Sachin’s retirement – A fan’s reaction

Sachin Tendulkar

It was not unexpected, but it was nevertheless a shock. Sachin Tendulkar will play two more Test matches before retiring from all forms of the game. As a Sachin worshipper myself, writing these sentences seem blasphemous. Reality is slowly beginning to dawn on us – two more matches, and we’ll never see Sachin play again. Never again will we hear the crowd roar at the fall of the second Indian wicket, never again will we hear Harsha Bhogle say ‘Open the textbook, go to page 34’ on one of the many textbook shots the Master played, never again will we hear Indians watching a match say, ‘Abhi Sachin hai, abhi ummeed hai’ (As long as Sachin’s there, there is hope).

I will not recount Sachin’s achievements; I will not be making a (very) large list of all the records he holds – there is nobody in the world who does not know these things already. Instead, I will try to evaluate his importance to his fans, to Indians, to the world. Can you describe Sachin in one word? Two words? A million words? No, no amount of words can do justice to the genius that is Sachin Tendulkar. His value of millions of Indians cannot be overestimated – BBC once reported that ‘when Sachin goes out to bat, people switch on their TV sets and switch off their lives’.

Undoubtedly the greatest player to have ever picked up a bat, the sheer God-gifted skill that Sachin possesses has been augmented by a terrific passion for the game and the willingness to work hard day-in day-out to forge a player who has been at the peak of a very competitive game for 20 years – longevity that had never before been seen, and will probably never be seen again. Add to that a humble personality, dignity, dedication and a good nature, and you get a person who is universally loved by everybody. Upon his retirement day, India will lose her most cherished son, cricket will lose an ageless wonder.

Nevertheless, his decision to retire was the correct one – with huge pressure on him from penny-a-piece experts and with the Indian team being very strong at this time, his retirement will be a burden off of his own chest, and will not affect the fortunes of the Indian cricket team. Many of his own fans, including myself, feel that his legacy was being tarnished somewhat by these so-called ‘experts’ who were branding him ‘selfish’ for taking up a place in the Test team that belongs to somebody younger. I did not accept that then, and I will not accept that now. In a way, his retirement makes his last two Test matches completely pressure-free – it will be a welcome change for a man who has had to carry the burden of a nation’s expectations single-handedly for twenty years.

Let’s hope for a last hurrah against the West Indies. Let’s hope God ends the show with a bang.