| Sachin the great one
Hi people i am attaching a 6 page pdf document that is a must read for all sachin fans...
go thru and give ur comments
Sachin, an insight
By
apeeman
No body is perfect, not even God, for every few centuries He makes glaring aberrations in his meticulous creations which comprise of imperfect beings. History stood witness to his mistakes, the ravaging armies of Alexander the Great , Julius Caesar who came down and said ‘Vini Villi Vissi ‘, Cleopatra who’s beauty is said to have enthralled even the abodes of Heaven , Lance Armstrong whose strength of mind is a fascination to all ,Don Bradman the greatest cricketer to ever walk the earth ( to be debated in future paragraphs though ), the list goes on. India too had its say in this list of demigods, who were granted with abilities far beyond any fathomed by mortals, and this country, of a varied and myriad culture and tradition, gave to the world Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.
The birth
It was a warm summer afternoon in Mumbai (then Bombay) , a hustling city which was the denizen of talents like Sunil Gavaskar , Dilip Vensarkar , and before them Vijay Manjerakar . A pitiful wail filled the silent air of the metropolis. A smart young boy was born, he wailed not to announce his presence but to announce his prominence. That April day is something most bowlers thence want to erase from history, bowlers who were carted to all parts of the ground , bowlers who stood nonplussed by his batting repertoire repetva(sorry abut spelling on this one) and only admired the spectacle that unfolded every single time he came out with the 3 and a half pound bazooka. Yes April, the 24th , 1973 was the day when god made a mistake!
The beginning
The epic started another April day, a mischievous little boy climbed up a mango tree, only to fall down and bruise himself. His brother, the strict martinet that he was, decided to occupy the boy with something else, something more interesting, and thus Sachin came to what is now the renowned Shardashram Cricket Club. Under the watchful eye of the revered Ramakanth Archarekar, the boy learned the nuances of the trade. He pulled and hooked, drove and cut, played almost all shots in the book , and astounded everyone around with his stroke play. His wicket was priceless. It has always been ever since and everyone around knew that he is going to make it big.
At this point in the tale, something must be mentioned. It is always assumed, especially by the yokel, that all achievers are just plain lucky. Well that statement is as far away from truth as the earth is from the sun. The little man, then a boy, sweated it out like no being had ever done before. He spent 6-8 hours on a trot at the nets of the club while toddlers his age spent time reading comics, watching TV, going out and having a gala time. His family saw very little of him, a practice session of 2 hours every morning and 6 in the evening, under ever fading lights was something that sends chills up the spine. Imagine a boy of 10-11 being put thru such a strenuous routine; the army seems a lot easier doesn’t it. The sound of cricket ball hitting the meat of the bat always brought a beaming smile from his face, a smile that was priceless and eternally placed in his mouth where it exists even this day, as he faces the bowler!!! The passion he associated with the 7 letters
of C R I C K E T is something that words cannot describe. It wasn’t his talent that took him this far, it is his love for the game and his respect for all those who played it.
The Break
He worked long and hard and finally the selectors took notice. A Harris Shield game between St.Xaviers and Saradhashram in Feb 1988 started of like any game of cricket. Saradhasram was put into bat. The openers came and went. Then the tides changed. 2 kids both in their 15s came out and batted and batted and batted. The scorer ran out of pages because he had never witnessed the kind of rampage he was seeing. It was like a ravaging army, pillaging temples and looting villages, yet it was just pure run accumulation by the duo. Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli put on a score of 748/2 with a massive unbroken partnership of 664 runs (incidentally this remains to be the highest ever for any wicket in any form of the game). The selectors had to take a note nd soon Sachin was into the state team. He set record books straight immediately, by becoming the first and only player(Indian) to score a debut hundred in all the domestic tournaments.
I could go on and on about his achievements in the domestic level but I need to get to the more interesting parts.
