. Arguably Indian’s
greatest ever sportsman leave alone cricketer a certain Sachin RameshTtendulkar played his last day of cricket for team
india, thus ending a glittering and an astonishing career spanning a colossal 24 years. A fairy tale ending was
not in store nevertheless he showed glimpses of vintage Sachin
by playing the back foot punch, the on drive and his trademark straight drive
back past the bowler in his fluent innings of 74 runs. His legendary farewell
speech gave glimpses of what a truly humble, and a down to earth man he really
is. He did not forget anybody who had helped and supported him in his
stupendous journey.
So finally the
incredible journey has finished ,, a journey which took a boy wonder who faced the likes of Wasim Akram
and Waqar Younis at the age of 16 to the greatest batsman of the modern era
over a staggering period of 24 years. When Tendulkar started his career in
1989, india was not a team to be
reckoned with and now when he is passing on the baton to the youngers, the likes
of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara, India has become one of the
top teams of world cricket. The team under Dhoni has been winning more often than not in all forms of the game
since the past year or so.. The team has found a new age confidence with these
players actually believing that they can win a match from any situation. For 24
long years Tendulkar has been an integral part of a dressing room and all the
youngsters have actually learnt and benefitted just from watching the great man
prepare for matches day in and day out.
Now Indian cricket must
move forward as that is the only way
forward in the lives of professional sportsmen. While we can rekindle the
amazing memories which the maestro has given us, a question lingers in my mind. What should Indian cricket and India at large learnt from Sachin Tendulkar. I think there are several aspects which Indian cricket can and
must learn from the great man. The first thing which strikes all of us who have
seen Tendulkar even from distant quarters as fans is his persona which has been
fiercely competitive on the field and at the same time his off the field
persona has been an even greater source
of inspiration for the youth of this sport. Here is a man who played 4-5
matches throughout the day at the age of 13 -14 and combined with his
extraordinary ability and talent it was the sheer hard work and determination
to succeed at any level which has made him the cricketer which he is today. As
far as the longevity of the career is concerned, there are many who felt he should
have quit the game after winning the world cup in 2011, but very few people
observed the statements which he made a
year after, when he said that if he had quit after 2011, everybody would have
just talked about his retirement and he would have become the single focus of
the nation at a point when India had won the world cup after a gap of 28 years
and being the ultimate team man, he did not want anybody to take the credit
away from his fellow teammates who had equally worked hard to win the coveted trophy.
This incident to me typifies the man and what he thinks about his team.
For over 2
decades Tendulkar has been part of the Indian dressing room and just his presence has been a huge comforting
factor for the entire team. There have been instances when in spite of his poor
form, he has still proven to be an asset
for the team and has guided the team along the rough times. .Even the
appointment of Dhoni as Indian skipper
was triggered off by Tendulkar who had suggested his name for the captaincy. The
Indian youngsters will do well to learn how to maximise the precocious
talent into consistent performances over a long period of
a career. Not only has he succeeded in fulfilling the immense expectations of
the fans alike, but also has remained a very grounded individual off the field
. players like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma must take cue from his off field demeanour. It is
indeed very surprising to find out that, over this 24 year career Sachin has
managed to remain away from any major controversy which in itself speaks volumes
about his nature and conduct.
India will not miss Tendulkar the batsman in
ODI’s as they will in the longer formats
of the game. The current one day team is in magnificent form winning almost
every major tournaments home and away .It
is in the test matches where his services as one of the best no 4 batsman which
will be hugely missed. The current Indian test team has a very young look with
Kohli, Pujara, Rohit Sharma and Rahane all establishing themselves . the
challenge for these young batsmen will be to score match winning knocks outside
the Indian subcontinent. These batsmen will be tested in South Africa next month
and they have to embark on tough overseas tours like new Zealand and England next
year. Tendulkar all these years has been a colossus scoring prolifically against
all attacks home and away at remarkable consistency. Indian cricket will do
itself a big favour if it has a major role for Tendulkar if he remains associated with the game in
some form like in mentoring of the
youngsters. I personally would want Tendulkar to take a clear stand on
contentious issues involving Indian cricket because this is one area which i
feel he has been found wanting over the course of his career as his words will
carry a lot of credibility and weight in Indian cricket. Indian cricket may not
produce another Tendulkar ever but if it creates a culture where a player has
the ability to be committed and focussed as Tendulkar while doing justice to
his talent, then Indian cricket will have moved a notch forward.
