Glory for one, redemption for the other: Sachin, Rahul walk into the sunset

Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid: Two of the greatest

The first thing I saw during the presentation ceremony after the final of the 2013 Champions League T20 tournament was Mallika Sherawat as a member of the presentation party. For five minutes, I kept laughing at the absurdity of her presence – was that the best the BCCI could do in order to get the glamour quotient up?

The move backfired big time because the crowds’ attention was fixed on two men who had given a lot to both Indian and international cricket for nearly two decades. So for all practical purposes, Ms. Sherawat’s appearance was rendered useless, because when you have Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid in the same place and at the same time, everything else becomes secondary.

The two eminent exponents of the game resembled medieval knights lowering their lances before the battle. Both heaped many praises on the other, admiring their shared virtues and immeasurable pools of talent.  And in another remarkable coincidence, both came into this edition of the CLT20 woefully short of runs, and did not get a lot in the tourney either.

The entire Rajasthan Royals squad offered a ceremonial salute as they lined up to form a guard of honour for their captain as he walked out on the field for a final flourish in a glittering career. There would be no more competitive cricket for Dravid after this game; it felt like the clock had turned back to March 2012, when he announced his retirement from international and first-class cricket.

Sachin, on the other hand, received his guard of honour after Royals all-rounder Shane Watson castled him for 15. The entire Mumbai Indians’ dugout rushed out on the field to welcome the batting legend as he returned to the pavilion – helmet in hand and a slight raise of the bat towards the crowds, who roared their approval of the gesture accorded to the Master.

Long free from the burden of captaining the Mumbai Indians, he had easily slipped into the role of mentor. For quite some time, the runs had dried up and the reflexes, at 40, were slower than before. He felt it was time to move on, and announced his retirement from the Twenty20 format at the end of the 2013 IPL, which his young side won more out of respect for him than for anything else.

With Ricky Ponting dropped from the side that would take part in the Champions League, it took a lot of persuasion by the franchise – including chief mentor Anil Kumble and fielding coach Jonty Rhodes – for the former Indian skipper to return to the action in the shortest format, one last time.

Dravid’s path had been somewhat similar. After Shane Warne decided to call it a day from the IPL, it was natural that the soft-spoken former No.3 batsman would step up to take his place as captain of the Rajasthan Royals. He answered the call with his usual humility and grace, though his first outing as leader with the Blues wasn’t quite satisfactory by his standards despite performing well with the bat.

In the next season, the Wall marshalled his troops well enough to finish third in the standings. Right then, the franchise was rocked by spot-fixing allegations and arrests of three key players. The skipper had to shoulder additional responsibility – he faced the relentless questioning stoically, and also kept the morale of the team from plunging into the depths of despair – just like he did all those years ago when donning the big gloves behind the stumps so his side could play an extra batsman.

All the hard work seemed to have paid off when the Royals made it to the final of the CLT20. Age, however, had its final say: Dravid once again announced this would be the last time he would participate in a cricket competition.

Then the game unfolded, replete with its myriad uncertainties, as the two colossal figures battled it out in the middle with their combined forty-year cricket experience coming to the fore.

A few wrong moves, shoddy bowling at the death, rash shot selection during the chase – all of it consigned the Jaipur team to defeat, while the Mumbai brigade had smiles on their faces.

It took a couple of Aussies to dislodge both exponents of the willow, the ones who could have taken the game away from their opponents. The difference, however, lay in the circumstances of their dismissals – Sachin was trying to set a target, Dravid set out to achieve it.

Harold Macmillan, who held the position of Britain’s Prime Minister in the late fifties and early sixties, once mentioned that even the most glittering of all political careers always ended in tears. Apply it to the spectacle that was played out last night, and Dravid, for no fault of his own, falls into that category.

The two mighty figures of Indian cricket will never take the field in coloured uniform again. Not for them the glitz and glamour of Twenty20 cricket, or the arclights fostered in no small way by the extravagant Indian Premier League.

Perhaps it was Rahul’s fate that he remained in Sachin’s shadow despite having carved his own place in the hallowed corners of the temple of cricket. But last night, for a few brief moments, the Wall shone brighter than the Little Master. After all, he did bring a lot of meaning into the Gentleman’s Game.

Finally, the moment of parting arrived. The two men walked off into the sunset, linked hand-in hand, never to be friend or foe on the battleground of cricket ever again. For one, it was the culmination of a six-year wait for another entry into the record books; for the other, it was the redemption from darkness that tasted sweeter than the almost-achieved win.

Farewell Rahul and Sachin! The world of domestic Twenty20 cricket will never be the same without you.