Even though this post is about Sachin Tendulkar , it is substantially in its entirety not about cricket!.This post will take a good 15 minutes of your time.Its because I am going to take you to the other side of this great man. The Reason why Sachin became Paaji/GOD.(Well Paaji is his nickname..Yuvraj supposedly calls him Grandpaji. The real fact is Sachin is more fit than Yuvraj at the moment!)I am going to be helped by Harsha Bhogle through one of his unofficial video.
So lets begin..
This a video of Harsha Bhogle (An IIM Alumnus himself) addressing a group of IIM students.The date of this video is some time in 2007 , when an article in some crap newspaper (an equivalent of Headlines Today in print media) had the title "Sachin 'END'ULKAR ".They had said it was the end. The light had faded.Even the greatest of greatest fans of Sachin had let him down during those 12 months . That was a period where he did not perform like Sachin everyone knew. He had been 'booed' at Wankhede ! His home ground. And Harsha Spoke ... ( At the end of it , I am sure ,you would have a lump in your throat.)
Inga enna solluthu... Sachin Sachin Sollutha ...??
Some noteworthy points.
* Sachin was and is extremely confident.He had never had doubt in his abilities.If you are confident, half the battle is already won.A life lesson indeed.
* Sachin loves cricket.That means he loves his profession.Hence he gives his best.Love your profession or choose the profession you love.Easier said than done.
*One of the biggest truths. Sachin is talented all right. But he is not extremely talented like Yuvraj or for that matter his friend Vinod Kambli.Sachin stands apart because Sachin possesses the temperament unlike the other two. Talent and Temperament always do not go with each other. But when they do... It creates magic.
*Sachin knows his limitations and about others too. He does. He did not have runner during the world cup.! Even though the answer he gave may convince some , The real answer actually is "The runner would not know how I have hit the ball , and since it was Sourav Ganguly who had come on to the field as runner, the probability of him knowing is very very less.. and hence I did not have a runner.".. Sachin does not talk about the inabilities of his team mates and hence he omitted the Ganguly part and referred Michael Schumacher instead... Hahaha.. Wonder why Harsha and Ravi could not understand.
*The thing about Ravi Shastri.Maximize what GOD gave you. You may not be extremely brilliant and talented , but maximize whatever you have. Sachin has.Ravi has. If only some one like Yuvraj realises this.Its not always about ability. Its about doing justice to it.
*'Allow yourself to think that you can do it. You might actually do it.'To make Sanjay Manjerakar realise something is a task.Sanjay Manjerakar in my opinion should not have played for India at all. He was pathetic.( similar to his commentary).He and Ramiz Raja make a good nonsensical pair on television.Even Doordarshan's hindi documentary..oops..commentary is better.
*Sometimes..even after giving everything,even after planning extremely well, things might not go your way. Who better than Sachin to be an example for this. The failures (even though he is blamed) is not his fault at all. The reason why Sachin hit the second boundary of Glenn Mcgrath.!We know now , what Sachin spoke during the team meeting in the break.We do not know what Mcgrath had planned. However there was a high probability of Mcgrath being unsettled. That has happened before. It did not happen that day.On March the 1st 2003 , he had unsettled Wasim Akram , Shoaib Akhtar and Waqar Younis. Mcgrath could have been unsettled. No one else really believed that one could actually chase except Sachin.
"In every organisation , there are officially designated leaders and people who by their actions makes others to look upto them as leaders". How true!. (Even though he is very mean to Sourav Ganguly , that day Virender Sehwag or Ganguly could have taken the responsibility to knock Mcgrath. They did not.We Lost)
*'Sachin averaged 91.5 last year.. Instead of saying Wow , we are saying he has not reached double figures in eight out of 15 innings.His mean is still high.Unfortunately his Standard Deviation is also high.'(Ha.. Standard Deviation is a Measure of Risk..! Yes.. Risk of Sachin Tendulkar being referred as Sachin 'End'ulkar.)
HE Bounced Back.. After that lull phase , he hit purple patch and we know how.
Sachin will fall from his stratospheric heights once again. He will still be good.Please dont say its his end when that happens.This person is extremely committed.(It really hurts when someone questions the commitment factor. It really does.) A person such as Sachin must have a world cup medal with him. Give him the greatest gift he yearns for. A World Cup Victory. The team must realise this. Win it for him. Win it for the greatest match winner.
As Harsha Says.. Give Geniuses their due.. They understand their game better than others. Dont ask him to retire..
There is none who is eligible to receive the baton from him yet...!
P.S.
This is my 99th post in this blog.Its been nearly 5 years.The number 99 is very relevant to Sachin.Knowing him , Even though he has most centuries , he would give all his centuries in exchange for a World Cup Medal. This 99 is to highlight he is not after centuries. Nor am I .
