Sachin Tendulkar: An affable habit which will cease to exist very soon!

Sachin Tendulkar

What?! Really? Pin drop silence. Feeling lost. Retrospection and memories. By the time pragmatism restored, the magnitude of the news had barely begun to sink in. The following couple of days were spent reading and watching all available content which every medium sold as exclusive! Yes this is what happened to most of us on and after the announcement on the afternoon of 10th October.

Every Tendulkar moment over the last ’24 years’ has followed this routine of a spontaneous reaction, microscopic scrutiny, subsequent debate and the reverberating effect of joy/disappointment following the event. Alas, the current case signals the termination of this habit; a habit which many fear would be hard to live without! And those claiming so are justified – why would you do away with something which has given you more joy than probably anything else?!

There is a generation of cricket followers who grew up watching and idolizing Tendulkar. In fact the longevity of Tendulkar’s career has implied that a son-dad viewer duo appreciate unanimously. Many people associate key moments in their personal life with the corresponding instance of Tendulkar’s progress/moment. Throughout the 90s the cricket viewership on TV in India was directly proportional to Tendulkar’s stay at the crease. On the turn of the decade, India started winning more, and without Tendulkar having a major stake in all such matches. Yet, Tendulkar’s batting garnered more TRP than anybody else.

So what was about this man which made us watch him score runs with baited breath, each and every time? What made us wait nervously to watch Tendulkar step out to the field? Why despite cricket being a team sport, and the mind adhering to that, the heart pumped that bit more when Tendulkar hit the ball a tad uppish-ly or edged it? What was different about Tendulkar hundreds which made your day, despite having an off-day personally? Why did the mind hope for something special ‘every’ time Tendulkar stepped out to bat?

Yes this happened to most of us, unknowingly and without force, and the space within that bubble kept us pleasantly occupied. Mobile browsers/SMS alerts were kept busy to track a Tendulkar knock, cricket shows on news channels were fondly watched and repeatedly post a Tendulkar big score and something was wrong about the day when the scoreboard didn’t have a prominent numerical value against Tendulkar’s name!

There was indeed something very enchanting about Tendulkar and it stemmed from his on-field exploits. From a chubby, baggage-less enthusiastic young player in the early 90s to a dynamic, lethal batsman of the late 90s and from a mature, controlled aggressive batsman of the early 2000s to a comeback-after-injury/poor form, senior statesman towards the end; Tendulkar has managed to exhibit the spectrum of batsmanship and conduct as a professional sportsman in the most comprehensive manner. Legends raise the bar manifold from where they commence and Tendulkar will leave the scene with the challenge of breaching 100 international hundreds, 81 FC tons, 15000+ test runs and 18000+ ODI runs; the gravity of which will only be realized once Tendulkar’s status changes to an ‘ex-player’.

Tendulkar’s cricketing story is one of a genius, born-to-play-cricket stuff, but the Tendulkar story in the broader context transcends domains of profession, gender and countries. In many ways the Tendulkar follower community defined ‘fanaticism’ and the mammoth build-up to his farewell tests (despite him having a dry run over the last couple of seasons) sums up the magnitude of the off-field pressure the man has had to live with over the last 24 years! It also illustrates the elaborate nature of connect Tendulkar – the person has commanded over the same period.Tendulkar stopped playing 24*7 cricket some while back. He gave up formats gradually and yet for millions ‘change and Tendulkar’s batting’ were the only constants in life. Unfortunately, after the 18th of November the absence of Tendulkar’s batting could be biggest change for many lives.