SACHIN ... THE MAN THAT HE IS

I was never a great fan of Sachin and i had my own justifications and theory about why i preferred Ganguly, Yuvraj, Sidhu, Sehwag, Dravid and laxman than him as my favourite. That is not relevant as many things including feelings are history. But i still tried for tickets for his final match and wanted to be there for the most historical moment for Indian cricket. It will always remain a debate if cricket was compromised for an individual in that final test of Sachin as it seemed like an overdose of everything that was done.

 Most wonderful moments other than the great man were not even talked about or recognized. According to me, Rohit played one of the finest innings of cricket as he had the partnership of 80 runs for the last wicket on a wicket which was smelling death. Let us leave all that here, as we Indians are different and prefer to be so, as against the rest of the world. This is fine and one man and one match could bring the country together after a long time is enough a testimony to conclude that all that happened in that test is correct and justifiable.

Now to coming to those final moments......  after last wicket was taken by Mohd shami, he ran and pulled out the wicket and waved at everyone and started walking back to dressing room.  Here was a child and student of cricket and he cried his head down till he reached dressing room.



 First time ever i got very emotional about him. I felt he was like a child whose mother was going away forever and he will miss her for life time. It hit me very hard what that moment must have meant to him. First time i felt, he should change his decision and continue for some more time. But that was only a very emotional moment. It suddenly occurred to me what his journey must have been and he doesn’t know anything else but cricket. It does not happen to many. It happens to rehman, lata mangeshkar, and to sachin .

Then i was extremely fortunate to have heard his final speech live on television. I have no shame in admitting that i was crying continuously for 15 minutes. It is not the content but the manner in which he spoke. His presence, his calmness, his stature, his divinity was all these to see and experience. 


Probably God himself was present these to witness such an astounding event of human life. Thousands in the stadium, millions across the world stood still and everyone’s throat choked and everyone became meditative and still. That was an experience of life time. Blessed are those who were physically present.

The speech must be made to listen in all schools, universities, and all sports academies. Every child has to listen,  and be guided and made to understand the crux, the meat of the speech. It’s just a summary of why sachin is what he is. What it takes beyond the sport to be what he is , comes out very distinctly in his speech. 

I was reeling under this emotion for a quite long and suddenly heard that Indian government announced Bharat Ratna and that is the crystallization of nations dream and pride. Sometimes, its better given at the opportune time like this and enrich the value also. I salute sachin for all that he believed in and practised and his love for the country has given me reassurance at the time the patriotism is at the lowest. Like my friend SVS said, hope he does not get into politics and rather do many more meaningful endeavours.

The cricket,  the life continues with renewed responsibility and commitment when great humans walk away. Sachin has excelled as human with the vehicle of cricket and this is what is expected of anyone who makes a mark in life that they live and so is he the greatest sportsman india has seen so far..  hats off little man.