A tribute to Sachin Tendulkar who defeats a language

Since the time a man called Sachin Tendulkar picked up a bat and started playing as a child, such has been the mesmerising sight that people have not been able to refrain themselves from describing it.

Starting with 'a child prodigy' then came the all the common adjectives- great, super, majestic, amazing which all seem so petty now, then came genius, master, little master and master blaster, even higher - legend of the game and he was only 25 then. At that moment itself, it should have become apparent to all, that soon the English language and its vocabulary would be found inadequate and that people are going to run out of words to describe this man.

People realized this soon and so started to use their creativity and thus came descriptions like..

Congrats! I bow down to "The God" Sachin Tendulkar

Today is the day when Sachin Tendulkar completes 20 years in International Cricket.


And since we all know that everything has already been said, written and documented very well about Sachin Tendulkar by almost everybody, it is futile for me to write something that has not been already said or written. So this will be a short but interesting post.


It is difficult to believe that it has been 20 long years since the small, curly haired boy was seen playing for India! Any one who saw this cherubic boy with a spark in his eyes could not help but be mermerized. Such a small innocent boy taking on the Pakistanis in their home land would be nerve wracking for anyone but who can forget the incident where he was hit on the nose? And then to stand up again and continue and score a half century as a 16 year old was what made the whole world take notice and really grasp the magnitude of what he really was. And then to take on the wily, experienced Abdul Qadir and to hoick him for 3 sixes announced the world that he was very special indeed; something that happens once in a century or even more. But one thing is sure, there can never be another Sachin Tendulkar. Ever! It is not for nothing that he is called "God" in Cricket.

So many have come, played with him and long gone, but here he is! Still there going strong into his 3rd decade!


It is very emotional for me because I too have revered him like God. I feel I am lucky that I was born around the right time. He started playing for India when I was 5 and it has been my privilege to watch him for 20 years and I remember that I loved him since that time. I have grown up watching him all these years, reading everything about him, collecting thousands of his pictures and making albums of them, putting up his posters in my room, copying him and what not, just like millions of kids in India. My life revolved around him and Cricket to quite some extent. There have been days when he has played well and it made our day. When he succeeded, we succeeded. When he failed, we failed.


I just thought about this today and it made shudder that how am I ever going to be able to watch the game when finally the day comes when he retires. Because no matter what, it is going to come some day. Though I feel there are quite a few years still left. Indeed this is going to happen to a lot of people who have been switching off their television sets when he gets out.


Over the years, he has been one main reason for joy for the nation, even uniting people across states and religions. For me to a great extent, Cricket starts and ends with him. He is the soul and essence in the game. Indeed no one is greater than the game but the game definitely looks incomplete without him.


I am often amazed at existence for producing such a human being! How can a man have done everything that he has and still remain the amazing human being he is? It was very generous of God or existence for giving us Sachin Tendulkar. There is no greater joy than watching a Master at his work and Sachin is the Master in this game. I can't imagine how physically, mentally and emotionally strong he must be to continue this long and do what he has managed!


I even find myself in my everyday life imitating his facial expressions or other small things unintentionally! Indeed almost everyone in the current Indian team has grown up watching and imitating him and today they are playing with him. One thing I have noticed while he plays is this- Whenever a batsman hits the ball, specially a fast bowler straight back towards him, it is a natural reaction for a fast bowler (don't know why?!) to throw the ball back towards the batsman or the stumps. And I don't know if people have observed this but Sachin Tendulkar handles these situations the best of all the batsman. Do observe this the next time it happens that after Sachin has hit it straight towards the bowler and when the bowler is raring to let go the ball, Sachin calmly just puts up his hand, puts his bat in the crease and doesn't even look at the bowler or ball because if the bowler throws it, it could easily hit or hurt the batsman but Sachin exudes such calm from his presence that the bowler immediately calms down and doesn't throw. It is similar to an enlightened one like Gautam Buddha in whose presence even wild, ferocious animals became calm and tamed! I just love to watch this everytime it happens.


