“Sachin…Sachin” and set of claps… All done in unison and rhythm by a capacity crowd (20,000 to 80,000).. It is extremely usual and routine scene at any Indian cricket venue when Sachin Tendulkar walks on to the field for ODI to open the batting or at number 4 position in tests. It gets louder if he carries on and usually he does. Now-a-days, he gets standing ovation wherever he goes even by other team supporters. Whenever Team India tours some country like Australia, people leave no empty chairs behind. They want to see the match and get glimpses of their hero. The general consensus amongst the crowd is they want their respective team to win but want Sachin to score. Remember “Win the crowd, Maximus” from the movie The Gladiator? He has gone beyond that. People think they have
Just saw a video of crazy fans following Indian team and Sachin especially at Sydney Cricket Ground. One guy trying to cheer said “Hey Sachin, Good luck!”. He has captured the imagination of the whole cricketing world and what we can say about cricket crazy Indians. They think Sachin is theirs. He is their family. His runs are their runs. If you have a bad day at office, one might not sleep well. If it happens to be Sachin, whole India might not sleep well. Since the time he showed up on the scene 20 years ago, one name won’t even be discussed as it will be on everyone’s list. He is the pole star of Indian cricket. Everything revolves around him. He is a decent man and doesn’t like to get involved in controversies or say anything stupid. He has always been like that. So, when Sachin speaks, the world listens. Whatever you write on him won’t be enough to describe his greatness.
How come he is so amazing? Does he know magic or something? Is the God? None! He is just human being who is blessed with some of the physical abilities such excellent eye sight, good temper, etc. He tried cricket when he was 11. He liked it. It became his passion. He worked extremely hard on his game. His definition hard work is freaky and almost impossible for normal humans. He once batted in 50 odd games in a day at Shivaji Park, Mumbai. Even today, after achieving everything possibly one can in cricket, he works as hard as anybody (sometimes more if he thinks there is a need for it) around. What do we learn here?
If you follow your passion, add hard work (touch more than what others consider) ,have work ethics and attitude like Sachin, everything will follow you. Hardly passed 10th grade guy has earned more success than a PhD can achieve in his/her 10 life times. Some conservative Indian mentalities still can’t see it and yell at their kid for doing well in sport and flunking in a math test. Math and Science is not everything,is it?
He has revolutionized Indian cricket style and inspired lot youngsters. Some of them are his team mates now. How incredible is that! All of this has made already cricket crazy nation to go in hysteria and how I would have stayed out of this whirlwind? I grew watching Sachin play. When Sachin plays, earth stops moving, everything has to stop. When Sachin gets out cheaply, TV gets turned off and everyone trudges back to the business talking how he could have left that delivery outside off stump than edging it. There has to be a new law in physics “Sachin’s runs in match are directly proportional to people’s happiness”.
I love Cricket more than any other sport. I follow cricket more than anything else. First thing I check every morning is cricinfo.com to find out what’s the latest news in cricket world. I can watch a good bat and ball contest between any teams (sometimes it annoys the heck out of friends and family.. Sorry I can’t help it). Moreover, I die to play cricket whenever I can. And it happened today! I got a chance to have authentic net session in Brooklyn. I played on a season ball seriously after 4-5 years. How was it for me today?
Alright! Not too bad!.. my feet were not moving amazingly well enough. I had some problems with getting on front foot and I tried to play one airy-fairy stroke and nicked it. Besides that, I had extreme fun! No swing and misses, no blows on body, no rash shots.. I got in line alright, middled them ok, showed straight bat, played some flicks and square cuts(my fav).Timing was there. Here’s my favorite bit of it. When I was playing, I was totally focused there. I forgot about all the issues.. forgot about everything in the world. I was just watching the ball hitting my bat. Is this what they call a Nirvana? Whatever it is called, when you get into that stage then you know you absolutely love that activity! I was lucky to get it today.
So, we are off to a good start in cricket. I will keep you posted about any awesome updates from my little world of cricket. I’ve gotta get back to watching Sachin’s batting on youtube and if I get enough time I will finish the book by Chetan Bhagat on Cricket, business and a crazy guy.
Thanks of reading this…:)
