I am amazed at the vitriol and nasty language hurled at Sachin. I do understand our frustrations, our disappointment and our capitulation in the WC, but dont, please dont pull down a man we ourselves placed on a pedestal. Lets not bring him down and sully him.
More than anger, I felt sadness when I saw that ball sneak in and bowl Tendulkar. Sadness that a giant has fallen, A MAN the likes of whom have NEVER walked the Indian sports scene.
What has Tendulkar given us over the almost 2 decades he has played for India. He has given his life, his passion and his commitment. How many times have we watched in awe, in slack-jawed amazement, stayed up all nights to watch him play and shout and cherish and admire his skill, his talent, his 100% commitment to team India.
We have loved his pure, uncomplicated, clean style of batsmanship. No scandals, no controversies, just a simple desire to excel and dominate bowlers.
From the moment he walked into our lives as a curly haired, chubby cheeked, 16 year old to the time he has matured, his body taking its toll, his back, elbows, knees, shoulders, all groaning under this weight of expectations of a billion people, we have admired him, worshipped him and revered him.
He will surely go one day and leave our cricket fields the poorer, but hasnt he earned the time and method of his departure. He is a man of immense personal pride and he will go BEFORE he is asked to, but let him decide that. He has earned that right. WE gave him that right when he won our hearts and souls.
To boo him and to insult him is an affront to this man, this professional, this DON of our generation.
RE:Give Sachin a break
by joseph on Mar 27, 2007 12:26 AM Permalink
You are correct to some extent. You should never put them on the pedestal in the first place. he is a great batsman i totally agree. but stop calling him DON, winner of hearts and souls, batting GOD i mean dont you think it's crual on your part to raise the expectations to that high. And then he comes around when needed and throws away his wicket..what happens people realised the reeking mortality of this GOD (That you created) and then they are Pissed... I respect that man however no matter how much you sell i will never buy that he is a batting GOD and i always keep my expectations under check. But i'm a minority in this cricket fan world my friend. So please for his future sake stop worshipping him and enjoy his mortal success and skills.
RE:Give Sachin a break
by Rohit on Mar 27, 2007 01:06 AM Permalink
If Sachin does really have a lot of personal pride as Mr.X would have us believe, here are some options on the table. (i)Play in the domestic circuit, PERFORM, live up to his name and get back on the team based on MERIT alone. This is only if he is still passionate about playing for our country. (ii)Accompany the Indian cricket team as an advisory member/coaching staff, devising strategies and also motivate young cricketers to excel on the international arena. This is only if he is still passionate about the game. (iii)Budding young cricketers idolizing Sachin would love to get themselves trained and learn valuable lessons/techniques from him if he can perform such a role. This is only if he is still passionate about his fans.
Sadly, none of these options are about to happen now as it may not be to Sachin's liking. These options that I laid out don't pay as much as being part of the playing XI. So let us not count on it.
Like millions of Indian cricket fans, I am just tired of watching these HEROES on paper turn to ZEROS on the field. We all need to be held accountable. Otherwise no good can come out of anything. No more half-hearted actions when one senior cricketer is preferred over the other. What's good for the goose...good for the gander. So its time these senior cricketers quit with grace and young guns who are eager for a chance to perform be given a fair chance. I am sure a nation of 1 billion can find readily new talent. Will the BCCI do something about this or will it all just be another hogwash? By the way...if you feel this is all just a dream. Do we all not have a right to dream? Am I right people??
RE:RE:Give Sachin a break
by KapilRaj Koroth on Mar 27, 2007 03:20 AM Permalink
Everybody talks of this young team, Tell me one single batsman who can replace sachin AT HIS CURRENT FORM. Spare him please .. I do not yet think it is time for him to retire.
RE:Give Sachin a break
by Kaushal Desai on Mar 27, 2007 12:06 AM Permalink
All poetry is for hero-worshippers ....the fact is that our DON never won us any crucial game. He might be a great batsman, but he is a coward when it comes to winning from dire situations. The fact is all three Indian giants -Tendulkar,Dravid,Ganguly and to some extent the smaller giants , Yuvraj and Dhoni have forever lost the confidence of the indian fans by acting like sissies when it really mattered. We dont need gentlemen, we need players who can destroy any opponent for national pride ....at will!
RE:Give Sachin a break
by on Mar 27, 2007 04:35 PM Permalink
There are an assortment of culprits who are to blame for India's horrible exit from the WC 2007. the most visible and obvious culprits are of course the players and the board. So we boo them, stone their houses, let the beasts within us rage. And when they win a game, we shove the beast deep underneath and burst firecrackers of joy.
The next culprits are, of course, the Board. Culprits simply because they seem more interested in drawing itineraries that ensure the BCCI retains its status of Numero Uno cash cow in the world. I don't see the logic of this, because being the numero uno cash cow should give it the advantage of leverage. And yet we see white men belittle us, spit at us, white umpires turn the other way when such things happen, and fine us for 'bringing the game into disrepute' when our players appeal excessively.
Then there is the media and the corporate sector. These are the biggest culprits. The media more so because they are the ones who are mainly responsible for whipping us into a frenzy by airing those insane ads that the corporates shove on their platter - World Cup Cola being the worst example. What did Pepsi hope to gain out of that ad? Not the sincere wish of every Indian that the players make the words of the ad come true; they hoped to gain the 20 bucks or so that each of us would shell out to buy the same trashy pesticide-filled cola in a golden hue. The media is the one that promotes these frenzies, and the moment India loses, they put on their hangman's masks and go about vilifying the players. They have nincompoops in the name of anchors who make it their agenda to ensure that everyone hears what they feel - that Dravid and Chappell should be sacked (check the CNN program called Tryst with Disaster - an insult to CNN that it actually aired a program of that kind).
And lastly, we have ourselves, the fans - we burn, loot, stone...that to me sounds like a 15th century hun's behavior than a 21st century cricket fans. We are a nation so starved of winners that we tend to elevate a bunch of young cricketers who have no clue about handling pressure - that is of course a very indian trait - to the status of gods, and when these poor guys fail, we let the beasts within us emerge. Instead of that, if only we could work at the grassroots to ensure that we had more than a bunch of young guys, maybe hundreds of them, to choose from...it would have helped Indian cricket a lot. But we are what we are, and this is how it will always be. We chose foreign coaches because the Indian ones were found to be good for nothing...now we are saying sack the foreign coach. You can hire God as the coach of the Indian team, but as long as someone does not work on the mental side of things, it will always be how it has been. Bleak, with flashes of inspiration. I would not call it brilliance. Just every dog having his day.