And finally just before stopping, I thought about one thing- Sachin Tendulkar must have run so many runs. The total number of runs he has scored considering First Class and List A Cricket is 42392. Plus let us assume he has run equal number of runs for his batting partners, so it comes out to be 84784 across the pitch which is 22 yards. So it comes out to be 1865248 yards of running. But assuming that 50% of the runs are scored in boundaries (fours and sixes) so it makes it 932624 yards ( The means Sachin Tendulkar has run more than 853 kms on the offcially recorded or statistically maintained matches on a Cricket field alone!). And the average circumference of Earth in yards is 43788837.6. Thus it means Sachin Tendulkar must have run around 2.13 % of the earth's circumference! And that is just while batting. Not fielding or bowling! Digest that!


And all those of you who must have got tired perhaps of the whole Sachin completing 20 years in International cricket going on and on in TV and newspapers and perhaps might have thought because of that by this time that his must have been the longest career, are wrong. In fact he is 16th on the list of the longest Test careers! The highest is of English all rounder Wilfred Rhodes. He represented his country for 30 years 315 days from June 1 1899 to April 12, 1930 playing his last Test Match at the age of 52 years 165 days! And he played just 58 Test Matches. In the modern era, only Sanath Jayasuriya is close to him at 19 years 275 days and Javed Miandad at 20 years 272 days, which is the highest for ODI career. And that's why Sachin Tendulkar completing 20 years in the modern era is a huge thing because of the amount of competitive, fast Cricket being played these days and the number of both ODIs and Test Matches that he has played!
May he never stop!

Metamorphosis of Cricket (Sport, not insect!)

Cricket sport which originally started as a five day affair, has been changing with time over the years and in today's fast paced world with everything being fast and instant, Cricket too has a new face in the form of Twenty-twenty game, so much so that the previous formats seem no longer relevant.

It is a tough time for Cricket, for the people associated with the game over the years, for the audiences who have been watching and loving the game and its various aspects. It is a clash between the old and the new. For Cricket game as it started, some are advocates of "that's how it's meant to be". It is like the Bible or religion, the first word..the way it's meant to be. They cannot accept it to be changed or even to bring modifications to it. Some on the other hand believe that the time of the original Cricket formats is up and they should be scrapped and a few in the middle suggest bringing in some modifications and changes to make the game more up-to-date and in tune with today's time while avoiding both the extreme options.

Is Test Match the problem or is One day Internationals the problem? And the meaning of 'problem' here is less audiences and less interest meaning less money. And the biggest factor behind this is the IPL. It is only after the tremendous success of IPL format and the way it is presented and the glamour factor, that people have started thinking about the game this way. Bollywood and Cricket have always been the 2 major things in an average Indian family and now IPL is the product of Cricket like movies are the product of Bollywood. IPL and movies are counterparts in that respect. When so much effort and money, colour and glamour has been put in to make it so interesting for the audiences for 3 1/2 hours, it is natural that hardly few of these audiences would like to watch the 'boring' Test Matches played in whites over a period of 5 long days which is in total contrast. But since there is so much of a difference between T-20s and Test Matches, they are considered almost different games, targeted to different audiences, they aren't really being compared and thus One day internationals being more closer and similar to T-20s have been caught. So the popular opinion as of now is to keep Test Matches, and obviously have more T-20s but to scrap off ODIs.

In the analysis of the weakness of the ODIs, one of the main things talked about is the lull in the game after the first Power Play till the last 10 overs. To combat it they have brought in batting and bowling power-plays but it hasn't really made so much of a difference. Matthew Hayden has said that this is the time that is actually tougher for batsmen because it tests their skills. But of course he is talking from a player's point of view and now the most important factor is the audience. If there is no one to watch, there isn't really a player's worth then.

Another suggestion that has come and which cannot be ignored, simply because it has come from Sachin Tendulkar himself. He might be a man of few words, but when he talks, the world listens. He has suggested to convert 50 over matches into 2 innings of 25 overs each and he thought of this years ago in 2002, after the final match with Sri Lanka in the Champions trophy.

