Sachin Tendulkar, as a batsman and as a person, has inspired me the most to date. I have seen him since my earliest memories of cricket when I was just three or four years old until today, where he is playing his last Test match.
I have never ever imagined a person who can be so calm, down to earth and have no attitude whatsoever after 24 years of successful international cricket.
In his 24-year career Sachin has not said a word about his critics, just let his bat answer all the questions.
These are the two important points which influenced me the most about Sachin.
In the game of cricket there have been lot of standout performers, but of all Sachin was special and different for various reasons.
At 16 he started his international cricket career and was exceptional, facing one of the best pace bowling attacks in Pakistan with the likes of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis.
He scored his second Test hundred in Perth, which is considered the fastest track in world cricket.
When Mark Taylor spoke about his first impression about Sachin when he toured Australia in 1991-1992, he said generally Indian batsmen are not that comfortable playing flat batted shots, preferring to play with a full face of the bat and tend to get caught in slip cordon.
But Sachin was different, and very fluent in playing both cross-batted and flat-batted shots, which explains why Sachin was prepared when he went to play in Australia.
Another important point worth mentioning is that he was he was very comfortable in playing both on front foot and back foot, which was a rare sight in Indian team at that time.
I have heard a lot of people criticising Sachin, saying whenever he scores India loses.
Though it was proved wrong by stats, until date I have never understood what Sachin could have done for other people not playing well.
I remember Shane Warne talking about the Indian team in early 1990s, saying that India was a defensive team who would prefer not to lose rather than winning a game.
Sachin played in that time and tried his best for the team to win, and if you look at Sachin’s batting at that time he was always taking the attack to the bowlers, whoever he was facing, which was not the case with the other batsmen.
If you forget this, let us look into some games where India lost when Sachin scored runs.
Let us start with the Coca-Cola Cup in Sharjah, where India required 237 in 46 overs to qualify for the final.
Sachin fought single-handedly and made sure India qualified for the final, with Sachin scoring 143 and next highest score in the Indian team was just 39 runs.
In 1999 India was playing Pakistan at Chennai, a game in which Sachin scored 136 in a chase of 271.
When he got out India was 17 runs short of victory with three wickets in hand, but the team collapsed for just five more runs – what could Sachin do about that?
In that innings only three batmen from Indian team reached double figures while rest fumbled in single digits.
If you consider the chase of 350 against Australia in fourth ODI in 2009/2010, Sachin scored 175 runs and he made sure required run rate never reached eight in a chase of 350.
But when Sachin departed India had to score 19 runs in 17 balls in a powerplay but again the team fumbled.
In the whole Indian innings there was only one half century in the chase of 350.
Sachin gave his best for the team and if the team doesn’t win even when he scored for the team, in my view he should be respected for what he has done.
In the time Sachin played for India, India have produced lot of other excellent players of cricket like Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, VVS Laxman and Sourav Ganguly, but for me Sachin was special because Sachin has played with three generations of players.
The last player to retire in the team Sachin made his debut was in 1999, just three years after Dravid and Ganguly’s debuts.
Sachin and Dravid were born in the same year but by the time Dravid made his debut Sachin had already been in Test cricket for seven years, which is more than most of the present day cricketers’ entire careers.
What I mean say here is playing at interntional level at an age of 16 was a lot different from playing international cricket at 23, where most of the other Indian greats started their careers.
The most important point I like about Sachin is he changed his batting according to the conditions and situations.
When he was young he was attacking and when he became a senior member in the team he reduced his aggression for the team which helped youngsters build their innings around him.
If you remember his ODI debut as a opener or the innings in played in Sharjah, you can clearly see what a destructive player he was but he then changed his batting according to the team requirements as needed.
The most important reason for Sachin’s success for all these years was his preparation for a match which was amazing.
His preparation was no different when he was playing a Ranji Trophy match or a Test match.
He always knew what bowlers were going to bowl at him, and he was ready for it all the time.
In 1997/98 when Australia was touring India, Sachin knew it would be a challenge to face Shane Warne on Indian tracks.
So to prepare for playing against Warne, especially when Warne was bowling around the wicket onto footmarks, he asked Laxman Sivarama Krishnan to bowl to him from around the wicket and practiced.
He also asked left-arm bowlers to bowl on the rough to be prepared for when he was going to face Warne.
