One man...And millions Memory!

By Francis Saldanha
Bellevision Media Network

11 Oct 2013: Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar has been the most complete batsman of his time, the most prolific run maker of all time, and arguably the biggest cricket icon the game has ever known. Perhaps the most complete batsman and the most worshipped cricketer in the world, Tendulkar holds just about every batting record worth owning in the game, including those for most runs and hundreds in Tests and ODIs, and most international runs.

 

There are no apparent weaknesses in Tendulkar’s game. He can score all around the wicket, off both front foot and back, can tune his technique to suit every condition, temper his game to suit every situation, and has made runs in all parts of the world in all conditions. His batting is based on the purest principles, perfect balance, economy of movement, precision in stroke-making, and that intangible quality given only to geniuses’ anticipation. If he doesn’t have a signature stroke the upright, back-foot punch comes close it is because he is equally proficient at each of the full range of orthodox shots (and plenty of improvised ones as well in ODI and T20) and can pull them out at will.

 

Blessed with the keenest of cricket minds, and armed with a dislike for losing, Tendulkar set about doing what it took to become one of the best batsmen in the world. His greatness was established early, he was only 16 when he made his Test debut. He was hit on the mouth by Waqar Younis of Pakistan but continued to bat, in a blood-soaked shirt. His first Test hundred, a match-saving one at Old Trafford, came when he was 17, and he had 16 Test hundreds before he turned 25. In 2000 he became the first batsman to have scored 50 international hundreds, in 2008 he passed Brian Lara as the leading Test run-scorer, and in the years after, he went past 13,000 Test runs 30,000 international runs, and 50 Test hundreds.

 

Tendulkar’s considerable achievements seem greater still when looked at in the light of the burden of expectations he has had to bear from his adoring but somewhat unreasonable followers, who have been prone to regard anything less than a hundred in each innings as a failure. The aura may have dimmed, if only slightly, as the years on the international circuit have taken their toll on the body, but Tendulkar remains, by a distance, the most worshipped cricketer in the world over.

 

 

 

He currently holds the record for most hundreds in both Tests and ODIs - remarkable, considering he didn’t score his first ODI hundred till his 79th match. Incredibly, he retains a divine enthusiasm for the game: at 36 years and 306 days he broke a 40-year-old barrier by scoring the first double-century in one-day cricket. In 2012, when just one month short of his 39th birthday, he became the first player to score 100 international centuries, which like Bradman’s batting average, could be a mark that lasts forever. Later that year, though, he announced his retirement from ODIs after a disappointing 18 months in international cricket. In October 2013, having played 198 Tests, Tendulkar announced that he would quit the longest format after playing his 200th Test, at home against West Indies.

 

Some of his finest performances have come against Australia, the overwhelmingly dominant team of his era. His century as a 19-year-old on a lightning-fast pitch at the WACA is considered one of the best innings ever to have been played in Australia. A few years later he received the ultimate compliment from the ultimate batsman Sir Don Bradman confided to his wife that Tendulkar reminded him of himself.

 

Sachin Tendulkar made Millions of people get addicted to Cricket all over the world. It will be very tough to imagine watching Cricket without Sachin playing. True Legend, Changed the definition of Cricket towards fans. Thanks for all these happiness he brought to so many Indians and all over the world. SRT is not only loved by Indians but by all over the world, even non cricketers love him for the way he brought that elegance to the game of cricket. When the world was discovering how to play limited over cricket, this Little Champ mastered the very art, redefined, invented and taught the world how to play Cricket and went on to become the greatest role model not just because of his cricketing skills, but also because of the humility, his passion for the game. He is not an icon just for cricketing fraternity but for sure a role model for anyone who has dreams and wants to achieve something.

 

All great things come to an end one day, carrying a billion people responsibilities on his shoulders for 23 long years is not a joke.  It is apt to say more than Sachin will miss cricket, cricket will miss SR Tendulkar. Salute and immense respect to the Legend of India!!