Genius Personified

Genius is someone who makes his work look easy and Sachin Tendulkar has always proved this statement to be true. The last two years Sachin has batted like only he can and has proved numerous critics wrong along the way. Let us turn the clock back by two years. It was March 2007. Nothing looked good for Indian Cricket as the team had not even qualified for the Super Eights stage of the World Cup in the West Indies. India had lost to Bangladesh in their first match of the World Cup. Almost all the fans had now turned their backs to the team that they had supported most passionately not long before. The image of Sachin being bowled for a duck against Sri Lanka was flashed everywhere and it had become a symbol of India’s failure. Ian Chappell had said that Sachin should retire. A suggestion which I thought was not welcome. Indian fans had turned their backs to Sachin as well. Even his ads were being boycotted by the public. As one of his biggest fans I always prayed that he bounced back from this phase. His comeback would have been huge not only to the fans but also to the morale of the team. Since his introduction to the international arena at the age of 16 he has carried the hopes and aspirations of the team and the fans. People used to switch off their TV sets the moment he got out. Sometimes, the team would panic after his early loss.

India was to travel to Bangladesh after the World Cup. Sachin was rested for the one day leg of the tour but was back in action for the tests. He stroked two hundreds in the two test match series which India won 1-0. I felt, this is the start and the best is yet to come. India then moved on to their tour of England. Before the tour to England India were to play 3 ODI’s against South Africa at Belfast. India won that series 2-1 and Sachin Tendulkar was declared the man of the series for his two strokefull 90’s. He carried that form to England and was instrumental in India test series win there. He then dominated the bowlers in the One Day series. In this series too he got two nineties. The best of them was at the Oval when he scored 94 as India successfully chased a target of over 300. His innings was full of fantastic strokes. One shot is fresh in my memory, it is the straight drive he hit off James Anderson which sped away to the boundary at the rate of knots. He was consistent right through the Australia series and against Pakistan he produced 2 more nineties. The 95 he scored at Gwalior was an innings in which he did not give the bowlers a chance. A tough pitch to bat on and didn’t he make it look simple. In Australia, he scored two 150’s in the test series. The one at Sydney was a great innings as he batted with the tail to go past Australia’s score. The series was overshadowed by the Harbhajan Singh-Andrew Symonds row otherwise Sachin’s performance would have been its highlight. Sachin had patchy form in the league matches of the Commonwealth Bank series but in the finals he was majestic. HE ensured that India win the series without playing a third final. The critics were silenced again. When Australia came to India they had to face a Tendulkar in fantastic form and loose the series 2-0. Sachin overtook Brian Lara’s record of being the highest run scorer in test cricket during the second test. He also battled hard to save the 1^st test which was the turning point in the series for India.

Then came England in December and in the 1^st test at Chennai, Sachin brought up his century and a remarkable win with the remarkable paddle sweep. Chasing 382 India were given a fantastic start by Virender Sehwag. Sachin then ensured that this did not go waste by scoring a century and winning the match for India. In New Zealand he was dominant in both Tests and the One Dayers. The 163 not out at Christchurch would remain as one of the best innings of the new century. Sachin was very consistent in the test series. His 160 at Hamilton was instrumental in India’s win. He also batted well to give able support to Gautam Gambhir and save the second test and and scored an aggressive 62 in the third and thus ended up as the second highest run getter in the series.

People have always criticized him for not playing when required but they fail to see that he has played match winning innings on many an occasion and made it look so easy that one never felt that there was a “situation”. However, the last two years have been fantastic. He has batted like Sachin of the old. We must look at the number of match winning innings he had produced during the last two years. Previously too he had batted well and made it look absolutely easy. In fact many times a “situation” would arise after he lost his wicket. Thus it would be unfair to say that he has not delivered when required. He has carried our hopes with fantastic dignity and continues to be one of the most followed cricketers in the world. Let us all hope that the next year to is a good one for him as if it is a good one for him it will certainly be one for team India, and yes please do not tell him when to retire because he is the best judge.