The Big Stage
The boy had to make it soon, and he found his place in India’s squad to tour Pakistan (1989).I would like to point out something. Most of us , in our 20’s and 30’s attending an interview or making a presentation become such nervous wrecks that a simple stutter at the start would totally destroy our confidence and leave us in shambles. Imagine for a moment the thought of being in hostile place, facing a committee of 15000 people who are ready to tear your throat, with 11 basic interviewers firing at you questions from all sides. How does it feel? This was what the little champion, then a curly haired little fella faced when he went out to bat in a jampacked National Stadium, ready to face the likes of the fiery Waqar Younis and a wily Wasim, one making the ball dance in the air and the other throwing cannons at the little blokes head. He ducked, swayed , got hit on the helmet and made 15 runs in between. Every one lamented “ Too young , Too young “. The man proved the world wrong, not in his next test, but in a 3 day first class match played in between At that time, Abdul Quadir was considered to be the wizard of spin , for the man had flummoxed batsmen of great caliber with his balls that darted around as if they had wheels on them. The man came, he bowled and was hit out of the park. Not once but 4 times in the same over. The world stood and took notice. The great one had made his mark and there was no looking back. He was a kid then and yet he had the courage of a lion. In the next test, India, as always was looking down the barrel when Sachin came in to partner Sidhu. The little boy, only 16 got a brute of a delivery from the fiery Waqar that went thru his helmet and punched him in the nose. A bleeding nose, resilient eyes and the will to survive was what people saw in Sachin that day. He turned a blind eye to all the people in the dressing room who wanted him to return, for he was still the darling of a nation and the apple of the eye to the squad. He stood his ground, got some basic medication and went on to score his first half century. His 69 was respected not for the quality of the innings but for the way he went about to achieve it and the intrepidity he showed to the world. Sachin went to Pakistan a boy of 16 and came back a man.
The Machine Let loose
Sachin Tendulkar became a household name from that moment. He went all over the world and conquered the hearts of millions sans race, sans color, sans taste. Records tumbled as he went out on a run making rampage and took the world by storm. The 20th century was one of the luckiest for just when people were ruing the fact that they could never watch Bradman play Sachin came and quenched their thirst. The one-day arena became his playground. Once he was promoted to open the batting for the country, the man showed the world that scoring runs rapidly yet cleanly was not only possible but also repeatable!!! He made a country stand still whenever he came into bat. Cheers that greeted him were comparable to the cheers that greeted Caesar as he stepped into the amphitheatre or the applause that arose whenever Beethoven played a new composition. The bliss he brought into the hearts of the millions who were his ardent followers is unexplainable. In India he became second only to god and in history he goes with the tag the 2nd best batsmen that the world has witnessed.
“Consensus is that Sir Donald Bradman was the best batsman ever to play Cricket. Sir Don did not play One-Day Cricket but if he did, he could easily be Sachin Tendulkar.” – Barry Richards.
This statement is explanation enough to show Sachin’s one day prowess to the world.
He went on to become the highest run getter in ODI’s and has the highest number of centuries to accompany it His cricketing ability does not need much elaboration but one has to see the hidden aspect of the man. His control of the mind.
Every time he went out to bat, he not only carried the weight of the 3 and some pounds of the bat, but also the weight of expectation of an entire nation on his shoulder. To put in better perspective, imagine that you are expected to score more than 95 every time you attempt a paper. That was the kind of belief that people had on him, and that was the weight he carried on his shoulders every time he took guard. Rather than being crushed under the weight, he delivered. He satisfied the hunger of millions who cramped into places with something that vaguely resembled a Television, he slaked the thirst of the millions who shouted at the top of their voices every time he set foot on the cricket down , he repeatedly doused the fire in every eye watching or every ear listening to the proceedings, and the only thing that remained after every innings was a tear that trickled down, a tear that was the consequence of joy and sorrow, of despair and delight, of a wicket down and a battle won. The champion produced every time he went out.
“You might pitch a ball on the off stump and think you have bowled a good ball and he walks across and hits it for two behind midwicket. His bat looks so heavy but he just waves it around like it's a toothpick.” – Brett Lee, on Sachin Tendulkar’s batting.
The best batsman ever ???
