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.

Team India: Put Batting Order in Order

There has been an intense debate going on as to who should come at number 6 position for Team India. The choice ranges from VVS Laxman to Rohit Sharma and from MS Dhoni to Virat Kohli amidst talks about Yuvraj Singh's form and fitness and Suresh Raina's technical flaws. But, first of the team management needs to think why does this position be thought of so much importance when cricket is about scoring runs and taking wickets. In short, every wicket is equally important for the team's cause. If your top five score runs at a healthy average in each innings you don't really bother about the performance of the player coming at number six. After all he is the sixth choice of your batting order depending upon his ability and experience to contribute to team's fortune.

If the top five fail, one cann't really expect that the number six will wear a magic wand to take the falling fortunes of the team to safety. This takes us back to the golden rule of the game of cricket that after the openers order of the batsmen should be decided on the rigorous parameters of batting. That is, the best batsman in the condition should come at number three. This man should also be the most perfect batsman technically. He should be followed by a more balanced batsman at number four, then the next best should come at number five and then the number six should be considered. The number six can not be the Man Friday of any team. His ability may add value to the team but he can not be expected to anchor the ship and become a sailor when ship is off the hook.

The cricketing logic says that the batsmen coming in the order of their form and ability would be best for a team. Team India goes through troubled times only when this logic is broken either by the dip in form of the batsmen fixed for the spot or due to the choice of wrong batsman for a position. At this juncture of its journey, Team India is poised with the presence of heavily experienced and overtly talented youngsters. If Team India prefers to look for a secured future then, it should disturbed the 'age-old' batting order by shuffling Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar a bit. If Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are the ones to succeed the two legends, one of them should be asked to come ahead of Dravid and the other ahead of Sachin Tendulkar to make sure that the two prodigious talent bat for the maximum length with the legendary talents.

VVS Laxman, on his part, seems to have gone past his prime and looks to be suffering from Ganguly syndrome. He is not sure of his batting prowess and mental techniques. For a team willing to go through a smooth transition, MS Dhoni should come ahead of Laxman, who may take it as a challenge and get back to his rhythm. So, the batting order after openers, should be something like this Virat Kohli/Rahul Sharma, Rahul Dravid, Kohli/Sharma, Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni and then the tailenders. This order at the expense of VVS Laxman, which seems unlikely. So, if only one of Kohli or Sharma could be given place in the playing 11, they could be rotated till one of them starts showing consistency. And, if Yuvraj gets fit, he can replace Laxman if selectors does not get overwhelmed by the reputation of the Very Very Special batsman, who has written scripted so many victories for an emergent Team India. Yuvraj with his improved sense of bowling can fill the place of number seven test batsman provided MS Dhoni takes his own batting more seriously in the longer version. Moreover, sooner or later, the selectors will also have to find a place for Suresh Raina. He can not wait for too long.