Friday, February 26, 2010

Tendya breaks ODI's 10 Sec barrier!

"Who else has 93 international hundreds, who else has more than 14,000 ODI runs, who else has more than 17, 000 Test runs? Nobody. I would really like to bend down and touch his feet. If somebody is at that pedestal, I would like to do that,...What drives him on is the little boy in him. And that little boy in him just wants to play, play and play. That is the spirit that keeps him going. And then of course there is the incentive of representing your country," - Sunil Gavaskar

'The right thing to do now is not to bowl!' said Robin Jackman while asked to tell what is the right thing to do yesterday night when Cricket's superman was on,..no not rampage, not fireworks, may be his art exhibition! Such is the simplicity in his innings, not brute power, no aggressive sword-fighting that Dhoni displayed. Instead, Sachin was everything artistic -poetic with his wrist-work, hopping on one leg and flicking across the line as if in a ballet, pulled the deliveries over boundaries as if it is kite-flying. His yesterday's game was of towering simplicity and as uncomplex as his own personality. And fortunately, no heartbreak this time.

Even as fellow 'good superstar' Tiger Woods is plunging into a Shakespearean free-fall, Sachin not just seems to persist with his 2 decade passion, but only seems to be getting better. He prevailed 2 decades of nomadic life, suitcase life with room services and the accompanying lonely-at-the-top, stratospheric pedestal. One wrong word, one personal flaw, one failure and a cricket hungry nation and a byte-hungry media would pounce on him. Ask Tiger Woods. And yet, Sachin prevailed. He embraced triumph and fame with an inner-calm even as his feats send us into delirium every now and then (Look at how excited the MP Chief Minister was while shaking Sachin's hand in the awards ceremony!). Peter Roebuck said "The runs, the majesty, the thrills, do not capture his achievement. Reflect upon his circumstances and then marvel at his feat. Here is a man obliged to put on disguises so that he can move around the streets, a fellow able to drive his cars only in the dead of night for fear of creating a commotion, a father forced to take his family to Iceland on holiday, a person whose entire adult life has been lived in the eye of a storm". Should we just say he is destined?

What a way to celebrate 20 years in international cricket!? 10 International centuries in last 12 months and now he gets the second-fastest of his 46 ODI centuries with a record-breaking 25 4's (overtaking Jayasurya's 24), 2 months before he turns 37! And how, like a walk in a park. Just makes me wonder, how complicated it is to make it look so uncomplicated, the game and the persona. See how he hopped in the 35th over for 2 4s and how he heaved in the 41st over with a cross-bat. As he always says, he was 'enjoying his game'. Nothing else would explain those.

As I browse through, I hear a pundit who makes uncomplicated things complicated - the brand managers. Apparently, now he feels Sachin would be back in the 'young' market with his 200*. Only a few days before when news about Mumbai's 'Save Water' campaign surfaced, one of my friends made a rather uncharitable remark, that these are all the 'deals' Sachin can get at his age. Wanted to see his face today when Shailendra Singh, Jt. MD,Percept say on TV that Brand Sachin is good to go for next 10 years! Talk about maddening crowd, only a few months before, the likes of Airtel and Pepsi dropped Sachin as he is no more in the 'youngistan' brigade, or that's what they thought. Age, according to them, is all about DoB. It only showed the hollowness of the Branding brigade. And more glaringly now, when Sachin continues to be the little boy he was 20 years before, in pursuit of his runs. See his singles, in the 50th over! Passion, Enthusiasm, Enjoy, (batting) Paradise seem to dominate the Tendulkar lexicon even while the world around him slowly seem to find these words alien. This is all the more reason why the world seem to be astounded with each milestone of his. They are woken up by the adamant little boy in Sachin, this time by breaking of ODI's 10 second barrier with a symphony of the maiden 200* with his bludgeon blade. Sachin just did to ODIs what Jim Hines did for 100 m sprint in 1968 by breaking the 10 Sec barrier.
Pictures Courtesy: Reuters/Punit Paranjpe
My previous posts on Tendya:

12 comments:

Unknown said...

Mate ODI and Test runs have swaped each other ...

Unknown said...

I would say he has again held the nation together. Its seldom that entire nation celebrates one single day truly from their heart. I can say without a single doubt in my mind that yesterday was one such day. Tendulkar the god had played a marvelous inning on the Gwalior's ground absolute brilliance .... totally speechless.

May god keep him in good health and wish he achieves his dream of conquering world cup next year ...

Sachin fan of Sachin

Unknown said...

One should be fortunate enough to be part of Gwaliar stadium on eve of mastero double ton. For Sachin it is just one more innings but for world it's history. His simplicity is a killer, how can one be so calm and composed when entire world is on their toes. I feel he is not just cricket player he is much more beyound our imagination. There is no words to honour him but his own name "TENDU" . Jai ho.....

Raju said...

Yes, 10 Second barrier broken. Now there will be many more double centuries in one-dayers,..but I hope Sachin’s wish is granted. Sehwag shud break Sachin’s record :)

Vijay said...

*now he gets the second-fastest of his 46 ODI centuries*

You know his fastest century? Against ‘mighty’ Kenya, second is here on flat pitch, small ground? And everyone says he is best batsman. See how dhoni batted and talk?

ADF World said...

Awesome ra!!!Great blog on Sachin but still it is less than what he played in the last match.
You wont believe, i brought the sweets also to the office day after the match.

People say Don Bradman is the best ever batsman in the world. Now after this match every one should really think about it. I am not sure how don bradman has played and i m sure no one has seen a single match of him.

In my opinion, playing for 20 years with that consistancy is really great!! and every should really appreciate that.

Thanks a lot sachin for the entertainment you have given for us!!!

Sandeep Naredla said...

Vijay,

Are you kidding or serious...Please dont say that you are serious..

This is one of the funniest posts i have seen...

What should we see of dhoni and what should we compare it with sachin

Can you please explain...

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Vijay,

If Sachin has his fastest 100 against mighty Kenyans as you say then why not every batsman has a fastest century against them. And I think ground was not altered only for him to score 200 and pitch was not made flat only for him to score those many runs.

Nothing personal Vijay. one should appreciate effort of a person and a sports person like Sachin we bow down and I bet all the great cricketers would do the same.

Unknown said...

Hey Amar,

I was expecting your blog on double hundred of Tendulkar.

I believe, everyone is not appreciating 200* of Sachin because he is the only person who has score these runs, but at the age of 37 he can dive in the air to stop the boundary, he can play 50 over and score highest runs ever in the one day international. I think this is remarkable. If the same score has been recorded by Veeru / MS / Yuvi it would not be a surprise, as they are young and capable. But if Sachin is creating such record, this is simply great!!!

Till the time I was a critic-fan of Sachin. Henceforth, I am his unconditional fan like you!

Thanks for such a nice blog and keep blogging :)

~ Salil

Vijay said...

sandeep, what iam saying is sachin played 20 years so got many records, see dhoni in this match. if you want to compare, compare strike rate in this match or one-day ranking. sachin is good batsman but so much hype not required when we have dhoni and sehwag. just think

sachin, wait for some days,see everyone will get 200

Just said...

@Vijay

It is precisely for folks like u, I have posted this -http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2009/11/sachins-hyderabad-heartbreak-and-about.html