His preparation never guaranteed the result – the perfect example was the first-innings dismissal in the Chennai Test match when he was caught at slip by Taylor off Warne, but his determination to perform well never waned.
In that match Laxman was said to have seen Sachin crying when he gave his wicket away cheaply to Warne, but in the same game in the second innings to went and scored 150-plus runs on a spinning Chennai track on day three and four, which was remarkable.
Sachin has influenced a lot of youngsters to play cricket – how many of the current players have been inspired by Sachin?
If you ask them, the answer will be all of them. MS Dhoni, the oldest of all the present Indian team, was eight years old when Sachin debuted against Pakistan in 1989.
Sachin is an inspiration for all the youngsters to grow up and develop as a cricketer.
He was an example for what could a person become with passion and hard work.
Playing for 24 years is no joke. If a person plays as long as 24 years he is supposed to create lot of records and Sachin did it, but Sachin is a common man with love and passion towards cricket with an extremely hard-working nature to achieve his dream of playing for his nation.
gs
Guest
How do you define the average era of cricket? Many of Cricket's best are produced in this era - You have some of the most elegant batsmen in Lara, Sachin, Ricky, De Silva, Yousuf, the Waugh brothers, Kallis, Dravid, etc. in this era. Some of the tormenting bowlers like Walsh, Ambrose, Wasim, Murali, Warne, Steyn, Waqar, Mc Grath from this era. Look at the statistics and record books, most of them are held by the cricketers of this era. The game is being followed in many many countries in this era than any other era. Viewership and the best sportsmen form the best era of any sport. Greg Chappel, agreeing that he is a very good batsman and with all due respect to him, doesnt even come close to the holistic sportsmanship that Sachin is made of. Legends dont get reproduced out of numbers - they are formed by what they bring to the table. The game today is not what it was before a good 25 years. Sachin is largely part of that transformation of the sport. The word "Ambassador" isnt just a word. There is a lot to it. Getting runs against the minnows is not a crime. And the best of his innings have come against the top sides in the world - The old Trafford, Perth, the twin desert storms in Sharjah, the 2003 and the 2011 world cup journeys, The Chennai test, the Sydney innings, the 175 vs Aus, the 200 vs. SA, and a lot more - they have all come against the top sides of the world. What is this minnow-monkey that is clinging onto his back ? There is nothing weird or bad about getting runs "also" against low teams that were presented as opposition. If you talk about the opposition, Sir Bradman played only against England whose bowling he would have mastered over a short period of time. His legend or that of Jack Hobbs does not diminish because they were facing almost always the same set of opposition - what are we talking about here? Getting a paltry 175 runs on the last day of a spinning track is one of the toughest endeavors in Test cricket. Dont get too biased on your opinion about the quality of tracks. >> He only played three test matches up till 1995 against them when they were on the way down. Are you trying to convey that he would not have fared well against the combo of Marshall, Holding, Garner, Roberts, Ambrose and Walsh. There were Indian players like Gavaskar who scored well against the WI. The Tendulkar of his teens and early 20s was a much more dangerous man than most players of world Cricket, and is India's all-time-best. So this argument does not even fly. Greg Chappell hadnt faced Murali, Warne, Steyn, McGrath, Wasim and Kumble. So lets stop the subjective comparison.
gs
Guest
"Special/legendary" innings does not come very often even for the greats. Sachin's career is a long, almost-always-consistent (excluding the injury periods) one with very special innings that no other human on this planet has ever produced. The "speciality" of the innings become bigger when the teams win from such contributions. In Sachin's case, after all the hardwork, the team (in a team game) crumbled once he departed. So some of his special innings were long forgotten by the "hard" critics. His average is testimony to his consistency. His longevity and his ability to adapt his style not only during different stages of his career, but also during different stages of his innings (have a look at the 175 in a ODI against Australia) is testimony to his character. There is no player on the planet earth that has the repertoire of cricket shots that this man has. I bet you can find not even one - not even the legendary Sir Donald. There is no player on the planet that has scored all over the world as much as him. There is no player on the earth that has attacked 3 or 4 different generation of best bowlers in the world. There is no player that has made more runs against the most dominant/respectable teams of his era - Australia and SouthAfrica. He has scored against bowlers like Wasim, Ambrose, Walsh, Waqar, Sir Hadlee, Qadir, Donald, Pollock, McGrath, Murali, Warne, Bret Lee, Shoaib, Fleming, Steyn, Vaas, Ntini, Vettori, Swann, Anderson, etc. And someone asked for the MoMs stats. He has been awarded 17 MoMs against Australia, the dominant team of the era, the second in the list is just more than half of what he got. Overall he got a huge 76 MoMs and 19 MoS awards in all formats of the game and he stands way above the second place. And last, even the cricketing geniuses and critics put him close to and sometimes on par with Sir Don Bradman (the Legend himself compared with him). Who are these funny people questioning the history? I am not sure if Bradman would be a Bradman if he batted against so many cricketing nations, on so many different pitches, against so many different bowlers (It is not a joke to learn and attack a larger set of supreme bowlers), in so many different formats of the game, in such a merciless cricket calendar, most importantly under the humongous pressure of a 1+ billion fanatic fan following. (while I mentioned this, I know that Bradman played without helmets on uncovered wickets, but just read the previous statement once again). Stupendous!! Legendary!!
