Encounter with the Eminent & The Final Wave-Off!

A stadium full of wet eyes, the painted faces, the huge banners & the crazy posters, the adrenalin rush within the cheers of the stadium and the big screen showing only his face along with the madness of fans. Every moment of his was watchable- not only for the stadium enthusiasts but also to the one glued to the television sets in chawl or bungalow or listening to radio in Second-hand Maruti or Imported Merc or anywhere. That is how we USED TO define the aura of one man- Sachin Tendulkar

        As the West Indians were seen surviving with every ball, the clock slowly tickled to twelve and their team ended up with 126 runs less on the board. Just then, it was that one Epic moment. A Weird Silence appeared. And every thing came to a hold, Tears rolled down the eyes, not the happy ones for winning the series but in awe of the Living Legend who just hanged up his boots from all the formats of the game. He retired from his life.

 As he himself said, 24 year old life between 22 yards just came to an end.  At one point, we could think Cricket without Sachin but Sachin without cricket is unimaginable.

Waving Flag since 24 years

Summer of 2003.

Scorching Heat- Under the sun, a group of shorts- wearing bachaa party playing gully cricket on the wicket made of brick. As the ball goes missing on every six or four, everyone used to go on the search operation in the neighbourhood, except for that one middle order left-hand batsmen who used to quickly escaped with silly excuse. 

 He goes with an awe of watching the Legend playing and rescuing the team with those fiery shots. Ind Vs Pak World Cup 2003- March 1. As the Semi-final goes on, the whole nation gives it a watch and that Legendary again makes his mark with unbeatable 2 runs short from the century giving the team an easy 6-wicket win. Opening up with the batting and 273 on board, he played amazing against bowlers like Wasim Akram and Shoaib Akhtar. Loosing early wickets in form of Sehwag and Ganguly, India badly needed to be on stable position and then with Mohammad Kaif along came a 100-run partnership with Tendulkar who got caught on Rawalpindi ball at 98. This was an ultimate class of what kind of player he was. Playing calmly and hitting excellent strokes on the go without pressure of losing to Pakis. 

This was my first and early encounter with the Eminent at an age where I was able to sought out and remember things clearly. Thanks to Star Sports for reviving those memories again in 'Sachin years' recently.

It was one of the finest memories of my childhood life, watching him play. Since then, I have been following him and adoring him in every game. Rejoicing on his boundaries and centuries and becoming disheartening on his wicket became a part of all these years. I know the game since I know the Legend himself. 
   

200 and not out 

Spring of 2010.

 Gwalior- February 24. 10th Board times it was. Taking a break from usual boring books, I went on to watch the ODI match- Ind Vs. South Africa. Again opening up with Sehwag and losing him early, it was a complete Deja-vu of 2003 WC semis. But this time, he partnered with Karthik for 194 runs partnership at the 2nd wicket. Hitting those extra-ordinary square legs and midwickets, he made me forget my exams and I watched the whole of Indian innings. Aided by Karthik, Yusuf and Dhoni with whom he was involved in sizable partnerships for 153-runs win, he reached a milestone. The Commentator announced, 'Here is the first man on the planet to reach this score in an ODI match' *200 not out.

Truly a historic moment indeed. It was a joyous moment watching him play every ball as passionately as he used to play 21 years ago. During his whole career span, he was constantly excited learning, hard-working, sincere and a devoting player. All this and many more things formed up a name that is today Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar- Extra-ordinary player of his kind.   
 A Complete Masterclass in all sorts


Summer of 2011.

April, FerozShah Kotla, New Delhi- IPL T20 MI vs DD. It was one of the most important date of my life, not only I was excited to witness my first ever live Stadium match but I was yet to see Sachin Tendulkar sakshaat (the term used for God) in front of me. Reached the venue before the match started. Players were practicing all over and the match was just set to start. But my eyes were searching for that  No. 10 jersey. Suddenly, I saw him walking down the stairs 4 ft away from me - I tell you what a grace it was, the humility and the persona and the charisma reflected in his eyes. I screamed Sachhhhiiinn as he walked down waving the cheering crowd, he even waved to my stand- don't know whether he saw me or not. That was the moment for me. Whole of the match, while Malinga took a 5-wicket haul for an easy 8 wicket win- I saw how Sachin motivated and cheered the bowler with  every ball. An ultimate Captain and a great puller. During the fielding time, I saw him juggling and jumping, changing positions and in the end of the bowling, he was at the same place taking a whole round of the ground. 

