A stupid common Sachin fan speaks

I am a person who has never enjoyed watching Mr Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar bat live. For, I was always scared that what if he gets out the next ball.  Such was my fear that even when he was hitting ball to all corners of the ground, I would be tensed. Such was the fear of his failure for me. I am also part of the community who would not have followed cricket had it not been for him.  This is why it hurts me a lot when anyone remotely connected to the game or even otherwise asks him to retire.  Yes, we are citizens of a free nation and the constitution of India has given freedom of speech as one of our fundamental rights. Hence, we think that we can speak anything. But do we understand the responsibility that comes along with this freedom? The cynic would say that he is a public figure and hence the people are entitled to have their opinion about him. They would say that these criticisms are part and parcel of a celebrity’s life and especially in a country like India where cricket is a religion; “Gods” have to live with it.

The mere thought of Sachin retiring from cricket sends shivers down my spine. And that is why when Mr Sunil Gavaskar recently raised a concern over the manner in which Sachin was getting bowled, like many others I too got tensed. For, it was coming from not only India’s original Little Master but also one of Sachin’s ardent supporters. There was something probably that the former Indian opener had seen which mere mortals like me were unable to decipher. The media did a good job by creating a hype over this statement. But thinking further, I realized that this was a concern similar to what a father would have for his son who was not doing well in his studies. By no stretch of imaginations was Mr Gavaskar writing Sachin’s epitaph. But there are many others who have already written Sachin off. They say that he should not mess with the timing of his retirement, a mistake which many greats have made in the past. I agree that it is fair for them to expect a great player like Sachin to leave the game respectfully. The only answer which I have for them is to have faith in the player who has carried the burden of Indian cricket on his shoulders for quite a long time.

Amidst all this hoopla over his retirement spare a thought for the man himself. Here is a person who has ruled the cricketing world for more than twenty years and broken all the batting records in the book. For him to be asked to call it a day by lesser mortals is an irony in itself. To understand what the genius might be feeling, just for a moment imagine that you are your country’s leading rocket scientist and your last 2-3 missions have failed. As you are preparing for the next one, everybody right from a primary school science teacher to other lesser known scientists are advising you on how to go about the task or even suggesting that you are no longer good for the job. How will you feel? The human in Sachin Tendulkar would also be having feelings similar to that of the leading scientist. But he cannot speak his mind or show that he his hurt. Replying his critics through words has never been his style. The only option that he has is to, as usual, let his bat do the talking which I am sure he will do sooner than later.

Although my heart wants to him to play for ever, my mind says that this is not possible in the real world. The mind says that things like playing forever happen only in fairy-tales and my heart argues that has his career been anything short of a fairytale? The mind replies that some fairy-tales also do have an ending. I know that my heart is fighting a losing battle with my mind. So, by no means am I suggesting that Sachin is not ageing or he will never retire. Time will definitely come when he will hang up his boots, but till then please allow the man who has given you so much joy over the years to play. Lastly, I will say that I am no cricket expert who has the right to comment on a great cricketer’s retirement, but I am just a stupid common Sachin fan who wants him to go on and on.