Time for God to leave it to the mortals?

I used to be an ardent Indian cricket fan. And like every other Indian cricket fan, I used to idolize and worship the cricketing God that is Sachin Tendulkar. What happened? An over-confident World champions India and a timid BCCI happened.

On April 2, 2011 when Mahendra Singh Dhoni slammed Nuwan Kulasekara over the long-on fence for a six, two things flashed in my mind. First, the more obvious one of India lifting the World Cup trophy in their own-backyard and the second a mere figment of my imagination- the thought of the Little Master finally bidding farewell to the stage he graced so magnificently for the last quarter of a century. After all, Team India had fulfilled Sachin’s last-standing ambition of lifting cricket’s ultimate award, a World Cup-winners’ medal.

But it wasn’t to be. Tendulkar wanted to carry on, he wanted to break more records, and he wanted to strengthen his immortality. Both these reasons are, of course, not his but mine. For Sachin, his hunger and passion for the sport hadn’t withered a wee bit; it had remained constant since the time a starry-eyed teenager had come out to the middle in the hostile conditions of Karachi.

The World Cup hysteria gave way to the Indian Paisa League and astonishingly, the historical triumph was forgotten in the blink of an eye. Those who were expecting Tendulkar to hang up his boots, geared up for a few more moments of the master’s artistry. India flew off to the fabled pastures of England to cement their place as World champions and allay the claims of their detractors who questioned their status as the top-ranked test side in the world.

Two months later, the script had been rewritten, the tides had turned and the Indians were on the first flight home after one of their most disastrous tours to England ever. Four tests, 4 defeats; 5 ODIs, 3 defeats, one wash-out and one tied. A broken team, a broken dream and a change atop the rankings chart. Accusations and recriminations had begun and the Indian media had started with the metamorphosis and anatomy of the tour, the squad and what went wrong.

The West Indians came calling, the Indians obliged, thumped them at home and as always, the ignominy of England was a forgotten, rather than a forgiven, tale. With renewed vigour, the Indians went Down Under, where it was a classic case of different surroundings but the same old habits as another whitewash plunged Indian cricket into an abyss so deep and so humiliating that only could an Indian climb out of it. And so they did. The Asia Cup was a disaster, but BCCI doesn’t take it seriously, does it?

You know, call it luck or call it BCCI-brain, the Indian team amazingly ends up with a home series after a tough away tour. The IPL followed, and everything was forgotten. We Indians have an extremely short-lived memory. We have too much going on, we don’t like to sit on old piles of memories. Sri Lanka and New Zealand came to our respite, touring India, getting routed and relieving the board and the players of some troublesome air-time on Indian news channels.

But all this while, some tough questions about the team, it’s selection and functioning were being raised. The most sensitive of them being the impending retirement of Sachin Tendulkar owing to his severe lack of form and the lack of encouraging signs in his batting. Sachin had achieved all a sportsperson could ask for in his lifetime. His answer every time was his will to carry on and on and on.

The hundredth hundred, a foregone conclusion, took place in March 2012. But Sachin was unrelenting in his decision. There was still more of him to come. He had two fantastic opportunities to bid adieu to cricket, both of which he had spurned.

“As long as there is a reason to wake up with a reason in the morning, it makes sense in continuing. The day I don’t enjoy wielding the bat in my hands, I will think otherwise. But that moment hasn’t come as yet. When I will get that feeling, I will confirm on that”.

His stature gives him the right to decide his own future, but haven’t we so often heard that an individual never comes before the team. Then why Sachin?

Till when can we afford to let his greatness, his demi-god stature overshadow the brutal reality of his repeated failures? Till when can we let those extraordinary records compensate for his reluctant reflexes and weakening guard? Till when can we allow his devotion to Indian cricket justify his delayed retirement decision? Till when can we keep abusing and harrowing his detractors?

Sachin’s lack of form and runs isn’t only hurting India’s performance, but also delaying the gestation of his long-term replacement in the team. You can read all about his abysmal average in the last few tests and his century drought stretching back to January 2011. He picks and chooses his tournaments and a result the likes of Badrinath, Rahane, Tiwary haven’t played with any degree of continuity or certainty of their position in the team.

The ongoing debacle against England might have fuelled his critics’ calls for his retirement, but in fact, Sachin’s retirement should have happened a good 6-12 months ago. During this time, India would have unearthed his precious replacement and given him time to settle down and flourish. We’ve all seen how good a replacement Pujara is turning out to be for Rahul Dravid.

Tendulkar needs to sit down and give it a nice long thought. His disciples might still inspire him to carry on, but his stepping down has now become a necessary step for Indian cricket to step into a new era and scale new heights. After all, there’s a time for every legend to say one last goodbye. And in all probability and sensibility, Sachin Tendulkar’s time has arrived now, if not earlier.

Pardon me for my impudence towards the God, but cricket and its fans made him God, and not the other way round. For me, the team will always come before any player, however great that player may be. You can mock me, humiliate me all you want, but that won’t change the existing reality of Sachin Tendulkar and Indian cricket.