Today when
the God of cricket will pad up for the last time in his international career,
the whole world will be on the feet to bid adieu to the “Master Blaster”. A
hero of generations, an inspiration, a role model, an icon will conclude the unstoppable
journey of two and half decade at Wankhede Stadium.
May be we are
having overdose of “Sachin Nostalgia “at the moment, but who minds it when it
brings all excitement and happiness. Even today one feels Goosebumps and gets trilled
just by remembering those 2 matches at Sharjah.
There have
been many stars in Indian milieu but none like “The little Master”. I won’t talk of runs and records he created. If
you go by cricketing skills and talent; Brian Lara, Ricky Ponting and Rahul Dravid
were not any lesser by any mean. Then what makes Sachin Tendulkar “The Sachin
Tendulkar”?
I feel it is
not just the cricketing talent of the maestro which resulted in such high admirers and adorers. It is his attitude and behavior that has distinguished him ahead
of his contemporaries.
Sachin is the reflection of dreams and aspirations of billions of middle class Indians. You hardly see someone getting
international fame at a tender age of 14-15 and sustaining it for next 24 years
with same calmness.
Handling mammoth
expectations of a nation of billions where in a second you are treated as God
on success and in seconds turned into dust upon failure. Managing such enormous
fame with such serenity and grace isn't a task which many could do.
His focus and
composure always kept the conflicts and controversies away from him and his
game. Even the ball tempering and monkey gate controversy fell flat in front of
his modest but mighty character. Even the critics of his game also admire his temperament,
attitude and confidence.
His Iconic
image grew even stronger when he became the poster boy for almost every top
brand endorsements and overshadowed the film star dominated turf. He single handedly changed the outlook and the approach to cricketing set up in the country.
For over a decade he remained a “One man army” in a team sports game. How
can one forget the time when people use to switch off television sets with disappointment
whenever Sachin got out.
His off the
field life and gestures is also a great contributor to this fame and success.
As a son, lover, husband, father, friend and social activist he has always
maintain that grace and dignity which has added to his fame. Unshaken, undistracted
even during rough patches of career, he fought with injuries, came to serve
country even when he lost his father. Sachin is inspiration for current
generation cricketers and generation to come because of all this.
Sachin
evolved on the cricketing stage in the era when India was trying to evolve on
global scenario. Economy was liberalizing, things were suddenly changing fast.
At the same time Indian cricket and world cricket also took a giant leap with
drastic changes & commercialization. Sachin spearheaded the success story
for Indian cricket in that era and years after that. There was a time when
greatest of players never had scored 8 centuries in their career, Sachin shocked
and amazed the world by hitting 8 centuries in a calendar year.
Game has
changed in era of T20 cricket but again the style and legacy of “The Master
blaster” is influential to this change. With changing time he has played different
roles and inspired many as a mentor and facilitator.
An era is
coming to end when Sachin retires but his achievements and contributions will
always inspire the lives as always for years to come
