The whole point of presenting all these facts is to question why Sachin Tendulkar is the cricketing role model of this country. With the natural talent he has been blessed with, he should be at the forefront of India's cricket success in the past few years. After all, don't they say that good players adjust and great players dominate? His failure on that count can only be attributed to weakness of mind or character, and/ or allowing a certain individual focus to supersede the team's requirements.
Having said all this, once again, it is worth adding that his importance to the Indian team is still tangible. Talent like his comes rarely, and if he could only be persuaded to play as freely as he used to in his younger days (and as he did on just a handful of occasions in the last 5 years), with the team's objectives as the primary focus, he could actually justify at least some of the hype he generates.
Till then, one has to wonder - why do the media keep projecting him as India's cricketing Go d? Why do former cricketers fli nch from cri ticizing him? Why is his inadequacy glossed over by commentators of the game? Is it a sign of the shallowness of our times, or of the priority of entertainment over substance in all walks of life? Sadly, that's not another story.
