I feel sad. Even after 22 years of playing for the country, Sachin is still expected to win matches on his own. We forget that apart from him there are 10 more players in the team. He has been the run machine in World Cups with an average …of 60. Even on 12th March, 2011 while he yet again proved his class with a 111 the others around took it easy. He chased the ball in the outfield and ensured that his throws landed on top of the bails. Others preferred to drop catches or go back to the dressing room for a ‘rest’ while a substitute fielder came in. The current Indian cricket team doesn’t deserve a player like Sachin Tendulkar. They don’t know what it is like to give one’s blood and sweat for this nation of a billion people. For them fame and money has come to easy and undeserving – not commensurate to the ’supposed talent’ that they posses. Sachin Tendulkar once said to Tom Alter in that interview in 1989 “I just want to play cricket”. We expect Sachin to win this cup for us. But what about the other players? Are they supposed to be playing ludo in the dressing room? I hope that the rest of the team wake up and realize that they are not there to 'play' in the tournament, they are supposed to 'win' it - not for themselves, not for India but for the greatest Indian to have lived - Sachin Tendulkar. P.S: In the 1992, Hero Cup semi-final in Eden Gardens Kolkata (India Vs. SA), SA needed 6 runs to win off the last over. Tendulkar snatched the ball from Azhar and bowled a magnificent over to win that match for us. (He gave away only 3 runs). Maybe our team needs to watch that over to know what guts and glory are all about. I hope we win the final in Wankhede. If we don’t a billion people can only hang their heads in shame and ask for Sachin’s forgiveness.
Always remember -
1. Still goes crazy when Sachin hit that straight drive and show us the manufacturer’s name on the bat.
2. Stayed awake late into the night before my end terms to watch that 100 in Sharjah in the midst of that sandstorm.
3. Relished every shot that Sachin played to decimate Warne in 1998 and then Shoaib Akhtar in that 2003 World Cup against Pakistan.
- Anand
- Anand
