Sachin bashing is not fun anymore!

As I write this article, ‘Team India’ is reeling at 87-4 against England in the 4^th and final test match at the Jamtha Stadium in Nagpur. As expected, the top order has failed and so has Sachin Tendulkar. My facebook wall is full of comments and statuses about his failure and about opinions that say he should hang up his boots. I have been saying the same for a long time now – for nine years. I have lost friends as I fought with them questioning Sachin’s place in the team. I have argued endlessly and tirelessly over the years, facing the brunt from his supporters every time he raised his bat to the heavens to salute the almighty for his efforts. I have tried to put every reason and argument against him on the table and have seen his fans overturn every accusation. Yet today, after all those years, their acceptance and their calls for his retirement do not make me happy. My posts and the likes that they get do not make me happy. I am bashing him but I do not have anyone opposing me and even the great Sachin Tendulkar himself has stopped challenging my harsh words with his bat. This is a victory that doesn’t feel like one. I have now become the ‘Unemployed Sachin Basher’.

My first memories of Sachin Tendulkar date back to the Hero Cup semi-final game in 1993. My family was the only one with a cable television in the entire building back then and we were watching the game on Star Sports. The other channel telecasting the game was DD national and just as the game approached its final moments, DD National switched to the national ‘News at 8’ and the entire wing stormed through the door into our house to watch the final moments of the match that was going to turn a young batsman a hero because of his ability to bowl. About 40 eyes watched intently as Sachin Tendulkar ran in to bowl the last over after Kapil Dev did not feel confident enough.

Sachin Tendulkar managed to win India the game by conceding just 3 from the over and everyone celebrated like it was a festival and festival it was indeed as Sachin had re-affirmed the faith bestowed upon him by millions. He already was and had again become a hero, much larger than a normal cricketer. In him we saw hope, in him we saw courage, in him we saw the fight that would help us take on any team and beat them. Sachin grew in stature and with every passing day he became a phenomenon like Indian cricket had never seen.

Five reasons why I am a Sachin basher:

The captain he chose to never become

When Sachin Tendulkar became the captain of India taking the reins from Mohammad Azharuddin, India was in for a rude shock. His captaincy record continued to go from bad to worse and with every loss or humiliation, Sachin Tendulkar had people to cover him up. No one spoke of his captaincy or his style. All the country spoke about was the failure of 10 others. Their favorite son was not the captain they wanted him to be. Sachin then quit captaincy to concentrate on his batting. For the first time, it seemed as if Sachin had done something for himself and not for the team. But isn’t he regarded the best team man to have ever taken the field? Is he not considered someone who gives his whole and soul to the team? With every loss, his reactions in the press conferences were meek. Every interview said he was not willing to do the job. Every answer was forced, so forced that the fans made a decision for him. Relieve him from the captaincy, let him bat. The sentiments became stronger and Sachin escaped from the blame, spotless. The country was concerned about his batting and not about the fact that there was no other candidate fit at that time. I do not believe he is not a good captain, I believe he never wanted to captain India; he never wanted to be answerable.

Cometh the hour, where is our champion?

In 1998, Sachin Tendulkar served Australia a storm that even the deserts in Sharjah couldn’t. He smashed the Aussies in Australia and consistently tore their attack apart in the different formats. He is credited with the honor of being the best batsman against the most powerful attack in the world. He is worshiped because he dominates Australia. On the day of the final in the 2003 Cricket World Cup, this dominance lasted 5 balls and for four runs. This was the time he needed to score. It is argued in his favor that the team had no chance after conceding 359, but Herchelle Gibbs and Greame Smith did not feel the same when chasing 434. If you can do it you have to do it at a time when the team needs you to, that is the stuff champions are made of.

A similar story came into the picture when India needed to win a game against Sri Lanka in the 2007 Cricket World Cup. Dilhara Fernando bowled a delivery that bamboozled the champion of 1 billion people and everything was comfortably blamed on the coach and his methods of dealing with the team.

On 2^nd April 2011, the stage was set, for the master to complete his 100^th ton and contribute towards the team’s success; unfortunately he edged his Mumbai Indians team mate Lasith Malinga to the keeper. Around 240 runs to go to win the trophy. A certain captain cool won the trophy for the country and the country called it Sachin’s World Cup.

With so many tournaments around the year, there are many opportunities for him to cover these three failures up, but according to me if you are not a world cup performer, you can hardly call yourself a legend. Sachin realized that dream but would it have been possible without others? I wonder if his fans would agree and say no.

He can bat anywhere for the team, but he loves to open

There was a time when Sehwag and Ganguly were beginning to fire in each other’s company. They loved the opening spot and were performing as a pair. The team also benefitted as it meant the experienced trio of Dravid, Laxman and Sachin made up a strong middle order. The best possible team combination was about to prosper for India when the great man made a statement in the press saying he loved batting as an opener. The media added fuel to the fire and Sourav Ganguly had to shift to the middle order without even analyzing his performance. Such was, and is, the power of Sachin’s word. I wonder how such words do not come out in the press often to save a captain or a coach from the media fire. Wonder why these words prefer to remain mum on different issues that crop up into the game.

No one needs to be reminded about the 194* declaration. I do not want to mention a lot about this as it pains me that my one time hero did not even think twice before putting his captain in the line of fire.

Young talent, where? Sachin cant’ see no young talent?

A certain Ajinkya Rahane might soon complete 100 test matches as a 12^th man. Ajinkya Rahane is from Mumbai and has scored heaps of runs right from the season he made his debut. He averages a whopping 65 in Ranji Trophy and keeps accumulating runs like a mean run machine. Ajinkya Rahane came to the lime-light when he scored and scored well for the Rajasthan Royals. Can you guess where he was in the first two IPL editions? The Mumbai Indians had a talent like him with them and yet during the first two seasons we saw no Rahane. The case is just the same with Manish Pandey, another player who spent his time on the bench with the Mumbai Indians.

Sachin’s word has the power to do things only gods can dream of. Yet, we do not see him do anything for the youngsters even today. There are many talented guys who won the Mumbai Indians the Champions Trophy in 2011, but in the following year Sachin preferred letting his team lose than try successful youngsters like Sarul Kanwar and Sukumar Yadav. He chose to fail himself than let these young men, who were once Champions Trophy winners.

Retirement? But he still enjoys the game

A topic that is being discussed for a long time now is his retirement. I don’t really want to add things to that as it will come when he decides, as no one has the power to face public wrath in India. The selectors would rather drop 10 others than drop him and face his fans.

So, Why isn’t Sachin Bashing fun anymore?

I miss watching him give me a straightforward answer with a double hundred.

I miss watching him score in important games.

I miss the abuses I received when he scored runs after I had already declared his failure.

I miss the raised hands that saluted the almighty for a ton and I miss smiling because Sachin has proved me wrong.

I miss the joy at the stadium when the fans shout out his name during the IPL

These days whenever I write about his incapability, he fails. Whenever the wicket is tough to bat on, he fails. Whenever the attack is good, he fails. Whenever the opposition is strong, he fails. Even if India gets a good start, he fails and he fails as he always has when the team is in crisis. None of my most discouraging posts seem to spur him on and fight to defy me. He gets bowled, leg before wicket, caught behind, caught at the boundary and that too to all the bowlers, not even the best ones. I feel bored, my job is monotonous now and the thrill is gone. No challenges, no fight-backs, no answers.

As a Sachin Basher, I feel lost and I feel sad for his downfall. I could never love Tendulkar and I could never hate him, it’s easy to be a Sachin fan but very difficult to be a Sachin basher.