Sachin Tendulkar and his time

So many things are being written these days about Sachin Tendunlkar, who has just played his last domestic first class match and is about to hang his boots. But, whatever is being written about him seems to be less when compared to the adulation Sachin has got all through his career and a kind of revolution that he ushered in not just around cricket in India but other sports as well.

Sachin arrived on the international scene at a time when India, the Elephant, was still sleeping and when India’s gold was about to be mortgaged to run the finances of the nation, Mandal was yet to give voice to long suppressed sections of society and divide the same along a new fault-line, flagrant display of communalism was yet to become the order of the day, Vishwanath Pratap Singh was the prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi was still struggling to wash off the Bofors taint, Amitabh Bachchan had gone back to where he came from and was being challenged by rising Anil Kapoor, Khalistan terrorism was about to give way to Kashmiri terrorism; in nutshell, India was still an innocent nation and Sachin emerged the first teen sensation on the Indian scene (albeit after Rishi Kapoor) and soon engulfed the imagination of every aspiring Indian from a humble background.

Sachin made his test debut in a match which was also the first for Waqar Younis, who finally got him at 15, clean bowled. The test series was pretty ordinary for records except for the fact that Sachin was just 16 and looked even younger. What propelled Sachin into everyone’s imagination was his heroic effort in a match, which was officially called off but played for the spectators. India required 43 runs off the last two overs to be bowled by one of the greatest leg spinners of all time, now forgotten, Abdul Qadir and arguably the best left arm fast bowler Wasim Akram.

In Qadir’s over Sachin showed what he was going to do to the pride of the bowlers in the next two-and-a-half decades. Just a while before Qadir’s over Sachin had hit two consecutive sixes off Mustaq Ahmad - another great leg spinner and almost a replica of Qadir - and faced one ball from Qadir for a single. Qadir reportedly challenged Sachin by asking him to hit him out of the park, to which the boy replied by acknowledging the leg spinner’s greatness.

But, there was bloodbath on the cricket field the next over. The first three balls of Qadir went for sixes and the over ended with Sachin plundering 27 runs off it. The boy had turned into a formidable man. This over signalled that India can dominate Pakistan. This also meant that India’s pride was restored despite the fact that India lost that match. There could be a match on with Pakistan. This one over changed the way Indian cricket was looked upon.

For years, Sachin came at number 5 or 6 and scored a quick-fire 30s, 40s and occasionally 50s to give India a hope and restore pride. Then in 1994, came the big moment at Auckland against New Zealand, when Sachin opened the innings and tore apart the Kiwi’s attack. Rest is history.

What Sachin did essentially brought the young achievers from all walks of life into the focus of a young nation. Suddenly, there was Vishwanathan Anand in recognition; there was a Leander Paes, a Limba Ram, a Kambli, a Shah Rukh Khan and opening up of India to new economic, social and somewhat politicking ideas. Also, there were defeats, surrender down under, riots, new form of terrorism and no-hold-barred facets of society. 

The Age of Innocence was lost. 

But, the innocent boy travelled like a stream well aware of its path and destination. Surely, Sachin has reached his ocean and formed the biggest delta on the end plain of sports and sportsmanship. More powerful streams may still come down to oceans but such a huge delta may never be surpassed.