Sachin Tendulkar: The genius will be missed

Sachin Tendulkar

Normally, when Sachin Tendulkar gets closer to achieving a milestone, the fans belonging to the cricket crazy nation tend to grow restless in an urge to experience the excitement very soon. They devotedly wait for that day when the master finds himself within a touching distance of adding another feather to his cap. This will not be the situation now though for the fans when the Mumbai batsman plays his record 200th test match in his home ground later next month. This is probably one record which may never be broken in fact. It will not be easy for any individual to stay fit for so long and play so many test matches in his career. Jacques Kallis, who comes next in the list amongst the active players, is also way behind the Indian batsman having played 34 matches lesser than the latter. So, it is very obvious that this record of Sachin is due to stay for quite some time, if not very long. This being the case, you would expect his fans to wait eagerly to see him padded up when India takes on West Indies on 14th of November’13.

Sadly though, this time around not only cricket fanatics from India but also people across the world would be hoping that the inevitable day where Sachin is scheduled to play his 200th test match never comes. How can someone imagine the existence of cricket without a person who has been entertaining them for more than two decades! The 200th test match, which would incidentally be his last, is not something what cricket lovers would want to see although there would be millions of people gathering in and out of the stadium to have the last view of their most embellished hero in cricket attire. Even if he finishes off his career in style by striking a ton or perhaps more, the day he presses his exit button will be the day when Indian cricket will be left completely impoverished. The entire cricket community and the game itself will miss Sachin once he finished playing his final innings in Mumbai against West Indies. Though no individual should be rated above the game – in view of the magnitude of his achievements in all forms of Cricket (IPL included) – it is impossible to rank him inferior to anything. Sachin does not just belong to India but he is a global icon, admired by millions of people everywhere in the planet wherever cricket is acknowledged as a sport.

For many people he is the God of cricket. Even if you do not agree with it, the fact that he has been the greatest cricketer India has ever produced cannot be dismissed. For non believers, the void that his absence would create can be known only when India starts taking the field without him. He will be missed as a cricketer in so many forms for he has been the most complete cricketer the world has ever produced. Yes, he is not just another batsman who accumulates tons of runs with his willow. So there we are – these are the some of the ways he will be missed.

The best ODI batsman ever :Despite all his achievements as a batsman, some of the cricket pundits may still rate him next only to Sir Don Bradman. But no one can dare succeed in questioning or usurping his numero uno status in ODIs. More than anything, just numbers are enough to illustrate his caliber in the shorter version of the game. In terms of runs and number of matches, he is miles ahead of everyone. Featuring in 463 mastches, he has accumulated 18,426 runs at a stunningly consistent average of 44.32, playing as an opening batsman most of the time. His conversion rate plus the regularity in scoring tons can be ascertained from the fact that though his first hundred took as much as 79 matches, the rest of his 48 centuries came in just 384 outings. Besides reaching three figure mark 49 times during his tenure, which itself is a mind blowing record, he has hit 50 plus scores 96 times. And above all, playing against a formidable pace battery of South Africa, he scored the first ever double century in ODIs – a record which he held it for a year or so, until it was broken by Virender Sehwag, against a mediocre West Indies attack. Two decades ago, Haynes’ record of 17 centuries in one dayers looked like unachievable before the great Sachin Tendulkar made it look like an ordinary feat.

The best opener in ODIs:Those doubters who are still adamant in accepting the genius of Tendulkar in ODIs – even they will fall well short of arguments and will subsequently end up on a losing side if their endeavour is to degrade him as an opening batsman. He was never an opener to start with. It so happened he got a chance to fill in as an opener alongside Ajay Jadeja in a limited over international in Auckland. Having had the opportunity to play the full quota of allotted overs since turning an opener he started piling up big scores almost every time he walked in. He had batted down the order occasionally thereafter whenever the middle order appeared unstable but more often than not, he successfully clung onto his batting position at the top. The best part of his batting has been the right combination of aggression and defense that he has exhibited. Although possessed with shots all round the wicket he always knew when to defend and when to attack. There were times when he has allowed his opening partners like Ganguly and Sehwag to dominate the scoring, preferring to play second fiddle. Same way whenever his team had mountains to climb, he was the one who had gone after the bowling leaving his junior partners to drop the anchor. The final of the Silver Jubilee Independence cup in Bangladesh, when India had to chase 315 runs against Pakistan, is one fine example. It was Sachin’s aggression which later on helped Ganguly to play a long and responsible innings which eventually helped India chasing a record total comfortably.

