Ardent Cricket fan Nupur Gadkari makes her debut on iSport, pretty much on the same day as Sachin, who debuted for India 20 years back. Not surprising that her first piece is dedicated to the living Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar.
When you witness a phenomena of commoners rushing to TV showrooms from the outside, people in offices running up to the canteen just to get a glimpse of the first over, firecrackers bursting on streets causing traffic jams that prolong for hours, you can be rest assured that Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar is on the field. The ‘Little Master’ as he is fondly called has completed 20 years in Cricket! It’s been a phenomenal two decades, an impressive innings played with utmost perfection. Tendulkar made cricket his passion since childhood at the tender age of 16 when he made his first debut in Test cricket. After this there was just no looking back for him!
It wasn’t long before he played for the Indian team internationally given that he was an extremely talented player. As the years went by, he proved himself to be a better batsmen, scored extremely well in various innings, was awarded man of the match in many a series, became the captain of the Indian team, the list just goes on. His all-rounder image in cricket brought laurels in his career and was awarded the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, Arjuna Award, Padma Shri and Padma Vibhushan by the Government of India. As he grew in his career, proving each time to be better than before, his fame and popularity multiplied considerably.
There are several memorable moments, innings, scores that Sachin’s fans remember during his tenure. I for one will not forget his unstoppable innings at Sialkot where he continued to bat in a blood-stained jersey even though he was injured on the nose by Waqar Younis. He is one of the few Cricketers who holds an outstanding statistical record in both ODIs as well as Test Cricket. In his ODI career of over 400 matches, he’s hit about 1800 boundaries almost 181 sixers! In 2008, he surpassed Brian Lara’s leading test cricket score and hit the 12000 runs mark! Some big and impressive numbers, everyone would agree!
There is a common saying in India that if Cricket is religion, Sachin is God. He is synonymous with cricket for every Indian and one of the finest cricketers this country has produced. But there is one thing that often comes to my mind when Sachin’s on the field. It’s extremely easy for us to watch the match on our television screens, watch several action replays of a given over or a ball and then comment by saying, “oh the leg work could’ve been better here, the back-foot punch is just about right, oh that shot could’ve been better.” And that’s where we go wrong.
We often fail to understand the mindset of the sportsman at the time of the game. And this applies to any and every sport. Have we ever tried to put ourselves in the shoes of a Sachin Tendulkar who is appreciated when he scores a 100 and booed when he’s out on a duck to know the kind of pressure he undergoes? Imagine walking out on that field, knowing that the entire country is watching you and burdening your shoulders with the entire populations’ expectations. The point I’m making here is that it’s not easy. It’s not easy at all to be under such tremendous pressure when every Indian soul has pinned their hopes onto just one person. And lets face it, if Tendulkar gets out, most people turn off their television sets assuming that India has lost the match. Now thats not being an ardent cricket lover, that’s just being an unreasonable follower!
When the match is at a crucial stage where every run and every ball counts, the batsman needs to have the perfect balance, precision in every stroke, great footwork and of course the right judgement. Twenty long years to cope up with these emotions, feelings, expectations and constantly trying to perform better and set a benchmark for his ownself; Tendulkar has aced this with a lot of confidence and grace. He is neither political figure who demands votes or creates a situation for a publicity stunt; nor a guru who gives advice and yet as a self-made sportsman he has more power than any other political, national figure. I truly believe that he’s achieved this because of his love, passion and sincerity for the game. No amount of criticism has bogged him down. He is still the one that drives the news in the cricketing world and his contribution to the game of cricket is immense!
It’s been a great journey watching Sachin play with his ups and downs in his cricketing career! And he has become a legend and will be remembered for years to come. But aren’t we too rigid with our ‘love’ for Sachin? Don’t we become too judgemental about his performance? Don’t you think he deserves just a little more than that? Think about it.
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Show/hide comments
Amit P
said:
 |
... Whatte Player...! Very well written Nupur. Hope your innings with iSport is as long. |
a guest
said:
 |
... Maiden century already.... great opening innings.... hope to see many more of them :) - Shulmit |
a guest
said:
|
... No words are actually enough to sum up this mans contribution to our country....and this article perfectly summarises his efforts...nicely written nupur...he is being politicized, that's a shame though...Nikhil Bhatt |
a guest
said:
|
... Nupur, I agree with you...this man deserves a lot more than that...very well-written and articulated....keep posting more of ur blogs!! :) |
a guest
said:
|
... Nupur, nice article!! you are blessed with awesome writing skills :) keep it up!!! |
a guest
said:
|
... Truly well written Nupur.. And perfect subject for the Indian reader.. :) M sure you'll be very good at this.. All the best! |
a guest
said:
|
... Hi nupur, an amazing anecdote of a journey of this legend, very well written...All i can say is that Im proud to be living in the time when SACHIN the legend took cricket to a new level of sophistication... there are actually no words to describe his dedication to Cricket. We all love him, adore him, and I m one of those who actually switch off Television if he goes back to pavillion...Certainly many ppl in india love him more than the game he plays. |
a guest
said:
|
... Thank you all for such wonderful comments! I'm glad that my very first article has received such a response and it motivates me no end to write more. Thank you all once again =) And yes ofcourse Cheers to Sachin! - Nupur |
Kunal Shah
said:
 |
... Cheers to Nupur for a fantastic debut! Look forward to a really long innings! :) |
Show/hide comment form
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