The man is good, there is no doubt about it, but if some one was to say he is the best in cricketing history, the furor that would be raised by most cricket followers and almost all professionals would be mind boggling. Yet let us look at some facts.
Donald George Bradman : Accepted universally to be the best in the sport; an unattainable average of 99.94, a remarkable player with an array of strokes that baffled many in cricketing history. Is he truly the best? Most say yes but I beg to differ.
I would like to rewind the clock and go back 50 years in time to the Bradman era, when cricket was just a gentleman sport, people sitting in chairs enjoying a cup of tea and clapping away to balls timed gloriously to the fence.
The great Don was on song as always. Making runs at will, with a few friendly banters exchanged with the bowlers, the sky as always clear, and bowlers as always clueless. An illustrious career that spanned 20 years (though most of it was spent fighting rather than playing cricket , remember the first world war took place ). Yet in all his 20 years how much opposition did he face, what variety did he face in the form of bowlers. I would like to tell the readers that the great Don played predominantly against one team, England (against whom he scored 72% of his runs) and would on rare occasions play against India or West Indies. In reality he faced only 4 teams in all his life.
The analysis: He saw the same faces run in and bowl over and over again. And he made mince meat of them
Sachin on the other hand has faced 12 nations with a new bowler literally every tour trying to outwit him and get his coveted wicket. Yet he handled all that was thrown at him.
Jumping back to the Bradman era, the Don played, in his lifetime, only on 9 different grounds, with 30% of the time being spent at MCG. Pitches don’t change much, conditions don’t change much and hence his scores didn’t change much.
Analysis : He was quite used to the conditions, the pitches , and the suave crowds.
Sachin on the other hand has played at more than 12 grounds in his country itself apart from the 16 grounds all over the world. Imagine what his figures would have been if he had played 30% of the time in Chennai.
Let us forget figures for a moment. Consider the quality of bowling offered.The Don , no offence to Larwood and the other pacers, ultimately faced balls that came at him at a mediocre pace. Not because the bowlers couldn’t bowl faster, but just because the balls made then were not that aerodynamically designed to produce maximum speed.
Analysis. Bradman had more time to pick his shots.
Sachin however had to face balls hurled at him consistently above 140kmph and sometimes close to 160kmph. The reaction time available is almost negligible. Yet he is able to cart the balls as if he was viewing the entire process in slow motion.
Another fact that is unknown and yet interesting is that in Bradman’s era swing was almost unknown. All he had to face was a bowling attack that comprised of bromidic spin and a modest pace. Never did he contend with a lethal reverse swinger or a vicious zooter. To the Don cricket was a game of calm calculations.
Here again the master scores over.
Certain other important factors to be mentioned about the Bradman era. The era was one of horse driven carriages and moderate cars. It was an era of simplex telephones and steam engines. And most importantly it was an era sans televisions. Hence Bradman never had to watch the square leg umpire signal to the box and cricket, being as unsportly as a sport can be always slanted to the batsmen. So many close calls, so many direct hits with the umpire giving the “benefit of the doubt to the batsmen “,so many catches that were considered grounded, so many edges that went unseen, wouldn’t a 3rd umpire have made a difference. Another factor I would like to bring to the notice of readers is the quality of fielding Bradman had to contend with. White clothes were an imperative at the end of the day and a diving fielder was considered to be queer. Hence balls that beat the close in ring often raced to the fence escorted along. No sliding saves, no diving catches, energetic throws from the fence, wasn’t cricket an easy sport then.
Bradman thrived in such conditions and scored at a rate no one had done before.
I might seem to be going all out against the Don but he had one quality that Sachin always lacked. The power of concentration and the ability to bat long innings.
I am not concluding here but I have just posted a question to the readers. Something to ponder on, so that next time they aver that The Don is the best in the business, they put a little thought to it.
And as evening sun sets over the coast line of Mumbai , the sound of ball hitting timber reverberates around a silent room in the heart of the city, nullifying the chirping of the birds and the din of the bustling metropolis,
the master is preparing for another battle.
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