Let me tell you an interesting tale of how gr8 sachin once was.
Let me tell you just this one incident of his greatness. Just remember the match against Australia at sharjah due to which India had managed to qualify for the final against Australia. In that match he fielded for 50 overs and India conceded some 280 odd runs. Sachin had bowled 5 overs too and had taken a wicket too. After standing in that humid heat conditions of april in sharjah and after fielding for those 280 runs he comes to open the Indian innings. Wickets are falling continuously at the other end and the Indian situation is deteriorating but that would not dampen sachin%u2019s spirits. He was the highest paid cricketer in the world. His position in the team was fixed. Nobody can drop him. The other players are falling like ninepins. Why should sachin stand in that heat and try so hard such a lost cause. So even sachin could have given up and come back. Nothing would have affected his position in the team. But no, it is not just for money or his position that he is playing. His heart bleeds when India loses. What an innings he played after he found an ally in laxman. He scored 142 of India%u2019s 250 They had a partnership of 100 odd runs of which laxman had only 20. tendulkar had 9 fours and 5 sixes that makes 66 runs. The rest 80 runs he had scored by running in that heat. He ran those 2 %u2018s as if he is running for his life. A bad decision forced him back to the pavilion but India qualified and won the final in style again with a big contribution from tendulkar.
Steve Waugh said that he lost to a better played than a better team. During that partnership with laxman , in the middle of an over tendulkar was upset with laxman that he had not run a single. Laxman was so overwhelmed and had told later to the press that even if sachin becomes a millionaire he would never underestimate the value of one rupee. When runs were pouring in the form of sixes and fours, still missing that one run hurt Tendulkar.
Another incident was the Chennai test match with Pakistan. Nobody had the guts to face wasim akram and saqlain on that final day of a cracking Chennai pitch.
Just imagine this situation. Any India Pakistan match you know how it is. India had lost both the openers and sachin had to come in the first 2 overs itself of the Indian innings. The so-called technically perfect dravid was also got by wasim easily as he had taken the others. Tendulkar stood with his back really paining like hell. Tendulkar stands mighty like a wall between Pakistan and victory. The Pakistanis are appealing desperately after every delivery and their tactics did work with a lot of Indian players but not with sachin. Just see the control and patience that tendulkar had displayed when an attacking player like him would always had the urge to go after the bowling when they are constantly provoking him. He almost took India home. He formed a good partnership with mongia and India was going smoothly. Then due to a sudden rush of blood mongia threw away his wicket for nothing. Sachin has still not forgiven him for that. His back trouble becoming unbearable, when just 15 runs were required with 4 wickets left, sachin decided that he could now go after the bowling. That was a mistake though. He lost his wicket. The gates were open. And everybody was blaming those tailenders who could not even get those 15 runs. Nobody saw the quality of bowling that was bowled there. Such was sachin%u2019s genius that only he could handle that type of bowling.
Again it was a losing cause. But just look at the dedication. But as gavaskar says that it is the duty of a set batsman to finish the job himself than leaving it for the others while chasing, tendulkar had erred. But his back pain was also mainly responsible for his urge to finish the match quickly and again when he realized that only 15 runs were required it was safe to finish it now. Such was his dissapointment after he came to know that India had lost he didn%u2019t come even to collect the man of the match award. What if India lost, any other player would have come to collect the man of the match to become a hero. Hats off.
The critics say that only Richards had such domination over the bowlers as tendulkar has. But then again Richards always enjoyed the company of great players who would always take the pressure off him. Haynes and greenidge almost always would give a good start so that when Richards comes to bat he can really belt all the bowlers. Tendulkar had no such support and one must appreciate the way he handles this pressure when millions were hoping that this guy will click today.
Of course now the Indian situation is totally different and it is not as dependent on sachin as it once was.
Even after his father%u2019s death this guy comes by the next flight and scores a century for India in the world cup. There are no words to describe this man%u2019s gr8ness. There was once a period when out of 36 matches India had won only 2 in which tendulkar was dismissed cheaply. Many would say that how many matches he has won for India. Yes he hasn%u2019t been a breath taking match winner I agree. Cricket is a team game and most of the matches are won by team perfoming well. There have been rare matches where the individual has single handedly won but that doesn%u2019t happen in every match. That happens in once in 50 matches of a great individual on an average. But there were so many instances where he contributed and the team lost. So if India lost because when tendulkar failed it has also happened that India lost when tendulkar performed. Just t stress that cricket is a team game and won by team performances. Sachin played that womderful 98 against pak-Wc2003 but it was dravid and yuvraj who had the stomach in them to finish the game. Like that there were so many matches in the past where sachin performed and perished and there was nobody to finish the game.
I am talking about the sachin who was this great once. Now it%u2019s a different sachin and I don%u2019t want to comment about him. Off late I feel he should go back to domestic cricket and find his form and then only come back to Indian team. That would be the dedicated true and committed sachin who once was. Happy birthday anyways.
