This was the thought that first came to my mind when my desktop live scorecard showed 200* against Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. I do not want to write more about statistics which by now will not be news. The passion and dedication that this “Super man from India” (As Ravi Shashtri yelled from the commentary box when Sachin completed his double ton) has displayed is definitely super human. The manner in which Sachin has enthralled the cricket mad Indian public is way beyond any comparison.
God has been cruel to Sachin in the sense that he has chosen him to represent a team sport rather than an individual sport. It is not practical to expect a match winner to be there till the end in every presented opportunity. Just for that reason one cannot take the credit away from him for the work he has done. It must not be forgotten that the work done thus far was not a cakewalk for that individual. Ricky Ponting’s consistency has had great impact on Aussies dominance but no one can deny how well he had been supplemented in his efforts.
Scoring consistently is entirely in control of the individual but in a team game, that does not always translate into wins. There is no way that a person who has scored 175 out of 350 required for a win be blamed when he got out with run a ball needed to win. Brian Lara has been even less fortunate than Sachin on this count. The wait for a French Open grand slam title was an agonizing one for Roger Federer for 4 years but to his credit, he seized the opportunity presented to him last year. The fact to be noted here is, he just did things that were in his control with remarkable consistency. Unfortunately for Sachin, team wins belittles his numbers.
If there is one man who deserves to be a part of a World Cup winning team now, it is Sachin. He almost did it single-handedly on two occasions, only to see the team just not supplement him as desired. So, MSD and his men have a good opportunity to give a fitting tribute to the man who has served Indian cricket for more than 2 decades now.
-Raghavan
