Sachin Tendulkar: the little man who hit the big fellow for six

Sachin Tendulkar of India takes a breather during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2003 Pool A match between India and Pakistan held on March 1, 2003 at the Supersport Stadium, in Centurion, South Africa. India won the match by 6 wickets. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

We stand up. Everywhere in the country, we stand up. We salute, we bow, we give our respect. We cheer, we shout, we clap. Some people look disappointed, some are even angry. I look at them in disbelief. How can anyone be angry at Sachin? Then I realise. Oh no. They aren’t angry at him. There are angry at Shoaib, at Pakistan. How can anyone want to stop this guy? Why would anyone want to do that? Such illogical questions swarm their minds as they are brutally awakened from their trance. The trance you get into when you watch Sachin play.

“…he is dancing down the pitch, and oh look! he has smacked the ball over his head for six! Unbelievable…”

It has always been that shot, that sight, that took my breath away. The little man rampaging down to the middle of the pitch without a care for the bowler or the ball in youthful hunger and smacking the ball out of the stadium in utter disdain and hair-raising fury. I used to be amazed that they could even manage to find the ball afterwards, that the ball was still in one piece. I was so overawed by that sight.

Much before the events of the 2003 World Cup match versus Pakistan, this was probably when he cemented his place in cricketing folklore. We are chasing a tough score against one of the best teams of the decade or so, my dad tells me. I am just seven years old. The scorecard says Australia have scored 272. That’s a very high score, or so it was in those days. They have some great bowlers. To add to that, they have Shane Warne.

Everyone knew Shane Warne. He has exceptional talent and is probably the best bowler in the world. I’m very nervous when we begin our chase. Our batting has a big test ahead, some would even call the chase impossible. We are underdogs. So many times our batsmen have fallen like a pack of cards. My dad says these things to me to keep my hopes down, so that I don’t break down when we lose. It was “when” not “if” we lose. But let’s move on.

I have low hopes and our chase has begun. The rest turns out to be a blur, a dream. He whacks the ball straight at Sourav Ganguly, who gets the scare of his life. Before that, he had hit one of the most beautiful cover drives I had ever seen. Little did I know, he was just getting started. Tom Moody, Mark Waugh, Michael Kasprowicz, they all go for boundaries.

He is relentless. But then my adrenaline rush arrives. In Ravi Shastri’s words: “…and Tendulkar greets him by dancing down the track and hammering him over long-on. This is amazing stuff.” That was Shane Warne. Best spinner in the world. Warne looks around in utter disbelief. The crowd has gone mad. And I have found nirvana. That was the greatest moment of my seven-year-old life.

But that was not all. The boundaries continue. He notches another century. And then another beauty arrives. Warne is bowling his final over when it happens. “…and that’s smashed back, straight back over the bowler’s head, and again, hit with tremendous power by Tendulkar.” Shastri isn’t quite as magical as the moment demands, but inside my head, that was setting up nicely as a moment I’d savour for years.