Sachin Tendulkar

The best Indian batsman abroad:It was in 1992 when Sachin Tendulkar first toured Australia. He was just 19-year- old then with absolutely zero experience of playing in diverse pitches of Australia. He was pitted against an attack which was probably one of the best in the world at that point of time with McDermott and Hughes spearheading them. But that did not prevent the teenager from Mumbai to announce his arrival to the international arena. He struck not one but two centuries down under – one in the spinning track of SCG and the other in the fast bouncy track of WACA. The innings in Perth especially saw extraordinary stroke play from Sachin who sent the ball to the fence as much as 14 times in his 228 ball stint of 114. It did not stop there. He has always played better in pitches where others struggled a lot. When someone talks of overseas performance, people tend to go with rating Dravid over Sachin. But if one looks seriously at the performance of both the individuals abroad, it will be very much obvious that the little master has always been way ahead of the Karnataka batsman. Barring his match winning double century in Adelaide against an Aussie side which did not have the likes of McGrath and Warne and his maiden test century in Johannesburg, Dravid’s performances in both Australia and South Africa have not been anything great as compared to Sachin. On the other hand, Dravid has always played well in England, New Zealand and West Indies, where Sachin was no mug either. Sachin has scored multiple centuries precisely everywhere and has been better than any of his contemporaries. So, there is no question that Sachin has been the best batsman for India overseas.

The only batsman with no weakness:As a bowler, either you should produce an absolute gem at Sachin or just hope that he makes a fatal mistake in order to get him out. But for those two ways, you can never purchase his wicket. He has been an artist in batting fully aware of all the nuances involved in it. Not only he is far technically sound than the others but also he has in his repertoire all the shots in the book. There is no specific ball you can bowl at him considering it as his Achilles’ heel. He knows to play in the ‘V” and can unleash his stokes on all parts of the ground. A good ball or a bad ball, whatever you bowl, it hardly matters to him. He can find the boundaries in so many ways. Since blessed with variety of strokes, he can adapt himself to various kinds of conditions. No one has ever threatened him continuously with his bowling. Be it cutting or pulling, caressing or flicking, he is an expert in everything. Vivian Richards, another flamboyant great, at least had a weakness called aggression but Sachin has had nothing of that sort. Even if he experiences a couple of off days or something with respect to one particular game, he is good enough to adjust himself and excel in the other part of the game. Who can forget his double hundred in SCG where he kept on scoring runs on the on side totally curbing his off side strokes!

Safest fielder, versatile part timer and what not?Only a few days back in an ODI match in Ranchi against Australia, we saw the Indian team missing as much as six to seven catches. This is the same Indian team which boasts itself of having fielders of the caliber of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh. None of those special fielders was available in the side two decades back. Of course, the team had Ajay Jadeja and Robin Singh who were supposed to be brilliant on the field but were still not good enough, considering international standards. But if there ever has been a fielder who has forever remained safest in the team then it has to be Sachin Tendulkar. In his twenty four years of international career, I cannot recall an instance where he has dropped a sitter only to cut a sorry figure at the end of it. When a ball is catchable he hardly drops it, be it anywhere on the field. During a world cup match in 1992 against West Indies, just as a 19-year old, though he fell flat on the ground head first while taking a catch of Phil Simmons at deep mid on, he managed to hold on to the ball, bearing the pain he had to endure. That was just one example. Forget about his fielding, even as a part time bowler he has had his success. Just like Colin Miller and Andrew Symonds, he has been able to bowl both medium pace and spin. He even outscored Shane Warne in spin department, turning the ball from east to west and north to south during Australia’s tour of India in 1998. In the first match of the series he took five wickets for just 32 runs bowling his allotted quota of 10 overs and in fact all of those who got out to him were top order batsmen. He may not be an all-rounder but the fact is that he has always donned that role whenever required.

So the stage is all set and the day is fixed. What we never wanted to happen is finally going to happen. The father time spares no one although it has to be said that he has remained kind to his son for the good part of 24 years. In a couple of weeks’ time, Sachin will leave cricket grounds forever. Once he made his exit, cricket would have been orphaned by that gentleman who had been the best in everything what he did. We will miss him and will keep on missing him until anyone comes closer to achieving whatever he has done. That for me looks unlikely to happen, at least not in this millennium.