Things we have learned from Sachin's retirement

It was on the cards for quite some time, but it took a while for the moment of truth to finally arrive. Followed by a string of low scores and some harsh criticism, arguably the greatest batsman ever to have played for India, Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, expressed his intention to part with his blue jersey. This decision which came in the wake of Ind-Pak ODI series, stunned the entire cricketing world, leaving the fans totally disappointed.

If anything, the maestro’s performance in Tests has been much below par for the past one year as compared to his stints in ODIs and so his choice of persevering only with the longer version of the game bewildered everyone. However, it must be said that since there was little chance of him making it to the next World Cup Down Under, which is two years from now, he might have withdrawn himself from limited overs internationals. Whatever be the case, the little master’s exit from the shorter version of the game proved to be a dismal one for Team India as the hosts have lost the latest series against Pakistan 2-1.

The team, as a whole (with the exception of MSD), has miserably failed to show any sort of resistance and the most celebrated batting line-up crumbled in a dilapidated fashion in all 3 ODIs played so far. So, are things looking very ominous for India? Will Sachin’s absence from the ODI team hurt India very badly? We cannot answer these questions immediately but one thing is sure – purely on talent, the Mumbai batsman is way ahead of his peers and so it is no secret that India would need to do the repairing job as soon as possible.

Nevertheless, Sachin’s departure from ODIs has both positive and negative sides to it. In fact, more negative because India has lost their best batsman ever, who used to pummel the bowlers at the top of the order. On a positive note, I would say that it is the time for fanatics to turn fans. Allow me to list out both positive and negative impacts his retirement has had.

1. The concept of comparing a human to God:

When you call a person as God, it only means you hold a person with high respect. The very fact you do that is because there are some qualities in him which have impressed you, plus you have not seen the same in someone else. So when anyone finds fault with your God, you find it indigestible and from there on, the whole frustration starts. This will continue until you realize that your assessment is incorrect.

The same thing has happened with Sachin Tendulkar too. Due to some admirable batting qualities that the great man possessed, the fans developed an unprecedented addiction with him. Every time the former players and critics called for his head, his fans erupted, saying blindly, “God should not retire”.

Sachin is India’s best batsman and no God:

But now, the great man has finally retired. By retiring at the age of 39 from ODIs, Sachin has put an end to the foisted belief that he was GOD. Having been out of form for so long, the maestro, it looks as though, has decided to take rest from one of the two formats of the game, just to have a prolonged career in the other. In spite of all his natural talents, Father Time has got the better of him and so, he was forced to wave a rather reluctant goodbye to his 23-year long illustrious career in the blue attire. He might have possessed a God-like talent, which now with the age factor, seems to have been stolen from him. As a result, though his love for the game was still not lost, he had to listen to the demands of his body. Yes, he was God and he played like one from 1996 World Cup till 2010, with a few hiccups in between. He is nowhere close to his best nowadays and it would only be fair on our part to understand the truth that the great man is a mere mortal.

Positives:

His drop in form and exit from the game would have made his fans believe by now that the short little fellow, who had amassed more than 18000 runs in ODIs, is not a God. They would understand that he also succumbs to the ravages of time just the rest of us and it is high time we open our eyes and recognize the truth. This would sure be the end of a long existing fanaticism and people would not attempt to make the same mistake when a player like India’s master blaster is produced again.

Negatives:

It looks like the retirement of Sachin has already started creating problems for Team India. And the way the Indian batsmen were seen rushing back to the pavilion in all the three ODIs against Pakistan, further solidifies the fact that he has been something special, though he had never been a God; and just by comparing his batting with many of the Indian batsmen, we can strengthen this fact. The maestro does not create much gap between the bat and pad; we are neither used to see him poking at the deliveries which were moving away from his off-stump, nor have we seen him getting bamboozled by the spinners on a regular basis; seldom he gets shaken by bouncers bowled over shoulder height, at least in subcontinent and he is not like the youngsters of today, who are short tempered by nature. In totality, there are only good things to say about him whereas in the current set of players, we find nothing but flaws.

