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Quote:
Originally Posted by MADDY
* OPINION ASIA
* MARCH 1, 2010, 11:07 A.M. ET
Tendulkar the Terrific
The cricket superstar's 20 year career has been a beacon of stability in an era of rapid change.
By RICHARD LORD
Why is Sachin Tendulkar so popular? That might sound like a silly question. After all, this is the man who on Wednesday broke yet another of cricket's longest-standing records. In 39 years of One Day International cricket (the medium-length version, as opposed to the five-day tactical teeter-totter that is Test cricket and the bish-bash-bosh of Twenty20, cricket's fast-food format), no individual has ever scored 200 runs in an innings before.
To put it in context, that's 2,961 previous games of that type in which no one had managed the feat. And Mr. Tendulkar did it against South Africa, a side officially ranked the world's third best in One Day Internationals, behind only Australia and India themselves. It's an achievement that required not just astonishing concentration and technical mastery, but, given the number of runs tallied in the limited time available, the sort of super-speedy scoring not usually thought of as his specialty. But somehow, no one was surprised it was Mr. Tendulkar that did it. No one's ever really surprised at anything he does any more.
[LORDfhk0301] Associated Press
Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar reacts after scoring his double-century during the second one day cricket match between India and South Africa, in Gwalior, India, Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2010. Tendulkar Wednesday scored the first ever double-century in one-day international cricket.
Born on April 24, 1973, Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar made his international cricket debut just 16 and a half years later. Since then he's broken most of the international game's batting records: most Test match runs (13,447), most One Day International runs (17,598, a frightening 4,170 ahead of the next contender), most Test scores of 100 runs or more (47), and the same in One Day Internationals (46).
But his latest achievement was particularly special. Try, for a moment, to think of another sportsman a couple of months short of his 37th birthday, at the very top of his particular game for more than two decades, who still has the ability and, more to the point, the hunger to take that game to heights previously unscaled not just by himself, but by anyone. Then try to digest the fact that, of his 93 international 100s, 10 have come in the past year.
The obituary-writing pens had been sharpened for years before that, climaxing in 2006 with the unthinkable, when he was booed off his home ground, Mumbai's Wankhede, after an innings against England that was notable not so much for the low score (1) as the master batsman's apparent scratchy ineptitude. It came during a mid-decade period when his play frequently seemed constrained, defensive, lacking in fluency—the polar opposite of his usual serene method. That he was able to drag himself out of the rut in his mid-30s was a surprise to many at the time; with hindsight, it looks inevitable.
So he's good. And yet, despite all that, the sheer idolatry that Mr. Tendulkar receives in his homeland still has the power to startle. His arrival at the crease fills stands; his departure empties them. His long-time teammate Rahul Dravid, for example, with 11,000-plus Test runs to his name at an average score only just lower than Mr. Tendulkar's, can walk around his homeland unmolested in a way of which his compatriot, who has to don a disguise just to go to the cinema, can only dream. And with an almost-comparable batting record, plus a bowling record that would put him among his nation's highest achievers even if he'd never picked up a bat in his life, the captain of the opposition at Gwalior, Jacques Kallis, has a claim, statistically at least, to be the greater player. But absolutely no one believes that he is.
That's because the reasons for Mr. Tendulkar's iconic status extend well beyond the boundary. There's his integrity—no off-field dalliances, match-fixing allegations or doping indiscretions for this sporting titan. Then there's his incredible humility; in an era of brash, trash-talking sportsmen-with-attitude, he's never been heard to utter a single boastful word, nor one denigrating an opponent. His celebration upon reaching the latest landmark was typical: a raised bat, a glance to the heavens, a smile of quiet satisfaction.
Mr. Tendulkar may have the trappings of sporting superstardom—the multiple homes, the bodyguards, the inevitable restaurant—but this is a man who doesn't shout about his achievements. There's always been a relentless, quiet, determined concentration to the way in which he just gets on with the business of accumulating runs.
This isn't the dogged, cussed determination of a battler who punches above his weight, nor the extravagance and wastefulness typical of many of those who possess the richest of talents. Instead Mr. Tendulkar has a unique amalgam of the two. Blessed with an ability few in the history of the game have ever been able to match, he has focused solely on translating it into the largest number of runs he can for his team, eschewing all other priorities and brooking no distractions. From a purely sporting perspective, he's cricket's Tiger Woods. Even before his recent off-course indiscretions, however, what Mr. Woods got was admiration and respect; what Mr. Tendulkar gets is love.
Maybe that's because, more than anything else, what Mr. Tendulkar stands for is constancy. His career has spanned an era when cricket has changed beyond recognition, from a predictable, staid, not particularly lucrative pastime, administered largely by post-colonial relics, to the flash, flush, money-spinning media circus of today, driven by the excitement and glamour of Twenty20 cricket, and in particular the megabucks, Bollywood-bling, rich-man's-plaything Indian Premier League. His dedication has never been affected by the riches and glitz of the modern game; he approaches cricket in exactly the same methodical, faultless way he always did.
The past 20 years, of course, have also been a period during which the nation that produced him—driven by his economically freewheeling hometown—has undergone equally dramatic changes. And perhaps therein lies the real secret of his popularity: Mr. Tendulkar is a beacon of stability in a sport, in a country and in a world that are changing at a pace many find unsettling. He's an unbroken link to values of hard work, humility and reliability, and for that reason a lot of people find him uniquely reassuring. When the unthinkable day comes that he finally does hang up his bat, it's not only cricket that will be poorer for the loss.
Mr. Lord is a Hong Kong-based writer.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...atestheadlines
:lol: @ LM's post.
But I'm afraid this should not continue in the internet or in the media world.. illaati the word "Class" will be submerged under the word "record" :oops:
For Sachin Lovers , if you believe in God(Sachin), as Mahatma said leave the punishment to God.Quote:
Originally Posted by ajithfederer
Brother
I loled because i was amused to hear that sachin came in maddy's dreams. Avvalo than neenga enna mahatma rangekku poringa. :).
Quote:
Originally Posted by tamizharasan
I really mentioned Mahatma Gandhi. Even though I am not still sure about Dhon's intentions, I really do not think he deserves such a criticism in the media.Quote:
Originally Posted by ajithfederer
TA, i said it just for fun.......i got the dreams of sachin hitting 200 but i just added the Dhoni part :lol2: ..........
Adinna adhu adi, enna adi - pala varusham kanavula varum andha sachin knock :bow:
I don't think dhoni gets bashed much in media. It is vjust in this forum0 and a few blogs.
He gets bashed a lot in Orkut also. Also over the last couple of years this sachin - dhoni clash is becoming familiar like maamiar - marumgal sandai. Don't ask me who is who.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Plum