The day Sachin left cricket, I
left my school’s Whatsapp group. I needed time and space to come to terms that Sachin will no longer play cricket. I even deactivated by facebook account
temporarily, It’s a week now. The last of the connect that people like me and
younger had with cricket is gone for more than a week now. India already won
one ODI against West Indies. Ashes started in Australia. Indian Sports media is
now worried about Vishwanathan Anand than Sachin Tendulkar. I waited patiently
for this to happen. I wanted to wait for a time when logic and not emotions
will guide my tribute to the little master.
So then what can I say? Should I
talk about how Sachin Tendulkar and his Hundreds changed my life. Should I talk
about how he alone provided HOPE to a depressed nation ? Or should I talk about
the courageous Innings in Perth or Chennai or the Desert Storm? I could talk on
all of these but then we need to move on. The show as they say should go on. So
I will talk of something else. Something I think is ignored and something that
is important so that his legacy lives.
Without cricket, Sachin wouldn't
be Sachin. Anjali, Sachin’s wife, so beautifully had put up this. She said, “I can imagine cricket without Sachin, but I can't
imagine Sachin without cricket.” What a mature statement to come out of
her. One that makes me emotional all over again. So without cricket, Sachin could never have
been the man he was for India. He was the right man in the right sport in the
right country at the right time.
Therefore, fans with nothing to
do as Sachin leaves the game should do everything in their power to protect and
support cricket the way they once did with Sachin. It won't be cheating on him,
as cricket is Sachin. It will actually be honouring him in the best way
possible. Because if something doesn't happen to cricket soon, Sachin's
records won't mean much. If Test cricket continues to be eaten away at,
Sachin's legacy will diminish. If the T20 leagues of the world finally take
over, will new fans look at Sachin's T20 career and wonder what the fuss is
about? If World Cups aren't played anymore, who cares if he won one?
Now, this is all looking at the
darkest possible days, days that may never exist. But not days that couldn't
exist. These are days that, given the current trends and mismanagement,
self-interest and general shortsightedness of cricket administrators, could
definitely happen. Barring the Tendulkar farewell series, it is seen
that in India, even at conventional Test centers we find empty houses for Test
Cricket. Crowds in Australia and England are of course well educated and
understand the relevance of test cricket. Not so much can be said about the so
called educated Indian fans. They enjoy the lust and sleeze of T20. While it is
ok to have sleeze and lust in a movie as an ingredient to make is more
entertaining, a movie full of sleeze is a porn. That is what T20 cricket in
India is. We all enjoy it. Its entertaining no doubt but it has no substance to
it. It has not spirituality to it. The Administrators have forgotten that any
business that takes it core customers for granted, seizes to exist eventually. That’s
what cricket administrators are doing to the game of Sachin.
Sachin Tendulkar has been a statisticians delight. Even now they
come up with some particular record by him which is unparallel. If someone writes a piece about Sachin that
in any way shows him in negative light, the comment threads light up. But when
his sport, the sport that made him what he is, gets damaged by yet another
self-interested, political, short-sighted financial decision, it's tumbleweeds
from most cricket fans. Any attack on cricket's future is an attack on Sachin.
If Sachin’s legacy has to live, test Cricket has to survive. It’s
the only way cricketers across generation judge each other and respect each
other. That’s a benchmark that stood the test of time. That’s the benchmark against
which Sachin Tendulkar scored 51 hundreds. That’s the benchmark against which
he has highest number of runs ever.
Again Legacy of the man is in our hands. Test cricket has to live
!!! I saw Ashes test after Sachin’s retirement so as to remember the little
master. Lets keep it alive
