Bharat Ratna Sachin Tendulkar - A well deserved accolade for the Little Master

Today is the first instance of a sportsperson receiving the Bharat Ratna, and it could not have gone to a more fitting person than the Master Blaster, the man who has been the most popular sportsperson in India without a doubt, and probably for the longest time, given his long career span of 24 years.

It just sounds right – Sachin getting the Bharat Ratna. He is a true gem that the country has produced. Hailed by almost all cricketers of the past and present time as the most complete batsman to have played the game, Sachin is recognised as one of the best sportspersons of all time that walked the earth.

If there was a meeting of the representatives of all different sports from across the world, there is absolutely no doubt that Sachin will be the man that cricket will choose to represent itself. There are so many emotions, many numerous phenomena, and uncountable moments of happiness he has given us to deserve India’s highest civilian award.

His Contribution to Cricket

Sachin Tendulkar

He has had a major say in making the game of cricket what it is today. He loved the game since his childhood, and played it professionally since 1989. He holds the unique record of having played with the most number of players (teammates and opponents included).

Other than that, he has the best numbers of his day to his name, which have been told so many times that quoting them here again is unnecessary. What stands out is the fact that one can’t imagine the game without him. His contribution to cricket seems much bigger than just statistics or numbers when you put an effort into thinking how cricket would have been without him.

There would be nobody who has played for such a long period of time, nobody who has touched the 100 century mark, nobody who could be credited to hit the same ball in 5 different ways, nobody who can play the most perfect straight drive anybody has ever seen, and as I mentioned before, nobody who could come close to be such an ambassador of the game as he is.

How much he is missed and will be missed can be judged by the fact that his last Test match was probably the most talked about throughout the world, and was probably the biggest phenomenon to occur in recent times in the cricketing world.

He was so perfect all along his cricketing journey, and even though he had grown old, he always looked like continuing indefinitely. And the reaction of the fans when he announced his retirement said it all. It was almost as if the soul of cricket had announced that it would leave its body in a few days.

You cannot call his presence in cricket dominating, for dominating is something which occupies majority of the available space without giving others a choice of whether they want it or not – it was something which was there to make us feel right about everything – the game, the time in which we live, and life in general.

We as fans never fail to ask for more, and if in future he decides to start coaching teams, or even become an active commentator for that matter, he can be sure that his presence in the game will be unmatched for generations to come.

Ambassador of the country

Sachin Tendulkar: Loved and admired by his teammates

Sachin said today that he will continue to serve the country in the future as well. Not that we required any clarifications from his side. He is a Bharat Ratna in the true sense of the word, and will always be one. He is a true Indian, a patriot, and a national hero all of us can look up to.

Not that it needs explaining, but the fact that he served the nation for 24 long years is something unparalleled. So much has changed since 1989, but he has remained there like the pole star- strong, unwavering, and unaffected.

Every time he is on the screen, the whole country has sat and watched. Every time he has hit the perfect straight rive or the leg glance or the cover drive or the lofted drive (he does have many perfect drives), all of us have erupted with joy. It is impossible to measure the magnitude of what all he has done for all of us.

Cricket is something that has been a uniting factor for the country. It is something in which everyone shares a common feeling and a common pride. And to be cricket’s greatest icon means that you have contributed in a huge way to nation and its people. The time when Sachin waved the tricolour after India’s Word Cup triumph was plain awe-inspiring. The youngsters carryied him on their shoulders, and he had the Indian flag in his hand. It was the most perfect spectacle ever.

He has had to make his position clear to people who had branded him otherwise. The whole nation roared in approval when he said, “Mumbai belongs to India. That is how I look at it. And I am a Maharashtrian and I am extremely proud of that but I am an Indian first,” which is what he said when his spirit for the country was thought small in front of something otherwise.

I don’t want to malign this article by mentioning the creed of people who cultivate the belief that Sachin had numbers on his mind when he played, but I simply can’t resist. This Bharat Ratna is a slap to their face, and a very effective one at that.

People who haven’t done anything in their own life, let alone for the country, please turn the pages of history and recall the time he played a World Cup game just days after his father’s demise and scored a hundred for the side. That probably is the pinnacle of what you can do for your nation as a sportsperson, and it is for reasons like these he is ideal ambassador of the country, and one who everybody can look up to.