Great Cricketer, but not a Hero. Review on Sachin Tendulkar

Not many of you would like this review and may consider it blasaphamy, but this my honest opinion of the man worshipped as a demi-god in this cricket-mad nation.

Sachin may be statistically the best batsman in the world. But does he deserve the excessive adulation and God-like status in this country? Shouldn't we just treat him as a good, above-average batsman, rather than see him as a national hero?

I don't think Sachin possesses the qualities of a hero. And if he is the best we have got, then we should be ashamed of ourself for producing such a poor class of heroes.

I cringe with embarrasement everytime I see him on TV acting in some commrcial. He must be a sure-fire candidate in the guiness book of world record for doing maximum number of endorsements (correct me if I am wrong) Remember the hilarious advt of Times of India in their ''A day of life in India'' series. Sachin is making a complete fool of himself by his absolute lack of discernment in accepting Ads. There are many who argue that he has a right to make hay while the sun shines. Maybe, but once again, as someone as adored as he is, he has a responsibility towards the society and as such should be promoting good values instead of acting as a pedler of goods.

Just a week ago, Kapil dev made comments on the attitude of our star playes. He hit the nail right in the head when he complained that Sachin seemed to live in his own world.

As long as he was keeping his commercial activities and cricket seperate, he could have been excused for his excessive interest in commmercial ventures. But recently he refused to play in the one-day series against Zimbabwe, saying that he needed rest. And what a way to rest! - shooting for more Pepsi commercials, attending TV shows and useless seminars, getting his signature inscribed on some brand of car. With the kind of talent he posseses, I am sure he would have had much more rest playing the five games, but then he wouldn't have been able to rake in as much moolah as he does when he dons the garb of a salesman.

Sportsmen all over the world do endorsements, but only few campaigns, and generally limited to companies making sports gears. Can anyone imagine Tiger Woods appearing for Shampoo or engine oil advertisements? Would we be able to respect Michael Jordan or Carl Lewis if they were selling biscuits and tyres?

Even as a batsmen, Sachin has not delivered when it matters most. I am longing for the day, when India is 17 for 5 and Sachin singlehandedly wins the match, chasing a score of above 250. I am waiting for the day when India has to bat out the last two days on a crumbling wicket and Sachin displays a resolve to stay put on the wicket till the very end.

Before concluding, I would like to make an important point. Sachin is not using his power and position for betterment of Indian Cricket. It is a matter of shame that a country of a billion-plus cricket crazy fanatics should be languishing at the bottom of the table, just above Bangladesh and Zimbabve. If Mr.Tendulkar really ate, drank and slept cricket, as we were made to believe, then he would have really done something drastic to alter the situation. How? No one would disagree that Sachin is the most powerful man in the game today, much more powerful than the Dalmias and Bordes, who are ruling the game. If sachin was to quit or even threaten to quit, all these powerful and corrupt officials would be at his feet, begging him to continue. Sachin has the power to remove these jokers (Lele is out, but there are many others) and replace them with sincere ex-cricketers like Gavaskar, Vishwanath, Vensarkar of Amarnath.

Sachin can do to Indian cricket, what Imran Khan did to pakistan's cricket, take the bull by its horns and bring in the neccassary reforms needed to prevent the stagnation of the game. But till he is able to move himself away from the lure of cash-bags, we will have to watch the painful task of Indian cricket team slipping down and down and down and.......