The 2nd test between India and
West-Indies scheduled next month will see an end of an eternal era. Well, the
statement seems to be of tongue-in-cheek in nature, if something is eternal how
can it end? But yes it’s an era which seemed amaranthine. The Cricketing Era
which saw the rise and rise of the greatest of all, ‘the God of Cricket’, Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. For some of us, the
epoch is actually perpetual; the great man was playing when we were just
infants, he was in his full glory when were in School, the same continued when
we were in college and now when we are Working Professionals. And yes off
course Cricket won’t be the same now, certainly the way people would feel for
it, I am not saying that the craze would lessen however, everyone will feel an
everlasting void.
We speak of Sportsmen having a peak in their
careers. But, this man whose career has lasted more than 24 years has got a
number of peaks. Just when the critics would put up a flak against him, as
always he would let his bat do the talking and deliver another class apart performance.
He kept on ameliorating his own performances.
It will be
interesting to know what he will be doing after hanging up his boots, relaxing
for sometime, commentary, setting up an academy but the fact is, he himself is
an Institution, an Academy of Cricket. As we all know Cricket is his first
love, so we can very well guess that whatever he will do, will some way or the
other be connected to Cricket.
With all the batting records to his name, it’s always
Him and then The Rest. As a matter of fact, he was the one man army batting
against the fiercest of bowling attacks all over the cricketing world in the
90s and though his burden got reduced a bit later on, he kept on winning matches
for the nation. In the 90s and even after wards people would lose all hope of
winning, if he would get out. However, with all the expectations on him and
single-handedly fighting for the cause of winning, he has always been a team
man.
It’s not only his own contributions that have mattered
but also the way he has inspired a generation of cricketers who are currently
playing in the team and the ones who would join in the future.
Now, as the crowds will galore at Wankhede for his
farewell test, the expectation is at least of a three figure score from him.
And what a perfect end it would be to a
career of a man who is an Emperor of Centuries, a Connoisseur in reaching the
mark.