graeme
Guest
no, missed the point entirely. the innings that was picked out was not even considered the best in the match-I would argue it was actually the 4th or 5th best innings of that particular match. It seems be damning with faint praise when asked about a special innings by tendulkar, a guy who has played more international innings than anyone that this one was chosen. It just seems to me he doesnt have that many peaks or memorable innings. Of course he has some, but as a % there just doesnt seem to be that many. His claim to fame is consistancy, which is fine and important but didnt bring the bacon home often enough like the 2 world cup final failures. As for MoMs, have to do a whole analysis on who they were against and what the context of each game was at the time
Zubes
Guest
You can ask Allan Donald and Dale Steyn about Sachin's ability to score hundreds on fast bouncy wickets. Oh and there's the innings in Perth as well.
Zubes
Guest
If sub-continental tracks are so easy to bat on then why do Australia stuggle so much in batting on their India tours? Also until recently no one had scored more than 300 in the 4th innings to win a test in India. The style of cricket might be different from what you are accustomed to but that doesn't mean its easier.
Tyler
Guest
So by your definition he is the greatest ever as he has most number of MoMs (test and ODIS together)
Jorji Costava - The Guru's Guru
Guest
Tendulkar was a great batsmen. However I think you tend to get put up on a pedestal over in India because in their cricketing history they have not had a lot to cheer for. Tendulkar seemed to do reasonably well outside of India which is unique for them as the Indian players tend to do well at home but struggle away. A lot of his runs were scored against the lower test match nations on the sub continents flat tracks. An example is, he came in at the end of the dominant West Indies teams. He only played three test matches up till 1995 against them when they were on the way down. He was obviously a great player in an average era for cricket and India dodged playing longer test series against the heavyweights. Greg Chappell, was a superior player because he only ever played against the top test match nations and was not able to pad out his average playing the likes of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, weakened West Indies, lousy England(until the last 5 or 6 years) and short series against Australia.
Harsh
Guest
Kindly check your stats bro as he has scored 6 double hundreds in test matches and after scoring his 241* against Australia the greatest woman tennis player Martina Navratilova said that is was most amazing to see the concentration of this batting maestro as he played 71% of his shots on on side and did not play even a single cover drive during that innings.
graeme
Guest
not really, a great game but you mentioned an innings that if i remember correctly he didnt even get man of the match! so a great innings from the legend wasn't even considered best in the game, if i remember correctly it was sehwag. also england declared early to try and set up match, so an artificial chase really
navaneeth
Guest
Dragged or staged what ever it is guys he deserves to be credited for what he had done for past 24 years rather taking one or two points and commenting about him. I am an Indian for us he gave us the hope that india can win and he is everything for us even after he retired .. i wrote this article I have mentioned about his 24 year cricket career . Please try to find one positive if u can for this legend. I think atleast in this movement he deaerves to be creditef for what he did rather than pointing out negetives.
Zubes
Guest
That unbeaten 100 he scored in a record 4th innings chase against England after the Mumbai terrorist attack. Does that count as a performance in a crunch situation?