This is what he has to say about it- "Today, we can tell the result of close to 75% of [ODI] matches after the toss. But [splitting the game] is not too dependent on the toss." And regarding that match in the rain-hit final in Champions trophy in Colombo, where India and Sri Lanka were declared joint winners, " First, they played 50 overs and we played two before the rain interruption, The next day [a reserve day], Sri Lanka again played 50 overs and we played eight. In the end, we were declared joint winners. I thought, 110 overs and still no result. That's when I thought we should have 25 overs each for both sides and then 25 overs each again. If, for example, it's a day-night match, then both the teams will have to bat under lights. In those 25 overs you can use your 10 wickets the way you want. Suppose if it rains, then also you can plan. The conditions change very dramatically, but this would ensure that it's the same for everyone."

A few of the things which have made the Cricket administrators really sit up and think and take some actions include the England and Wales Cricket Board announcement about the decision to drop domestic 50-over cricket in favour of a 40-over competition and instances like Andrew Flintoff turning down the offer of an incremental central contract with England and remaining a freelance cricketer which many say is because he wants to play in the lucrative IPL. The contract would have been worth around £30,000 but in rejecting the offer Flintoff is free to commit to his Indian Premier League employers, Chennai Superkings, who would pay him a full annual fee of $1.55m (£935,000).

So what should really be done? Should changes be made to the ODIs? Should Test Matches be removed? Or is it just too much of T20s?

Before we search for solutions, we need to first see if the problem really exists. Before you start treating a patient and administering him medicines, you need to ascertain whether he is really ill. And perhaps the only means of that is the audience. The people watching at their home on their television sets and the people that come to the stadium to watch the match. People want entertainment and they have many ways to have it. It is for the people in charge and the Cricket lovers to ensure that it remains one of the most sought after means of entertainment and that is possible by scheduling it correctly, not having too many unnecessary tournaments and matches.

I have come up with some points which I think can help Cricket get through this turbulent times.
1) Better stadium facilities - If you want audiences, you need to provide them comfortable and pleasing environment and not just make them sit under the hot sun!
2) Reducing days/overs, variations of Power plays - One of the things suggested is reducing Test Matches to 4 days and ODIs to 40 overs or bringing in some variations of Power Plays.
3) Hitting Zones for batsmen - I feel Cricket can actually become better if it takes up some of the laws and practices of informal Cricket played all over the world which can include marking zones on the ground where, if hit, the batsman might get 2 bonus runs. It might tempt many batsmen to hit predetermined shots to those areas no matter where the ball is bowled. It will increase the mind games between the batsmen and bowlers and make it risky and entertaining. Also adopting from informal games- the single-handed one bounce catch can make it interesting.
4) Bringing more colour and glamour - This is of course from the success of IPL in it.
5) Proper scheduling of tournaments and preparation of pitches - Many times we have seen that matches are held during the rainy season with frequent rain interruptions or extremely hot climates. Scheduling should be done considering all these factors, weather and local conditions and pitches should be prepared such that matches shouldn't be one-sided. There should be an even contest between bat and ball.
6) Day-night Matches - Even Test Matches can be held day-night as can be ODIs and T-20s so that people can come after their office work and enjoy matches in the coolness specially in Summer
7) Free tickets for school children - For any sport to go on, the interest of the children and the youth in the game is essential. They need to look up to players to be like them. That is how the greats in the game are born like Sachin Tendulkar grew up watching and wanting to be like Sunil gavaskar and Viv Richards while the youngsters and even current Indian team players grew up idolising Sachin Tendulkar. Thus providing free tickets will encourage them to come and generate interest in the game and encourage them to take it up as a career as well.
8) Discount for families - This is also among similar lines to attract more people and appeal to other target audience- women and children. It can be made a fun and enjoyable experience with facilities.
9) Promotion - Of course, everything needs promotion and Cricket needs to be promoted properly. In Test Matches, it is the Ashes that generates the most interest and is of some significance. Similarly they can develop matches and rivalries along similar lines as they have tried with Pakraman for India vs Pakistan matches.
10) Test World Cup - This might seem to be a crazy idea but perhaps 4 day Test Matches with a knock out kind of World Cup might just work. But they need to keep track and not bring in too many tournaments though, as it reduces interest -with World Cups, and IPLs and Champions trophy and Champions League etc. Audiences should not be over-burdened and tournaments should be evenly spaced.