My tribute to the god of cricket- Sachin Tendulkar

Its hard to digest the sentence like “God has decided to die”. Very contradictory statement it is, Well not that contradictory in my perception. We were fortunate enough to enjoy the moments like god’s birth, his drama of playing the role of life and now unfortunate enough to watch his departure silently! Its hard to believe on the incidents world cricket has been witnessing for almost 23 years with wide open eyes. Its like everyone was in dream and suddenly dawn interrupted us to wake-up. For many of us, it all started in the era of  black and white CRT screen on which a small height boy with curly hair is smashing Abdul Quadir like devil and we are jumping in excitement on bed. We have skipped many breakfasts…many lunches, have been scolded (and sometimes even slapped) by our mothers for watching tv excessively but who cared as long as god is on the pitch…chaped khaao aur fir se idhar-udhar ghumke tv ke paas aake baith jaao,besharm toh ham shuru se rahe hain J…

It was hard to believe on Sunday when all the tv channels were flashing maestro has decided to quit from ODI. I called up my 10 years old nephew (he also skips his food when Sachin is batting) and informed -Laddu, you know sachin tendulkar has announced retirement… he retaliated -Don’t try to be funny ok! I don’t like this… Laddu am serious, switch on your tv and browse any news channel. I was holding phone while he was busy with the news channel. Suddenly he started crying loudly and cut my phone. In the evening I called up again, he asked a single question- Ab sachin ODI kabhi nahi khelega? I said- no..tab main ab ODI kabhi nahi dekhunga…This just shows it hardly matters what is your  arrival time on Indian soil, what matters most is your love for cricket. If you love cricket you are bound to love sachin. Be it a child of 80’s, 90’s or 21^st century-everyone is same w.r.t. sachin. Screen might change from CRT to LED, feeling for god wont.

I am not willing to put some stats on this blog. All the news channels are busy doing this. To me,statistics is more about  analyzing facts and then putting it in an orderly fashion so that a dumb can also intelligently say “Sachin was no doubt a great batsman”. In my perception Sachin can never be judged by the stats. His ability goes beyond the reach of any statistical data. You can measure his centuries,  his wickets, his catches but what about the abstract data! what about the measurement of  craziness he drives in Indian fans , the fascination and aspiration he generates in young  blood, the nightmares he shows to the bowler like shane warne, the restlessness he creates on the face of  opponent captains. We simply cant measure them- Normal human’s capabilities could be measured that way, not god’s.  

I would like to reshare those good moments god had forced us to share once:

                                 God comes on earth!

                                Friends knock 664 runs!                            

                The youngest player to score Ranji century

            God debut in International cricket. What a moment!

First test century at old trafford in 1990. Sachin was only 17 then!

 First ODI century 5 years after debut. It took 78 matches!!!

                                     Married :)

    Nobody can forget Autrallian defeat in Sharjah in 1998!

                                When God meets god!

                                       

                Gavaskar's record of 34 test century broken!

              2003 world cup man of the series!

                         Can't forget beauty of this short!

                                        Awesome!

                 Double century in ODI! Even ODI gonna miss u :(

                                  Well deserved!

                             Watching Wimbledon!

What legends say about Sachin Tendulkar:

*   I have seen GOD , he bats at no.4 for India in Tests. - Matthew Hayden

*   We did not lose to a team called India...we lost to a man called Sachin. - Mark Taylor

*   If I had to bowl to Sachin I would bowl with a halmet on. He hits the ball so hard. - Dennis Lillie

*   Sachin is a genius. I'm a mere mortal – Brian Lara

*     Don't bowl him bad balls, he hits the good ones for fours. - Michael Kasprowicz

*    Beneath the helmet, under that unruly curly hair, inside the cranium, there is something we don't know, something beyond scientific measure. Something that allows him to soar. - BBC Sports

*    In an over I can bowl six different balls. But then Sachin looks at me with a sort of gentle arrogance down the pitch as if to say 'Can you bowl me another one? - Adam Hollioke

*    There will never be another Sachin Tendulkar. - Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiash Muralitharan

*     ...when he is in full flow, the mild-mannered boyish cricketer can look extremely intimidating. If there is a resonance, I find of myself in his batting, it is in that intent that he communicates." - Former West Indies captain and batting great Vivian Richards

*   I am fortunate that I've to bowl at him only in the nets!- Anil Kumble

*   I saw him (Sachin) playing on television and was struck by his technique, so I asked my wife to come look at him. Now I never saw myself play, but I feel that this player is playing much the same as I used to play, and she looked at him on television and said yes, there is a similarity between the two...his compactness, technique, stroke production... it all seemed to gel -  Sir Donald Bradman

*   I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for allowing us to breathe the same air as you do - Shah Rukh Khan

*   Test cricket is bloody hard work, especially when you've got Sachin batting with what looks like a three metre wide bat-   Michael Hussey

*   There are two kinds of batsman in the world. One- Sachin Tendulkar, Two- all the others- Andy Flower

                   Bas itna yaad rahe ek saathi aur bhi thaa...