More than calling this as a blog on Sachin. I have just shared the life that I have lived as a Sachin fan.Please give it a read and pass on your comments and thoughts too !!! SHUTDOWN AND RESTART If one thought I was talking about Microsofts fix (SHUTDOWN AND RESTART) to any WINDOWS or MAC related problem,definitely not my friends. I only hope we SACHINISTS get a similar fix in our minds to keep watching Indian cricket post Sachins Retirement. Usually they say that the game of cricket is much more bigger than any individual who has played it. Following this game close to my heart for three decades now, more than being inclined I am forced to agree with that statement. At the same time, 25 out of those 30 years, watching Sachin play and exit now is slightly not digestable. Of course coming from an emotion bound cricketing nation, every Sachinist would think this way but as they say, The GAME moves ON. When it comes to Sachin, I would first like to take an opportunity to thank my uncle (Mr.Ramakrishnaiah), who was my cricketing knowledge guru. In the year 1988, it was through him that I first came to hear about Sachin and also about the Ranji century that he scored at a young age. When my uncle said, this boy would soon play for India I was at first surprised because players like Kapil and Azhar were the ones I was fascinated at that time and I also grew up idolizing Sunny Bhai and the runs and tons that he scored. Not to forget, Sunny was the first man on the cricketing planet to reach that five figure (10000 Runs mark). Sachin has indeed gone on to provide a different dimension to the same five figure.Thank God for that. Sachin, to most of the cricketing world made his arrival felt when he scored his first ton against England. To me, it was the 27 runs that he scored of Qadir in that official turned exhibition match. From that time on wards, I started looking at him as a NEW BORN STAR who just arrived. I knew that as a record Shashtri and Sobers had hit those six sixes in an over reading in Newspapers.Till that date in 1989, I had never watched a player amass more than 25 runs in a over, thanks to DD those days as they did show that match.It was a great feeling watching those big sixes sail all over the ground.Nobody can deny that when it comes to Sachin, it is all about numbers. Talking about numbers, it was because of Sachin, I got fascinated with 100 mark (in my school marks too). Dont get me wrong friends, by the time I started following Sachin, the 100s I got was out of 200 :-) From 1990 till date, Indian cricketing history has been destined to script various chapters of this Little turned Big Master. From a cricketing perspective, there are a few things that still keeps haunting my mind. First in the list was Sachins Sharjah special that I missed watching live. Adding insult to my injury was when India lost to Pakistan after Sachins epic 136 at Chepauk. The reason I am making a special mention of that particular match is because, till date that remains the only ton that I witnessed watching LIVE in a stadium. Even though we lost that particular game, I am glad for the factual fact that Sachin has won us thrice against our arch-rivals Pakistan in the World cup games (1992,2003 and 2011). The first time I ever saw Sachin in close quarters was at Taj Coromandel Hotel in Chennai. Thanks to a local SPORTS SHOP guy who through his influence took me and some of my familys younger generation cricket followers to Taj that day. I was lucky enough to submit an article that I wrote on Team India and hand it over to Azhar and was waiting at the lifts for Sachin to arrive. If my memory serves right, Team India was having a conditioning camp in Chennai before the 1999 World Cup. The day I saw him near the lifts was the same day he was about to fly to Australia to meet Sir Donald Bradman. If someone asks me what do you rate as Sachins best innings? My answer would be, more than the tons he scored, I loved his aggressive cameo knocks. Cameo in Sachins dictionary is getting runs (in the range of 50-99).The very first knock when he played as an opener against Kiwis.I think he scored 82 in 49 balls, and the knock against Pak in 2003 world cup (98 of 75 balls) are some of the knocks that would still keep knocking my mind. Sorry friends, excuse me if I had not mentioned other special innings of his, as Sachin has a big encyclopedia of having been dismissed 27 times in the 90s. Greatest of Leaders and a rare breed cricketer like Sachin have one thing in common and that is,the whole nation have followed them. No wonder BCCI are the power-horses today and for India to be looked up as Mt.Everest in the cricketing body arena, this one-man army was mainly responsible for bringing in that sea-change. The other day I was reading an article in TOI and that said, from BRADMAN to BRA(N)DMAN, how true is that with Sachin.To me BRADMAN might be known for his close to 100 average but Sachin is far, far above than any cricketer that this world has produced. I am definitely not saying this for the amount of Runs or Records or Tons that he has accumulated, but surely for the billion(s) of fans that he has managed to secure in his 20+ years career by overcoming various PRESTIGE to HAWKINS to BUTTERFLY Pressure cooker scenarios, scoring very consistently,sacrificing the time he could have spent with his family, maintaining his fitness standards through out,constantly delivering under crunch situations and above all remaining humble and his foot placed firmly on the ground. On a final note, let me make one last wish. When all of us are thinking Sachin has done enough for our country, I am sure Sachin would still have that unfulfilled dream of becoming a fast bowler. I think in this era, he has achieved the most that a batsman could accomplish. With all my heart and soul, I wish that Sachin in his next birth gets his wish fulfilled as a successful fast bowler. Wishing Good Luck to Sachin is like offering torch to the Sun, because he has that in abundance and hope he passes on some of his Good Luck to Team India and in particular his own Mumbaikars (Rohit and Rahane). I wont be surprised if Mumbai again produces another run making machine. Dont get me wrong folks, I am not talking about his son Arjun. Sans Amarnaths family when the dad (Lala) and his son (Mohinder) clicked playing for Team India, there are not any better examples I can think of in the Indian cricketing fraternity. Rohan was not even a shadow of his dad (sunny) and hope Arjun can achieve atleast a quarter of what his dad achieved. All the best of best to you Sachin, your mother(MAATHA), brother(your cricket PITHAA), your coach (GURU), your wife and not to forget your kids. Superstars are always welcomed, whistled and cheered because they dont show off and limit themselves to appear once in a while but still continuing to do something great behind the scenes.Likewise I hope Sachin doesnt get added to the ever-growing commentators group and starts to focus on a new challenge of taking Indian sports (not just cricket) to the next level as a MP. We SACHNISTS are still Shutting down (as Windows Updates are currently going at the background) and hopefully give ourselves a Restart after Nov 18 !!!
Posted on: Fri, 15 Nov 2013 00:23:02 +0000
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