17/06/2012

Sachin who ?????

It was an wonderful evening and I had just returned from school and there was a commotion at my home all glued to the TV set which my dad had bought after a long struggle. Srinath and Banerjee was struggling to get India across the line against England at the Benson and Hedges world cup but failed eventually. That was the first cricket match I ever watched. Never did I know I would turn into an ardent fan of the same sport few years later. Little did I know about Boundary,Sixer and Out and I never understood LBW back then and I have few doubts on that even today ...... :) :) :)

It was 5 A.M, the winter of 1992 and I could still feel the chill of the cement flooring which is my favourite flooring more than the fancy marble and granite ones these days. The lights were on and my entire family was already watching a match between West Indies and India. That was the first and vivid memory of me watching a little fellow walking to the crease to face the mighty pace attack which comprised the likes of Ambrose. The whole crowd made a roaring voice and I was thrilled at the sight of it and woke up to watch this guy. He just scored very little but somehow took a place in my heart for no reason. The other performance that I got to watch was his bowling against Pakistan and few of his strokes against Brandes and this guy had already occupied a considerable part of my thoughts.

It has been 20 years now and he has given me some of the memorable moments of my life. I have always believed that India had a chance no matter what the situation was in the match and was glued to the TV set just to watch this guy bat. I have prayed for the openers to get out to see him bat and that continued till he was promoted to the openers slot. I even hated Kambli for he stole the lime light from Sachin during England's visit scoring back to back 100's. The way he played those straight drives with such command, the way he ran those quick singles with a unique pads from the rest of the lot, the way he shook his shoulders in his interviews and even the way adjusted his abdomen on the crease was awesome to me. I was completely in love with this guy and he was the first one I loved unconditionally. I was not worried about India loosing as long as he scores good and many of my friends shared a similar view except for few patriots..... :) :) :)

It's been an awesome journey and I consider to be lucky being part of his journey all along. Some of the centuries I have loved watching are
134 against Australia helping India qualify for Coca-Cola Cup finals
143 against Australia helping India lift the Coca-Cola Trophy
141 against Pakistan chasing 300 plus at Rawalpindi
175 against Australia chasing 350 odd at Hyd
137 against Srilanka in 1996 world Cup.
111 against SAF in 2012 World Cup.

There have been umpteen other innings which I have admired and adored and I thank god for giving me an opportunity to enjoy this little fellows game right through his peak and also be part his struggle. For me personally it has never been the numbers which has made Sachin an Epitome. His hunger for success and love for the game that helped him come back after major injuries after sacrificing most of his lethal shots like Golf Swing, Straight Drives that caused him a great pain and his ability to score in heaps even after all this. It was the sheer entertainment that he provided all along for each and everyone who loved Indian cricket made him one.

It is the cafeteria at the new facility and there was a whole bunch of fellows consisting of guys from fresher batch, managers, admin staff, guys , girls all were uttering the same prayer and that was for Sachin to score in 100th century. After the 111 he scored against SAF in the world cup round robin matches I was hoping that he would score a century at his home ground and lift the cup, but that was not to be and he had to wait for another day for that milestone. The media then started focusing on this milestone contemplating and describing how great it would be if he gets it at the Mecca of cricket and in the boxing day match against Australia. He had scored pretty decent throughout the season though India had failed pathetically.

He was now playing at the wee end of the innings and there was a maiden over played out against a Bangladeshi bowler. At the other end was Raina who was the leather to all arts of the ground. This little rat took all the time in the world to reach to his personal milestone and finally when he did he just pointed out to the BCCI logo as if he had scored it for the team. That was the first time I hated this hypocrite whom we all have worshiped as a hero all these 20 years. He just proved he was after all a human :( ....... And his decision to give a miss to the function felicitating the Great Wall but attend the one organised by his franchise owners and receive all the buttering from all walks of the celebrity world only made it even worse. I just couldn't buy the doctor appointment as a reason. It was just ridiculous. He was being mean and cheap to his fellow compatriot with whom he had shared many wonderful moments. A sudden change from what I have felt about this guy for almost 20 years, but I am not fickle-minded here. People who is ready to be rational will understand for sure and irrational or rather emotional people will continue hero worship arguing he can be selfish for what he has done for team for 2 decades. All I can do is really have pity on these people and wish they could just analyse and leave their emotions when they do it .....

I wish he plays many more of such innings as he had done before instead of playing for his personal interests. I sincerely wish he does that and bows out as a hero and not as someone who misused his unquestionable reputation compromising teams interests for his own enjoyment of playing the game.