Naresh Kumar Sharma
Guest
Tendulkar's retirement was planned and staged in such a manner by BCCI that he would play the last two Tests against lowly ranked West Indies which would ensure that India does not lose. In case India have embarked on South Africa for Test series, it would have been beaten and hype over Tendulkar's retirement would have evaporated. Tendulkar idragged his career for two years to accumulateg records.His lacklustre performance contributed to heavy defeats against england and australia while playing away. He never came good in any of the brig matches and crunch situations
Zubes
Guest
When Sachin was 14 he was considered good enough to play Test cricket but the selectors waited until he was 16 when they threw him in the deep end against Pakistan. They had a bowling attack of Imran, Wasim, Waqar and Qadir. He did alright. By the time he was 19 he had scored 4 Test centuries - 1 in England, 1 in South Africa and 2 in Australia. The rest as they say is history...
Shiv
Guest
I'm not talking about ODIs here, only test matches. In test matches he might have contemporaries but in ODIs he was the greatest ever. Statistically speaking: Test 1132 - Sachin and Sidhu had a partnership of 101 runs that helped india draw the match. Sachin scored 57 in his 4th test match against the best bowling attack back then at a tender age of 16. Test 1138 - His 6th match he scored 88 against NZ in NZ and almost became the youngest to score a century. Test 1149 - His 9th match, Scored 68 in first innings. Scored his first maiden century. He scored a match saving 119*. Another 30-40 minutes of more play and India could have won the match. Test 1181 - His first tour to Aus. Scored 148* at Sydney and put India on course to win the match along with 206 from Ravi Shastri. A fighting innings from Border saved the match for Australia. Till date he happens to be the youngest to score a century in Australia and that's personally the best record for me. Test 1184 - Scored his best hundred at the fastest and bounciest pitch at Perth. He scored 114 out of team's 272. But it wasn't enough. Aus won by 300 runs. It wasn't sachin's failure but the team's which apart from Sachin was Mediocre at best. Test 1201 - His first tour to SA. Scored 111 and took India to SA's total that helped India draw the match. Test 1213 - Playing for the first time in a test series in India he scored 165, his first century in india. I can go one and on.. These performances are from his first 23 matches alone. All these tours happened before he was 20 and he did not play a single Test match in india as late as 1993. He toured Pakistan, NZ, England, Australia and SA. Scored his 4 centuries outside India in different playing conditions. He still happens to be the youngest to score 5 centuries before turning 20. So let's not talk about his talent. The truth is pretty simple. Before 1998 -2000 India wasn't a good test playing nation. They had worst bowlers who could not take 20 wickets consistently. Most of their batsmen were aging cricketers and few others were mediocre at best. So Sachin tried to do whatever he can to help India win/draw matches. But it was too much to ask for a single player to do it everytime. You can see the vast difference betwee India before 2000 and India after 2000. In 2003 and 2007 tour of australia, they did fantastically well. They even won the CB series with one match to spare. Emotionally speaking: Now why is Sachin spl for Indians. Before Sachin India did not have too many sporting heroes. Gavaskar was the best they had and he wasn't an aggresive player. He was more of savior than a destroyer. The way sachin took on the bowlers spl in ODIs, it gave immense joy to Indians. It gave them a belief that even they could be best at things that we do. He became nation's hope, the only hope. It of course would be asking for too much to expect people from other nation to understand this. But I had heard Don had helped aussies believe in themselves when he was playing. Sachin was same to us but say 100 folds more.
Prosenjit majumdar
Guest
And nice article without providing anything new
Prosenjit majumdar
Guest
Sachin's the most complete batsman to me from the time i've been watching the game..i.e. 25 yrs
truthseeker
Guest
He was a good batsman. No Doubts about it. But in your article "What is so special about Tendulkar", i havnt find anything really so special about him. A cricketer who played over 300 matches, and 200 Test matches with 24 years of cricketing career, only once scored a double hundred in Test innings, and out of this LONG career you are here quoting only 3-4 examplary innings of him? Thats not so fair with so many other talented and real legendary cricketers around the world for example Brain Lara. I still dont understand why Tendulkar is been given a legendary cricketer status? Just because he gave his 24 years to cricket? But what about stats then? We shall ignore the statistical analysis of Cricket? How is that possible. I dont remember ANY remarkable innings by tendulkar in Test cricket except that double hundred against zimbabwe, if we really have to count it, because sangakkara has scored 6 double hundreds in his short career as compared to tendulkar so far. In praise of tendulkar, we shall not ignore or do injustice with so many other MORE talented crickers around the world.
Zubes
Guest
For me Sachin was the best all round batsman to ever play the game. Its just a pity that too many roar'ers comments are about slagging him off rather than appreciating the genius that he was. It smacks of envy and soar grapes.