Sach is Life

We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.– T. S. Eliot

.. And The Journey Continues..

It is impossible to forget the evening of 19th March, 2006 at the Wankhede Stadium – Day 2 of India vs England – Sachin’s home ground. Sachin strode out to bat with his side having lost two early wickets, faced against a formidable score. He wasn’t enjoying the best of forms – it was easily the worst phase of his career, a career which was already 17 years long. He managed to survive for half an hour scoring just a solitary run, looking ill-at-ease, before he fished at a wide ball outside off-stump – “Poor shot” the commentator on air proclaimed. A stunned silence descended the ground, something you had come to associate with a Sachin dismissal for over a decade now. But barely had he crossed the 30 yard-circle circle, a section of the crowd booed. The Mumbai crowd had just booed their favourite son – and soon the catcall spread to the entire stadium. The next day, the TOI headlines screamed “Endulkar?”.

Sachin’s romance with the Wankhede had started much before that: The 5th day of November, 1987 – India playing England in the semi finals and chasing another World Cup dream. A fourteen year old Sachin Tendulkar was there – as a ball boy. For most fourteen-year olds, this would be the closest they would ever get to the action – but not Sachin. He was soon to drop out from school, and start a remarkable journey. Not many would have known that the boy in curly hair tossing the ball to them from the boundary was soon going to change the way cricket is played – and viewed. India lost that day, and Sachin must have felt, perhaps for the first time, the disappointment of a World Cup loss.

Cut to 2006-07, a phase when he was struggling for runs, struggling for form – Sachin had already given more than his heart and soul to the game. He had reminded the Don of his own style of batting, he had given nightmares to his greatest contemporary bowler. Had he hung his boots then, people would have eventually remembered him for all the good things he’s done for the country. While other sporting greats have bitten ears, have head-butted, have smashed television sets, have indulged in shameless infidelity, this was a sporting great who was unscathed off the field. He was seeing a slump in his career – and they wanted him to go – “Body is no longer good enough”, “Reflexes have betrayed him”, they said. Go he didn’t, and thus began the second innings of his career, which was eventually to graduate him from a mere sporting great to a legend.

He batted like only he could. He smashed records, some of which already belonged to him. He kept piling on the runs; he kept piling on the bowler’s agonies. He smashed an ODI double century. It was no secret that the one thing he wanted was the World Cup trophy – badly. He upped the ante, even by his own standards in the World Cup. He scored all over the park. He pulled out shots which people had long forgotten. He put in dives. He chased the ball in a manner which would have done people half his age proud. He had scripted his side’s entry into the finals. People gaped – the body was still good enough and the reflexes had gone nowhere!

It all culminated to the Wankhede again on April 2, 2011. He could not set the stage on fire, but he was on the victorious side – the side which had just won the World Cup, the side which was the World Champions. Mahendra Singh Dhoni had played a shot which will soon become the most replayed piece of video in the history of cricket. The celebrations had begun. The crowd at the stadium had gone hysteric. Their roars couldn’t have been any louder – or so you thought. When Sachin stepped into the ground to join his jubilant team mates, the crowd’s decibel level went even higher. Youngsters in the team who had just scripted their names in history, and could have easily been soaked in that moment’s glory were quick to reiterate that the victory was for Sachin. He was lifted on their shoulders. In Kohli’s words, they were carrying someone who had carried the burden of the team for 21 years. He was given a victory lap around the Wankhede Stadium. The crowd gave him a standing ovation. Life had come a full circle for him – and for the Wankhede.

Sachin has much more to offer cricket. He would most definitely get the Bharat Ratna. He will go on to get the much awaited 100th international ton, and many more. The already huge tally of runs credited to him will grow even bigger. More records will be broken and set. Even another World Cup victory cannot be ruled out. But the one moment he and his fans would always remember would be that day. Among the many Sachin folk fares that people will tell their grandchildren, this one is going to be right up there.

The exploration is complete, but the journey will continue.