Sachin Tendulkar’s Retirement: Not that big a deal now

Everybody knows Sachin is one of the greatest to have played the game of cricket. We cant state that and stop talking about his greatness, can we? Every 90’s kid must have watched all the great innings of Sachin, especially “The Sharjah” match.With Tony Greig’s exaggerated commentary in the backdrop, he massacres the Australian bowling attack , Micheal Kasprowicz in particular. We must have talked about that match a lot of times , atleast in the past 3 years, a time wherein Sachin’s retirement was becoming imminent. Yet, there isn’t even a smallest evidence of a fatigue – of being awed by the flawlessness of that incredible innings.

Beyond doubt , it is very difficult to let Sachin go. In my childhood days, I used to fear the day when Sachin would call it quits. But this 16th of November 2013, was not that difficult to digest, to be honest. I kept asking myself why am I not feeling “that” bad to let “The Little Master” go. Was it probably because of the neat approach that “Mr. Master Blaster” adopted, to progressively reduce his presence at the international scene, by retiring from ODIs first, then IPL etc? Or was it probably because I have seen too much of Sachin Tendulkar in Indian colours ? Or was it because of the annoying over-the-board praises that fellow Indians have been showering over the favorite son of Indian cricket, for an extended period of time?

Sachin progressively moving away from the international scene is definitely one reason, but I don’t think I will ever get bored to see Sachin play in Indian colors . The major reason for my detached attachment over Sachin’s retirement, would be majorly contributed to the over-dose of the “Sachin Suck Up”. Frankly its been too much.

Personally, I believe that when facts illustrating the brilliance of an act , is repeated on numerous occasions (in this case infinite times from infinite people) the glitter that the act shines upon your heart, when you fondly try to remember it, just fades away. “Sharjah 1998 “ used to give me goosebumps once upon time, but now it is all but an overly repeated memory from attention seeking Sachin- fanatics.

Sachin Tendulkar has done it all there is to be done in Cricket, apart from keeping wickets and being a successful captain. His authoritative 74 in his last innings sums up to show how much this legend has borne with pressure over the years and it is only remarkable to see him perform under such pressure, match after match. The glorious personal achievements would have been a mere statistic for this legend, if not for all the team successes he was part of. With that thought in mind, if one tries to justify the bias treatment of this great man , compromising the likes of Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, Anil Kumble and VVS, one would be hardly left with any rationalization. Even the Master Blaster himself will be disappointed with this kind of an overdo.

All said and done, there is and there will be only one Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. Its hard for anyone else to emulate the feats that this Little Master from Mumbai has achieved. Being a sports enthusiast, when I look back at my younger days, it definitely will be filled with memories of Sachin’s masterclass. It is only fair to say #ThankYouSachin.