Are we noticing these blemishes for the first time in the side since Sachin’s retirement? Have we not seen them before? Probably, we have. However, the presence of the master blaster had made us to overlook these defects. We had often been glued to the TV screens with our eyes forever persistent on the great man’s abilities and hence, other players’ lacunae were left unnoticed. Now that he has departed, the sorry state of our batting line-up has come to the limelight. Maybe I am exaggerating here, but even then the truth is there for everyone to see. Sachin is incomparable to anyone who is wielding the cricket willow at the moment and so the future is looking bleak for India without him in every sense.

2. Patriotism – Does it exist in cricket at least?

Owing to various regional disputes prevailing among many states within the country, we would not be able to find one perfectly patriotic Indian nowadays. Even then, if there was one thing which has always instilled in us the bondage of oneness, then it has to be cricket. Putting away all the differences within us, we have always urged and prayed for India’s victory, whenever the team had assembled in a cricket ground. Only after Sachin’s retirement from ODIs, I was able to figure out that patriotism (or at least that’s what I thought it as) had been virtually non-existent and I had been living in a state of illusion so far.

Considering an individual above the nation:

Tons of Facebook status messages and Twitter updates by the so called Indian cricket fans, or should I say Sachin’s fans, were aimed at ridiculing India’s under performance. I have seen them becoming crazily ecstatic and what’s more, they were happily rejoicing at the fall of every Indian wicket. They simply are not in favour of their team winning against any team, even if that team happens to be Pakistan. For them, a team without Sachin cannot be called as an Indian side. Only then I realized that almost 90% of Indians had watched cricket only for the Mumbai batsman and they were least bothered about the other ten members of the side who had been taking the field.

Even as I was penning this article, I was able to find lots of people showing interest in having the updates of the Ranji trophy match involving Mumbai, rather than knowing what was happening in Delhi between India and Pakistan. Patriotism has totally shrunk, hasn’t it?

Positives:

If an individual has been given so much of importance, then there should be a reason behind it. Sachin carried the burden of the entire nation throughout his career, spanning 23-years, delivering most of the time. This should be an eye opener for the members of the current Indian team. They should strive hard to get themselves the same sort of importance by fighting like soldiers whenever they are on the cricket field. I hope they understand this soon, and if they do it, Indian team will become world beaters in the long run.

Negatives:

Just look at the way some of our batsmen carelessly gift away wickets to the opposition bowlers. No one has shown the patience and determination to score runs by staying in the middle. Nonchalantly, the top order batsmen have been throwing away their wickets and they hardly seem to care that India wants them to score runs. When the players themselves do not have that sense of patriotism prevailing in them, how will you expect the fans to have it exhibited? No one has any right to blame them at all.

3. Sachin’s retirement makes me smell red:

Firstly, it was Rahul Dravid, then it was Laxman and now it is Sachin. Surprisingly, none of these three greats has preferred to leave the game with a standing ovation. Most of the cricketers would love to do that. Wouldn’t they? Take Ponting and Hussey as examples. They both made it clear which their last innings would be and thus, were treated to some spectacularly warm send-offs. Having trained and played for so long with dedication, don’t you think they deserve to leave the cricket field holding their heads high?

Then why did the exodus of Dravid and Laxman happen without them playing the home series against England and why did Sachin choose to hang his boots just before the series against Pakistan? These two questions raise my suspicion and I smell red here. Have these stalwarts wilfully announced their retirements or have they been forced to do so?

Sachin, who not so long ago, made it clear that it was selfish to retire on a high during a press conference, announced his retirement now with a very good one day record behind him of late. Doesn’t it sound fishy? I feel that there is a definite controversy surrounding the entire episode. Maybe all the three big guns were shown the door clandestinely.