What If Sachin had gone Back To Deuce?

Cricket without Sachin??

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar is a 21st century sporting superstar. He is the GOD of cricket-A man who has been the true ambassador of the gentleman’s game for over 2 decades. He is the man who shoulders the responsibily of bringing joy to a million faces. He is without any doubt Mr.Perfect. But what if SRT had stuck to his first love tennis? Would INDIAN cricket have been the same without its greatest servant?Would cricket have been still a religion in INDIA? Well cricket is a game which is full of these “What Ifs?” What If Sir Donald Bradman had not played cricket,What If Klusener had not taken that suicidal run in the semi finals of the 1999 cricket WC? What if there were no fast bowlers in INDIA? We as fans love to play with this word “What If” but when it comes to Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar,i am sure such words will run a chill down our spine. Cricket without Tendulkar-Thats not possible. But lets take some time out and be bold enough to look at the other side of the coin,i.e “What If Tendulkar Had Gone Back To Deuce?”

Back in 1981,John Mcenroe became the Wimbledon champion and miles away a young Mumbaikar named Sachin Tendulkar thus found his hero.From that very day,Sachin dreamt of being a tennis superstar much like his idol.Moving around with a racquet in hand and a headband which screamed out his passion for the sport, he was eager to pursue a career in the field of tennis.Given the kind of understanding Sachin has about the movement of ball and his expertise in feet movement,one can easily say that he could have gone on to become a great tennis star.

And now comes the big question-”What If the name Sachin Tendulkar never existed in cricket?”

Some might say if not Sachin,then someone else-Cricket doesn’t rely on an individual,its a team game and it would have surely gone on and on and on.But saying that ”if not sachin then someone else” would be bit hard to digest because players like him come once in a blue moon.Practically speaking,it wouldn’t have bothered much because back then nobody would have dreamt that a batsman will play for INDIA who will go on to score 30,000 runs and nearly hundred international hundreds.The thought itself would have been crazy-But after 22 years of Sachin’s supremacy ,i strongly feel cricket would have been different without this superman.

Statistically INDIA won fewer tests before Sachin started playing but after his arrival at the international scene,the win percentage has surely gone up.INDIA’s batting order without the Master Blaster would have been fragile-The team would have been content with the” honour in defeat” sort of mindset which is certainly not the case today-Today team INDIA fights the battle till the very end and never gives up.This attitude would have been missing if the Master wasn’t there.

Board of Control For Cricket In India(BCCI) has always been the richest sporting body since its inception but it was equally important to justify INDIA’s riches in the cricketing field and that was done by the LITTLE MASTER-Without him,INDIA would have been reduced to a money minting machine!!

INDIAN cricket has the privilege of getting the services of the batting greats like Rahul Dravid,Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman.Had Sachin Tendulkar not been playing cricket,we would have been calling a Rahul Dravid or a Sourav Ganguly or VVS laxman the GOD of cricket.When one takes a look at the statistics theres nothing much that differentiates the 3 batsmen from Scahin(Leave aside his hundreds) but the sheer longevity and passion of SRT has earned him that title of GOD.Without Sachin,INDIA would have struggled in nurturing young talent.This is because without him playing at the top,the younger players would have been under immense pressure and that surely would have taken a toll on them.Just because the youngsters know that there is Sachin there in the middle,they play themselves in ,take their time and then start scoring.His mere presence has been a big psychological edge for Team INDIA. And lastly without Tendulkar,cricket would never have been the same in INDIA.Today cricket is a religion and cricketers are demi-GODS.But what if Sachin was not there? Would people have followed the game with same passion? Would we have rejoiced INDIA’s victory in the same manner-Would the advertisers have garnered same amount of cash which they have with Sachin endorsing their products? And most importantly -Would a 10 year child have ever dreamt of picking up a willow in his hand? The answers to all these queries would have been a big NO.

Sachin,as a tennis player by now would have had a hefty bank balance and many championship titles to his name.But lets leave aside those “what ifs?” for now and lets think of the present-SACHIN TENDULKAR plays cricket for INDIA and will forever be with the gentleman’s game.Wimbledon’s loss has been cricket’s gain-Believe me Roger Federer somewhere might be heaving a sigh of relief and why not?? After all Sachin-the tennis star would have given Fedex a run for his money-isn’t it?

Avik(Destiny’s Child)