So much has been said and written
about Sachin Tendulkar over the last quarter of a century, about his
contributions to Indian and world cricket, about what a great ambassador
of the game he has been, and about his longevity. I personally feel
whatever praise and adulation has come Sachin's way is well deserved,
because there simply isn't, and will never be, another cricketer like
him.
Sachin was the 187th Indian to play Test cricket. The last
debutant for India was R. Vinay Kumar, No. 274. If I am right, nearly
60% of the 87 players who made their Test debut for India after Sachin
have already retired from the game. That, to me, is the perfect
illustration of the desire, hunger and commitment that have driven
Sachin to turn out match after match, and perform more often than he has
failed.
He broke in to the Indian team when only 16, and for 23
years, he has carried not only the team on his shoulders but also the
expectations of a billion people. He has done that in style and without
fuss, taking all challenges in his stride and never shying away from a
contest.
I made my debut two series after Sachin, and for a long
time in our careers, we had similar challenges. The general consensus
even in his early days was that Sachin would go on to become not just
the best Indian batsman ever but also the best batsman in the world, the
scorer of the most runs and hundreds in Tests and One Day
Internationals, the holder of all records imaginable. That was the
expectations he had to face as a teenager, and he has proved everyone
right.
I was branded someone who wasn't ideal for Test cricket,
who could at best be a restrictive One-Day bowler. My challenge,
therefore, was to prove people wrong, and I was fortunate enough to do
that in my own way. I have been retired for four years now, but Sachin
is still going on, and for the first time in his career, he is faced
with a similar challenge to mine—that of proving everyone wrong. And I
am confident he will succeed just like he has done over so many years.
For
the first time, people are questioning his place in the team. The
expectations are that he should retire because his performances over the
last year or so haven't matched the standards he has set over the
previous 22 years. Yes, we have not seen the best of Sachin in this
phase, but it is not just him alone. If you look at the overall picture,
the team has struggled in Test cricket, so are we suggesting that India
are still a one-man army, still totally dependent on Sachin? I think
not.
It used to be so for a long time, make no mistake. But once
people like Rahul, Sourav, Laxman and Sehwag came in, the pressure on
Sachin the individual was shared by the others. That was one of the
major reasons for the success of the Indian team because the other
batsmen rallied around him. But even though the Indian batting is no
longer just about Sachin, I can state with certainty that every
opposition discusses him at length, he continues to be a massive wicket.
Teams know that he can come good any time and they know what damage he
can do once he gets going, so oppositions treat Sachin with the same
regard today as they did one year back, I don't see that as having
changed.
Sachin's contribution extends beyond the field of play.
It's about what he has been to Indian cricket, to world cricket, and
about how many people he has inspired with his deeds and his conduct. He
certainly is not young anymore and has been through a whole lot of
injuries but, every time, he has come up trumps. He has managed his
body, the pressure and the expectations of a nation with a finesse that
is all too rare, and he has done that for the last 23 years—that's why
he is so revered and admired. I am sure he and we would like to see that
Sachin now.
But he is like any other player in that from time to
time, everyone goes through a tough phase. This is the time when you
need to give him space for him to think about what he needs to rectify
rather than put all kinds of negative thoughts in his mind. People are
asking if it is time for him to go. That's a question people ask in
India when you cross 30; the only difference is that in Sachin's case,
it has come at 39. But just four innings back, before the start of the
England series, he made a hundred for Mumbai against Railways in the
Ranji Trophy.
I know you can't compare a first-class attack with
the English attack, but that century showed that he still has the
hunger, the drive and the focus. I am sure when he was batting for
Mumbai, the thought of people pressuring him to retire was not there.
But possibly when he walks into the Test arena, this is what he has had
to encounter. This is the time for him to be left alone. He is such a
great player that he doesn't need anyone else's advice on how to score
runs. He just needs people to back off and allow him to work out what he
needs to return to run-scoring ways, which I am confident he will.
The
performances and the mindset of the Indian team are not helping Sachin,
either. India have won just three Tests in the last year, all at home,
which probably has magnified his failures. But he is not your regular
No.4 batsman. He has been synonymous with the Indian team, with cricket,
and people have taken up cricket because of him. When you have all
these attributes, you can't dismiss him and his contributions on the
back of a couple of poor performances. It might be easy to sit at home
and say emotion should be set aside and decisions should be made only on
the back of cold logic, but given the emotions that have accompanied
Sachin's journey, that is unrealistic.
At 39, it's more of a
mental battle for a batsman while it is always a physical grind for a
bowler. Physical fitness is paramount, of course, but the mind needs to
be fresh and it doesn't help when the mind is bogged down by negative
thoughts implanted by extraneous forces. The only issue with age is that
no matter how fit you are, the recovery gets tougher and takes longer.
But knowing Sachin for this long, I can say that he is exceptionally
tough mentally and still does every physical routine to prepare himself
for every Test. He has followed a fantastic work ethic. In all my years
of playing and watching the game, I haven't seen anyone else adapt to
conditions better or faster than Sachin.
For 23 years, he has
helped people dream, he has made them feel better emotionally. More's
the reason why we need to give him his emotional space now. There have
been instances when he has been the sole reason for India's wins, but he
has never been the sole reason for India's losses. It's best to leave
it to him to deal with what is in front of him now, because no one else
has been in his position. No one else has played 192 Tests, made 34,000
runs, or scored 100 centuries. Let's not jump the gun, let's give the
man the respect he deserves.
Courtesy : week.manoramaonline.com
