My love story with Sachin Tendulkar

“Love is like the wind. You can’t see it, but you can feel it.” – Nicholas Sparks, A Walk To Remember

What is the relationship between Sachin and his fans? Sachin – who made us experience every emotion in the book along with emotions we never even knew existed and his fans – who are ready to do anything for him and who have supported him throughout the roller coaster ride that is his 23 year long career. It’s much more than any ordinary celebrity-fan relationship. It’s a love story.

Sachin and his fans- still a better love story than Twilight!

Case in point – I’ve bunked school just to watch him play. I’ve risked flunking my exams to monitor scores online. I use Reynolds simply because he endorses the brand. I begged and groveled for tickets in order to watch his matches live. I sit in the stadium ignoring the humidity because he’s still batting. I go completely delirious when he comes out of the pavilion. I support Mumbai Indians solely for him, despite the fact that I’m a hardcore Super King. And I know I’m going to feel so empty when I look at that scoreboard and see that Sachin Tendulkar is not written, and is never going to be written anymore.

When I opened the paper and read the large print, all I could think was –No. That was all going round and round in my head buzzing like angry bees, torturing me, tormenting me. Sachin was retiring? This was not how it was supposed to be. There was supposed to be advanced notice and at least one last match. I tried to remember the last ODI Sachin had played. My brain went into overdrive and my heart skipped a beat as I realized that the last time was the Asia Cup. He scored a 52. How was this fair, this sudden ending to an epic saga? No last match. No chance to savor every run, every smile, every humble bow, every punched straight drive. No chance to say goodbye to my hero dressed in blue. I knew I had to write an article for him. But how do I write an article for a man whose cricketing career is eight years older than myself? That’s the odd thing about love – it’s hard to capture the feeling and put it down in words. And if I find it so hard to describe what Sachin means to me, how do I put down what he means to billions of other people, in the subcontinent and outside?

Sachin was kind enough to just bring down the curtain on his blue – uniformed career and allow me to enjoy whatever is left of his Test career. I always thought that clean breaks were over-rated.

Sachin has been everything to me. He’s a blanket of assurance – I always felt safe knowing that he would come in to bat. All the best moments of my life have been some of his – him scoring hundreds and two hundreds, him hitting sixes, watching his straight drives, him hitting a century of centuries, the pride in his eyes as he held that world cup, the humble smile when he reached a century of centuries. Exquisite memories for an exceptional man.

That humble smile when Sachin reached a century of centuries is forever etched into my memory…..

I can’t say I’ve needed Sachin for 23 years, I wasn’t even born then. But ever since I was six, I remember adoring Sachin and always being in awe of him. Everything this wonderful man does has never failed to amaze me. Sachin was my idol and I was his fan long before I knew the ABC of cricket. I’ve never been the one for letting go easily. But I will, one day, let go. However, I remember always needing Sachin Tendulkar to re-assure me, to inspire me and to provide me with something supernatural – magic. Because that’s what these past nine years with Sachin have been for me – magical. For a young girl who was driven with logic and reasoning every step of the way, the existence of something as magical and enigmatic as Sachin Tendulkar just gave me the faith to believe that I could achieve anything. Like Sachin had.

It’s hard to know Sachin Tendulkar as someone more than a cricketing megastar. Difficult to understand who he really is, behind the Indian jersey. Everything he says at interviews, press conferences – they’re just carefully orchestrated lines delivered by a skilled actor. Not that I blame him. All he says is, after all, being extrapolated, dissected and analyzed in excruciating detail. But I wish he didn’t have to leave so fast. Before I got to know him better. These past nine years – marvelous as they have been – just aren’t enough.

Ever since I was six I remember adoring Sachin and always being in awe of him.

Sachin has always been there to rescue India. It was the seven years between Indira Gandhi’s homicide and Rajiv Gandhi’s murder – what with all the riots and deaths by killing, Indians were in need of a savior amidst the social chaos. India got her savior in the form of an adorable 16-year-old with curly hair. He gave India something to believe in and defend – something to stand together and cheer for. He gave us optimism in terms of something great for the future of Indian cricket. Along with Sachin’s rise to fame began the domination of the BCCI as the richest and most powerful cricketing board in the world. The masses turned towards cricket as a form of entertainment and the media, realizing this, put all their efforts towards publicizing cricket. Cricketers, realizing this, began to feed the media every way possible. Cricketers went from zero to hero practically overnight. Everyone other than Sachin. Sachin was always much more than that. Sachin was the superglue that bound together the egotistic strands of the Indian cricket team and carried their burden on his shoulders.

India got her much needed savior in the form of a cherubic 16-year-old from Mumbai.

Sachin has been called many things – God, immortal, superstar – the list just goes on and on. But the name that seems to stick is special.

Sachin’s cricketing records are as close to impeccable, spot-on and ideal as any cricketing record is ever going to get. With 463 matches, 452 innings, 41 not outs and an aggregation of a colossal 18,426 runs at a mind–boggling average of 44.83, Sachin remains the most prolific scorer of all time along with being (inarguably) one of the most prevalent cricket icons ever.

All I hope for now is that Sachin announces his Test retirement like Ricky Ponting, allowing me to mentally prepare myself for that ever so important last goodbye during his last ever match. The last match – and the end of an era. An era so golden, so fruitful, so close to my heart I never want to have to bid goodbye to it. But I have to. I have to brace my self as that end nears. As the time to say goodbye to Sachin the cricketer comes closer. As my beautiful love story comes to its inevitable end.