Happy Birthday
Sachin!!
“It’s his birthday today and he has not let his fans down”, said
Ravi Shastri. On 24th April 1998. Sharjah. But when did he ever let
his fans down. Not many cricketers have the privilege of people remembering
their birthdays. Sachin’s birthday too would have been like any other day, had
India not been playing against Australia that night. He had just turned 25. An
age when a whole lot of people are not able to figure out where they are
heading in their lives, Tendulkar was carrying the burden of the nation on his
shoulders.
The Desert-Storm had come and gone two nights before, 143, against the
same opposition. There were murmurs in the Australian dressing room that
Tendulkar had played the best innings of the tournament and a repeat of such a
knock is of a low possibility. Not knowing that Sachin had other plans for
them. One of the most iconic images of the birthday
match was Shane Warne swatting away mosquitoes, just after and just like his
first delivery to Sachin was swatted away over long-on. Tom Moody, Michael
Kasprowicz, Mark Waugh, Damien Fleming – All were treated with same disdain by
the Little Man. There are many ‘Most’s’ and ‘Highest’s’ Tendulkar has achieved
in his 24 year long career, but if you ask Sachin fans to recall their favourite
Sachin moment and the numbers 143 and 134 will be the first ones to pop up in
their heads. 98 against Pakistan might give a close run to these knocks but the
sheer joy of Sachin single handedly taking his team to victory in Sharjah
cannot be matched by other memorable knocks he played in his career. The fact
that the final was played on his birthday and the result was in India’s favour,
made this date immortal amongst the Indian fans.
It’s been 17 years since, and
without fail, every year, it brings back the fondest of memories. Those days
when Cable-Tv was getting big in India, when it all depended on the cable operators
whether to telecast ESPN or Star Sports, when scoring a century in ODIs used to
be a big deal, when 270 was a score which meant the game was half yours. Sachin’s
career can be broken down into two eras – Pre and Post 1998. Never was the
impact same after that. And this is not to say that there was less consistency
but the sheer domination of 1998 could never be seen again. I remember reading
the special edition of Outlook in
December that year – it was dedicated to Sachin and it read ‘In an year of Gloom, One Man brought us
cheer’. No other line could have suited more. When elections were happening
far too frequently, PMs were changing more often than the wicket-keepers in the
Indian team, the only source of joy was watching Sachin bat. It remained the
same even 15 years later, when he finally decided to leave the game in the
hands of the next generation.
For people who grew up watching
Sachin, 90s was a memorable decade. And it’s just amazing that how every fan of
his has almost same stories to share with each other. Switching the TV off
after Sachin’s dismissal, our mothers telling us to get back to work once his
batting was over, numerous superstitions one used to follow when Tendulkar was
batting, our dads saying – why are you wasting time watching cricket when you
can’t become like him, picking up fights with anybody who said anything against
Sachin, getting depressed over a missed century and while the books were open
in front of you, the mind was fixated over what might have been the result of
the game had Sachin not played that shot.
No other cricketer, past or present
has that kind of impact over the viewers. The likes of Kohli, Dhawan, Raina,
Rohit, however much talented as they are, can never ever enjoy the following
which Sachin had. Their centuries are applauded and dismissals are frowned
upon. But that’s where it ends. Nobody ever brought together a nation as much
as Sachin. For when team victories were rare, we found ourselves celebrating
individual brilliance of this man. Like McGrath once said “nowhere else do they
want their team’s wicket to fall only to see a particular batsman play”, such
was the impact. Dravid said, “my wicket was always met with the loudest cheer
because the next batsman used to be Sachin”.
If ever Pied Piper was to be given
a form of a human being, nobody other than Tendulkar could be better to essay
the role. In years from now, a whole lot of other superstars will come to stamp
their authority on the game but never would they be able to match the aura of
Sachin. His numbers might get conquered, his records might get broken, but
there has always been more to Sachin than just mere numbers. A lot of us say
that 90s was the best decade ever – now we know why it was the best – because we
had the privilege of watching the most glorious years of one man. Thank you
Sachin, for all the wonderful memories that you gave us to last our lifetime.
Happy Birthday Sachin!!
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