An Ode To a Mighty Little Champion

Way back in 1988, during the course of a Ranji trophy match between Delhi and Bombay, couple of players in the Delhi side who had represented the country were convinced that a school boy in the rival side was destined to become an all time great. During that contest, they had witnessed a spectacle from a 15 year old boy from arguably the best seat in the house, the playing field!!!.

The fact that they were left scratching their heads as to how to set a field to the pint-sized boy convinced them that the latter would go down as an all time great. The crystal gazers were none other than Messrs Madan Lal and Maninder Singh, the protagonist was Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar!!!.

Well, how accurate the crystal gazers have been in their prophecy!!!. 15th November 2009 marked an important milestone in the career of Sachin. He has completed couple of decades of International cricket. Indeed the two dazzling decades have been filled with riveting stuff of cricketing folklore in the journey of the mighty little champion.

On 15th November 1989 when a bubbly little Sachin took strike against Pakistan at Karachi on his test debut, there were expectations galore. The question all the critics and doubters had in mind was whether the boy wonder with prodigious has what it takes to survive at the highest level at the tender age of 16.

During that series, Sachin displayed tremendous fortitude, determination and technique to notch up an average tad above 35. All the critics were quickly put to rest!!!. In one of the test matches he was profusely bleeding from his nose after getting hit by a snorter from Waqar Younis but he refused to undergo treatment and carried on to make a match saving 50 plus score. It may be noted that during that series, Abdul Qadir, the famed Pakistani leggie raved rich praise on Tendulkar after being taken to the cleaners by the latter in one of the matches.

The Sachin saga which began in 1989, soon took flight to far flung corners of the cricketing world. Sachin notched up his maiden century against England in 1990 and that knock helped team India to save the match. Earlier in that year (1990) against Newzeland he got dismissed for 88 in a test match, had he notched a century in that game, he would smashed Hanif Mohamed’s record of being the youngest test centurion.

As Sachin moved along one milestone after another fell by the way side. In early 1992 he notched up a superb 114 against Australia at the WACA in Perth. The Aussie attacked comprised Mcdermott, Hughes, Reiffel and Whitney, no mean attack in any playing condition but certainly a very compelling one on a bouncy WACA track. The manner in which he flayed the Aussie attack endeared him to the Aussie public, some of the all time greats and the media. He soon added a very potent weapon in his cricketing repertoire, his guile as a bowler!!!.

The way he out foxed South Africans and won the game for India by bowling the final over in the Hero Cup Semis in 1993 is part of cricketing folklore. In 1994, during a one day game against Newzeland at Auckland the circumstances forced Sachin to open the batting for the first time in his career. He blazed his way to 82 of just 49 balls and the rest is history!!!. It turned out to be a master stroke and ever since Sachin has piled on runs in the shorter format of the game as an opener.

Sachin had a fabulous run during the 1996 Wills World Cup but sadly the team was done in by a tricky wicket during the semi-final against Srilanka. Even during the semi-final clash with Srilanka, Sachin carved a 60 odd on a pathetic wicket and that was roughly half the team score of 125 for 8!!!. He soon took over the captaincy mantle from Azhar in 1996 but was not very successful at it due to the fact he had very little resources at his disposal at that time. In early 1998 he lost his captaincy and that proved to be a blessing in disguise as it liberated Sachin as a batsman. Thus far 1998 has been Sachin’s most prolific year as a batsman. He ended up scoring 3 centuries on the trot against the Aussies and was instrumental in scoring centuries in all the cup finals India ended up winning!!!.

He carved a master piece against Shane Warne at Chennai in 1998. He scored 155 in that innings against the greatest leggie of all time on a wearing Chennai track. That innings changed the pulse of the series and paved the way for a 2-1 series win for India. Warne had gone on record stating that during that series he had nightmares of Sachin dancing down the track and hitting him all over the park. Certainly a glowing tribute from one champion to another. Tony Grieg, former English captain and a famed commentator had quoted that he would love seeing Sachin bat with a stick in hand, such was his dominance in 1998!!!.

By his lofty standards, Sachin had a modest World Cup in England in 1999. He made a 140 against Kenya, his lone century in that tournament. More than the amount of runs he scored, his act of enduring personal sacrifice (returning back few days after his father’s demise) opened up a new legion of fans. In 1999 he scored a masterly 136 on a turning track against the wily Saqlain Mustaq on a wearing track at Chennai. He scored those runs enduring severe back pain. When Sachin got out, India was just 17 runs away from victory with three more wickets still intact but team India still ended up losing the game by 12 runs!!!. Sachin was totally in tears and he could not be consoled. In the last decade, commencing year 2000, Sachin’s role in the Indian team has transformed from what it used to be in the previous decade. Due to the emergence of potent batsmen like Dravid, Laxman, Ganguly Yuvaraj and Shewag, Sachin’s role has transformed to being a mainstay in the team instead of being the swash buckler. The plethora of injuries he has suffered since 2000 have certainly changed his batting style and he has certainly mellowed down as a batsman. Being the eternal team man that he is, Sachin has ensured that with his mellowed approach he has paved the way for others to bat with disdain. His role in the larger scheme of things since 2000 has been one of sheet anchor and he has done an admirable job of it, his record in both forms of the game since 2000 speaks for itself.

Though he has been mellowed down in his approach since 2000, there have been several occasions when swash buckling Sachin has conjured up his magic with gay abandon. The way he put Shoaib Akthar in place at Centurion in 2003 and his brilliant 175 against Aussies early this month at Hyderabad are case in point. In December 2008 he notched up a 103 not out against England at Chennai and that knock put all his critics to rest.

Till that point his critics used to levy a charge that he can never finish a game, that one knock was a watershed one as he silenced them by being at the crease with a century plus knock when a monumental target of 387 was surmounted.

Sachin has captivated the cricketing world with his exploits over the last two decades. Any top flight bowler who has played the game in the last two decades would rate him as one of the best if not the best batsman he has bowled to. The only missing mantle piece in the show case at his home is the World Cup.

It would be a fitting farewell for the genius if Dhoni and his men could win the 2011 World Cup. Let us hope that Sachin’s career comes to a fairy tale finish at 2011 World Cup. Thanks Sachin for all the entertainment you have provided with dignity and decorum to all the cricket mad fans across the globe.