February 24, 2010. The day which will be remembered in the history of not only the cricket but in the memories of billions and billions of cricket fans who treat cricket not only as the game but as the relation. No wonder if the people who don’t know anything about cricket and people who hate cricket also remember that great day!! Yes, I am talking about that “Great Knock” by little master Sachin Tendulkar,200*:147 balls,25 fours,3 sixes; for which the whole world had to wait for about 30 years and 2962 one-day matches, Oooophh!!! In this age of 20-20battle, hit and only hit attitude these figures may look very small, but it tells a different story. The story of great effort, the story of hard work, the story of importance of dedication, determination and perseverance of a man who is already considered as a living legend, who is still spending hours in net and gym to achieve the perfectness that too in the age of 36!!
Yes, my dear friends this blog is all about cricket and cricketers only!! After that great day i was in such a great mood, i just decided to celebrate this in a meaningful way and i say this blog is the result of that. Here i am trying to relate cricket to our daily life and i am sure some people will derive some inspiration from the achievements of our real Heros. I am not only talking about Sachin but also other gems Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble and others. Remember its our privilege to live with such a people and you may proudly say your children and grand children “Hey, i saw all of their matches”. I want to dedicate this blog to all the cricket fans who gave up their meals, sleep, studies and many other special moments of their life and to the people who consider ‘cricket as our religion, and Sachin as our God’.
Why Sachin is so special for us......???
There are some words which directly touches the heart, makes us alert and feel happy, like ‘Himalaya’ (try this!!). Such words can penetrate the great noise of the crowd and reaches our ears. ‘Sachin Tendulkar’ is one such word (plz, don’t bring any grammar here) which excites, alerts, unites and touches us!! I have been watching the cricket since 99’s world-cup and i have been seeing hundreds of faces coming on to the stage performing, shining, burning and slowly fading away. But there are some people they come and stays forever. Sachin is in the first row of such persons. I always see the ‘Avatar’ of ‘Arjuna of Mahabharata, the great performer of The Indian History ’ in Sachin. You just think in which sense he is less than Arjuna( i don’t know why Sachin named his son as ‘Arjuna’!!). We have not seen Arjuna, but by reading about his bravery acts we may come to conclusion that he might be like Sachin. ( Can we compare his ‘Pashupathastra’ to Sachin’s MRF ??).
Why do you think Sachin still playing the cricket???
Is this to make some more records? Or some more money? Or he don’t have anything other than this? If answer is yes, probably we may be wrong!! Because Sachin is already having highest number of records, some of them may lasts for 20-25 years and some of them never ever be broken. Is he playing for money? Remember Sachin is the richest sportsman of India and even he is richest among all. Dont he has anything else to do? Of course he has! He has 2 children, beautiful wife and he has his own trusts. Remember Sachin donates crores of money for the education of poor children through his trusts( he never wants to advertise this, his greatness). Now all the probabilities are ruled out.
He is still playing because he has the passion for the cricket. He treats criket as his breath. Remember it is not possible to reach such a great height without respecting one’s job! He knows what are his responsibilities. He knows how the people respect him and what they expect from him. Each time he comes to the ground with tremendous pressure, he knows billions of eyes observing him and still he outperforms. We poor people struggle to fulfil the expectations of our family members!! Don’t you think he is a super-human. Have you ever seen Sachin dancing and punching the air with great leaps after his century? ( oh my God, he didn’t do these after getting 200 also!! I think i celebrated that more than himself). Thats why there is a saying “great people are born, not created”.
I did not see the triumph of getting Independence in 1947, nor the victory of world-cup in 1983, when the whole India unitedely celebrated. But i did that when Sachin got Double century, my privilege!! Yes, Sachin is the binding force, the cement, who can integrate the whole India. Who is the most admiring person of the India, who gets respects from the people of all religion, races, region; may be poor, rich, male, female, children elders, its not Ram, not Rahim, not Jesus, its Sachin Tendulkar.
Dear friends by considering Sachin as God and watching all his matches is not the great tribute we can give him. Its the way in which we derive the inspiration from his life and how we use that to excel ourselves, the way in which we also contribute our nation, thats going to be the real tribute to him.
Final touch:
‘ I would have never touched the bat, if Sachin is not a cricketer’- Virendra Sehwag
‘ After that innings, Sachin is often coming in to my dreams’- Shane Warne( post effects of Sharja Cup)
‘I want to touch his feet’- Sunil Gavaskar
‘Winning the world cup is the next challenge to him, if its not i just don’t care’- Harsha Bhogle
Final Punch:
Once media persons asked Sharukh Khan “ who is the most popular person of India”?
Sharukh: ” imagine a party, all surrounded sharukh to get his autograph. Suddenly all ran towards the gate, wats that , Amithab entered the party! After some time all the people together with Amithab ran towards the gate, to get the autograph of Sachin Tendulkar”, No doubt its the Sachin, the most popular person of India!!
