Salute the Titan. Review on Sachin Tendulkar

The idea of my writing on Sachin Tendulkar is so ludicrous, I actually had to convince myself that it would not result into you considering me a clown forever for having written on him. The reason that I am sitting down to write on Sachin is that I have seen and read opinions of many people, outside MouthShut as well, that were in a very negative vein. What shocked me most was that these critics were people who have hardly ever held a bat in their hands to face even a fraction of the sorts of Armadas of bowlers that Monsieur Sachin has to face.

This review is actually an appeal to them to realize something which is this. It is unfair of people who are themselves not even fractionaly successful in their own lives to play critic against stalwarts like Monsieur Sachin who have in their lives proven beyond doubt that they have a capability that hardly anyone else has ever had. It is also very important to note something which is this. To call Sachin even a ''competitive player'' is an insult to him since there is no man alive today who stands to compete against this Titan. He is a man par excellence, the man who never stops shy of struggling for that extra mile that transports him to a level beyond the grasp of any man alive in cricket.

The Giant Liliput

There are men that are born with a silver spoon. There are men that are born with crooked scythe and spade in their hands. And there are lesser men like born with waggling tongues. Monsieur Sachin is different from everyone else. He is the man who was born with a golden bat in his hands. A bat that would, at an age less than eighteen, smash a hundred runs against what was considered to be Pakistan's la Armada Invincible.

Monsieur Sachin was born with a fire in his belly that nobody could tame, not even his father. Born to a middle class Marathi family, to a Brahmin father who was himself a professor, Monsieur Sachin can be said to have arrived in a family that would be considered unlikely to produce even a soldier for the army. He certainly had very little cricket in his blood. It is with fiery ambition that he cultured his blood they way he chose to culture it and shape himself the way he chose to shape himself. His goal was not brought unto him, nor the dream thrust upon. He created his goal, he saw his dreams, toiled for them and made them the solid stone that they are today: the collosal monument that nobody can see the top of, and still growing.

There is nothing remarkable about his physique. He is not particularly tall and hefty. There is nothing extraordinary about the financial support that his father could have given him in the training in cricket- and believe me it takes a lot of money. There was nothing anybody could have done to ease his way through to a platfrom from where he could launch himself.

No. Sachin has created himself. And what great creation is he! He has the hand of God!

Thirteen thousand runs in thirteen years of his career as a batsman… the largest number of hundred plus scores in One Day Internationals… Second only to Sunil Gavaskar as a Test-Cricketer for India… The man whose face is a horrendous apparition for anyone who can handle the ball… the man who can not be tamed by anybody forever… the man who once set loose will obliterate all your hopes…

He is by far, the most supreme sportsman born in India. We had Kapil Dev, and Sunil Gavaskar who, in their own times, elevated the sport and I concede to that. But Indian cricket is recognized purely on the basis of two names: Sachin Tendulkar and Kapil Dev in that order. He is man who has always with every action of his taken Indian cricket to a better shape than it was a few moments ago.

So what if he does not score in some games? So what if he fails to excell on certain occasions? He is after all a man, no matter how great, he still is a man. And to stumble and fall is natural to the greatest of our men. Mistakes are made and are made often. Each mistake brings loss and sorrow but that does not mean those responsible for those mistakes are traitors or incompetent. Particularly when you have a person like Monsieur Sachin making that mistake. You can hold those responsible for a loss or sorrow if what thy did was deliberate and completely avoidable. Even for the worst of losses, a mistake is mistake and must be pardoned.

Then again: who are we to pardon or punish? Did somebody give us the divine right to decide who cause our defeat and who pulled the machinery to dust? Heck, no!

That man will judge me who stands before God and hears him say, yes my child you hath done no sin!

Noah of Arc was bold to state what I am trying to state here. We have been more severe let downs to our loved ones in our family on a lesser scale of course. None among you and I can claim to have had a flawless life and been immune to mistakes in our lives. We have all made mistakes, stupid horrible blunders. We can not pull our nose in the air and shout names at a man so obviously the greatest in his field!

Let Kapil judge Sachin. Or Sunil Gavaskar, or men who have done all they could for the sport. It is not that they will speak the correct thing: but they certainly will be in their right to speak. You and I have no right to speak of Sachin's capacity.

Like you and I have no right to speak of the Mahatma's capacity. As far as cricket is concerned, Sachin is a Mahatma. (Of course, by no means is his manner of work Satyagraha.)

Let us silence our waggling tongues and understand completely once and for all something which is this:

It is not our right but our complete arrogance and absolutely unjustified arrogance at that which makes us speak against Tendulkar. You and I do feel dissappointed and angry when he fails to deliver. But that does not give us a right to make derogatory statements. He makes mistakes and makes them often. So do you and I.

Come, let us understand the immense desire, the unconcievable toil, the unceasing ambition, the unwavering devotion that has made Sachin who he is today. And let us bow before him for that. Let us look at him as an emblem of passionate pursuit of a man's goal that shapes the destiny of the country. Let us all bow before the Potter that shaped this magnificent piece of work. Let us try and imitate his passion in our lives instead of speculating on what he ought to be doing.

This is what Sachin's life is all about. He is not a man any more. He is a moral to us.

Let us salute this Titan.

And now let us watch the match.