Saluting Sachin

1973 was the year when God was born to play cricket. 1989, he made his international debut.  In the year 2011, he won the ultimate prize (World Cup) and 2013 is when he decided to retire. Sachin's journey can be described in such simple sentences. For many of us, referring to him as God seems to be a exaggeration but careful observation of what he has achieved leaves no doubt about the title given to him. Between 1989 and 2013,the game of Cricket witnessed a man whose desire to play,hunger to succeed,ability to carry the hope and expectation of fans were second to none and might remain unmatched for a long time to come. 

1989 was truly a remarkable year. Our arch rivals saw the emergence of  Waqar Younis who went on to become one of the great fast bowlers to have played the game. Germany witnessed the collapse of the Berlin wall. Graham Gooch  took over the England captaincy. It was the month of November when Sachin made his  test debut in Karachi. Remarkably, he made his ODI debut the next month without scoring a run against Pakistan. Little did we know that the 16 year old would go on to become a legend. 

No cricketer has been venerated in his own country like Sachin. No one has broken as many records: most test appearances, most runs,most centuries - records that are hard to imagine being surpassed. His longevity is as admiring as the technical purity of his batsmanship. He played with style and panache and dominated bowlers at will. As Saurav Ganguly rightly mentions, it is important to realize what Sachin has done with the talent at his disposal. Playing at the highest level for so many years requires a lot of discipline and dedication.

From the century at Perth to the mesmerizing innings he played at Sharjah,he never failed to thrill us.Great players from past & present have saluted him. The entire nation has celebrated his success and stood by him during failures. 

Tomorrow might just be the last day we see Sachin Tendulkar on the cricket ground playing test cricket for India. I felt numb reading his retirement announcement. We all knew that it was coming and yet everything stopped for a moment. It's hard to imagine an Indian team without him. A walk down the memory lane brings back so many memories and those innumerable occasions when I tried to emulate his stance when batting.Anyone who has played the game at some level or the other will realize how lucky they have been to watch him play.He has been an omnipresence and cricket without him is hard to imagine. It will take some time to get used to the fact that Sachin won't come out to bat again. 

We will miss you Sachin!