He was actively charged with his fielding even at the age of 38, not to forget his unbeatable 46 including a huge sixer off the mid-wicket. Though, Malinga stole the show with incredible bowling, Tendulkar was still my hero at the end of the day. It was a Lifetime experience watching him play from a distance was just incredible. From then on, I kept supporting the Mumbai Indians even when they played against KKR.

Thank you @BCCI for this one!

Summer of 2013:

July, while the Internship period at TOI- A phone rings up and get to know through my friend about this Toshiba press conference with Sachin Tendulkar as the guest, Giving me a chance to watch him off-field with the media passes. So, without knowing the venue-somewhere in Gurgaon, I excited gave it a nod. Next day, I called him and an hour prior to the conference, I got to know about the venue. Hurriedly, I left my place and without having lunch I got on for the way to The Leela Kempinski, Gurgaon. I was in deep trouble because going to a new place alone on public transport after getting short of time and panicking all the way. Another memorable day of my life. 3 o'clock, the event was scheduled to start and I just boarded the Saket metro after travelling 45 mins from home via auto and bus. Then, again took an auto(phat-phat) after the metro and then reached the strange place. Asking people about the hotel, I ran here there searching a tall hotel nearby. A tall building was just hid by the flyover, so as I saw it- I ran and ran and ran without caring for the autos stuff. It seemed like a mirage to me, finally running approx a kilometer or more- I reached the hotel sweating badly. 5:10 I reached and got to know through my friend that Sachin just left this place 5 minutes before whom he saw from close and even shook hand. I was in utter state of shock and disheartening situation. But, it was the inner-satisfaction that hold me strong with a believe that I did my best and all to be there. Lets meet him some other day then and I would narrate that incident to him(hopefully) 

Sachin provided us with uncountable moments of joy leaving us dancing with joy. But then, it was Dec 23, 2012 two days past the dooms day when he announced his retirement from ODI's but still we could watch him play in the First Class and T-20's, so I remained neutral  about him. And then, this was Oct, 2013 when the soul of Cricket announced his retirement from all formats of game after the last test match- 14th Nov at Wankhede Stadium.

Since then, I enjoyed reading the banners and the streamers and the features and the interviews and watching the news programmes and stuff entirely related to him. November arrived and then, as the day keep coming near- the coverage just went sky high. Never in my life, I saw a person getting so much appraisal and the attention everywhere from the social media to news channels to magazines and barber-shop talks. He not only deserved it but he earned it entirely.   

At 5 ft 4 inches, he was the tallest of his contemporaries around the globe. 

He was beyond all, a silent volcano on the field...a gentleman to the core-it is players like him who give dignity to a game. I don't believe in giving people, terms like "God of cricket"- but he surely was ‘the soul of cricket. He was the way a hero should be: great in his game, non-controversial, humble & always at calm.

It was the off-field philanthropy and the goodness that touched hearts with humility with selflessness and a great touch of heroism. 24 years of career with an incredible talent and stats is a bigger thing to achieve.  

The 25 minute farewell speech left me again in tears with the longest goosebumps I ever had. Marvelous speech it was. A person speaking so emotionally thanking all the people since the start of his career and even before that. Not a single person he left in the speech, he spoke of total wisdom and showed the way how to express the gratitude even when one is standing on the peak and at the top of the world. He thanked his father, mother, wife, brother, his guru, other relatives & his teammates.  A man who can love his family like that, respect his Guru till the last day of his career, be true to the game n his fans, be loyal to his country, remain so humble- for me he is the real Hero. No wonder at the age of 40, he could still smile like 16 years old because of purity and innocence that flows in his heart.

Tears of Joy 

He has now been officially awarded the Bharat Ratna- he always was!

And yes, he managed to show his other side, something which the world thought their ‘God’ never did...he let a few tears escape those eyes.

I just wonder what emptiness would fill him with...once the morning he wakes and realizes the game of cricket is no more left in his life.

We all understand and have a fair idea of what are we going to miss from now on. But spare a thought for the super human, who won't step the field again, won't get to hear the chants of Sachhhiiin, Sacchiiiin again, no more replays, no cheering voices that welcomed him when he entered or the death silence when he left the cricket ground.

And as a Matter of Fact, the Master Blaster ended up all the formats with being in the winning side. He ended up a Champion in all forms. And got a Bharat Ratna, an honor as huge as that.

Tendulkar is and will always be in our hearts, minds, memories, notebooks, in the record books, in our stories to our children, in our moments of success and failure..

 A CHAMPION FOR LIFE

P.S: Thank you for the read.As you read all of the blog, I never believed myself to be a cricket-fanatic- I was always a Sachin-fanatic. Proud to be born in his era. A Legend for Life.

Picture credits: Google :D