BOMBAY, 6 September — Whether it is by popular vote, or on the assessment of the experts, Sachin Tendulkar is indubitably the best batsman in the world today. The cherubic and charismatic "Little Champion" celebrated his hundredth Test match yesterday, at the Oval, London. S. K. Sham takes a close look at the fascinating career of one who was born to be great and yet so modest amid his stupendous achievements.
There is an indescribable streak about Sachin Tendulkar which is at once the cause of great joy and deep sorrow for his fans, who are a legion. Call it something as simple as his passionate love of big challenge, or just a haughty response to a provocation, his brilliant tenure at the batting crease invariably rises or falls with his relentless effort to dominate the bowling.
Blessed that he is with such superb technique, timing and power and a far greater repertoire of strokes than any other batsman in business, Tendulkar has been able to leave an indelible mark of his masterly stroke-play wherever he has played. But there have also been quite a few occasions when he has perished in the very fire ignited by him.
In 1998, Shane Warne was to be the Indian batsmen’s main tormentor. But Tendulkar had just the right plan for him. He started its execution from the very first match that the tourists played against Mumbai. Tendulkar took on the world’s leading leg-spinner, slamming his very own double century in the process. But his more important achievement was that he had torn the big reputation to shreds.
In the following Tests and One-day series, he merely toyed with the leg-spinner so much so that the world’s greatest tweaker was haunted by the memory of that trip for a long time, when he even took a brief sabbatical from the game. Three years later, Tendulkar decided to target Glenn McGrath and did not quite get hold of him in the Test series as he would have wanted.
He, however, bludgeoned the supremo of pace in the ODIs as no batsman had ever done to McGrath ever. Imagine McGrath going for 43 runs in his first three overs, and all of them to Tendulkar in one of the ODIs.
The world’s leading fast bowlers, Glenn McGrath, Allan Donald, Wasim Akram and Shoaib Akhtar joined a host of cricket personalities to pay tribute to the master-blaster in a rare gesture on the occasion of Tendulkar’s hundredth Test.
Although he is just 29, Sachin Tendulkar is the seniormost member of the present Indian team for the number of years that he has played international cricket. Making his Test debut when he was just 16 against Pakistan at Karachi in 1989-90, he has already played close to 300 ODIs, besides 100 Tests.. More importantly, he has been the most dominant batsman of the last twelve years, what with 30 Test centuries, 32 three-figure knocks in the one-dayers and the first man to cross the 10,000 run mark in the shorter version. But more than the numbers, the manner in which he has got the runs that has made him the most attractive batsman in world cricket.
That he has been as great a batsman as the late lamented Sir Donald Bradman himself is a grand and an ultimate comparison. But there are other little vignettes of his influence on the game that combine to tell as impressive a story of Tendulkar’s greatness.
When Tendulkar toured England for the first time, his fame had already preceded him. The newspaper and television build-up that he received was unprecedented. The British media made no secret of the fact that the very presence of the young and exciting Indian batsman had indeed brought the crowds back to Test cricket.
In the midst of all this adulation, there was a letter in The Times, London, which surely must have tugged the hearts of the readers. It was written by an old lady about his orphaned grandson.
"Franklyn, aged 12, had lost both his parents in a car accident and also all his joy. One day, he told me that he wanted to go and watch the Test match England vs India at the Lord’s.
He had pleaded with me to take me to the match because all his colleagues in school were fascinated by a young player called Sachin Tendulkar."
"After more than twenty years, I went to Headingley, for the sake of my grandson. Franklyn just loved Tendulkar’s batting and went bonkers over him. He got back his joy of life, as he decided that he would one-day be a cricketer like Tendulkar. Is there any way I can thank the young man ?"
Twelve years later, he is still drawing crowds wherever he plays in England, for that matter anywhere. Off the cricket field, Sachin is a very, very private person and his pretty wife Dr. Anjali even more so. Not too fond of partying or even attending functions, the two prefer to go out for long drives, dine out occasionally and spend most of the time with their two kids, Sara and Arjun.
The Tendulkars have very strong family ties. His father Ramesh, who died three years ago, while Sachin was playing in the World Cup in England, had a strong influence on him. He was more than just a father to Sachin.
He was a friend, philosopher and guide to his youngest son. But it is elder brother Ajit, who looks after every other aspect of his life, is his closest kin. During a discussion on relative merits of Sunil Gavaskar and Tendulkar, someone said.
"If Tendulkar had even 25 per cent of the patience that Gavaskar displayed at the batting crease, he would have been a much better player." The other shot back "A better player? My dear fellow, he is the best…."
Yes, Sachin Tendulkar can never be another Sunil Gavaskar, but he surely has been another Bradman, He has already achieved so much and far greater achievements lie before him. There isn’t a more majestic sight on a cricket field than to see Sachin Tendulkar in full flow. Rarely has a batsman brought so much joy to so many.
