Cricket is not just a sport in India. Indians take it as their pride. For them, cricket is their religion and Sachin Tendulkar is God. When India win any crucial match, especially with teams like Australia and Pakistan it is celebrated as a festival all over India. And when Sachin plays any crucial role in the wins, the celebrations became more elevating for the Indians. Such is the craze to each.

Sachin, the son of Sau Rajani and Shri Ramesh Tendulkar was horn on April 24, 1973. Since his childhood, he used to play cricket with his elder brother, who himself is a good player and an avid lover of this game. In 1985, he changed his school and was admitted to Dadar’s Shardashram Vidyamandir. There he would learn the nuances of cricket under the able guidance of his coach Shri Ramakant Achrekar. He scored over 1,200 runs in schools cricket, including two triple centuries. He scored 326 not out for Shardashram against St. Xavier’s in the Harris Shield tournament, putting on 664 runs with his fellow Vinod Kambli, a record for any grade of cricket anywhere in the world. He was also voted best junior cricketer by the BCA.

The youngest player to wear a test cap for India-Sachin Tendulkar was all of 16 years old when he took on the tough Pakistanis in the first test at Karachi. He played alongside some of his childhood heroes on his debut. Though he was able to score only 15 runs in his first innings he impressed the cricket fraternity very much. He followed up his first stint on the crease with a masterful 59 runs in the first innings of the second test at Faisalabad. Sachin Tendulkar was not a flash in the pan, he had arrived and he was here to stay. Sachin has performed majestically in both forms of the game. Every time he walks into bat he carries the hopes of a 1billion people who look to him as the sole hope in a nation surrounded by gloom, and despair. Sachin is the darling of the masses. He was the first overseas player in 130 years to play for Yorkshire county in England. When he was in the middle of the pitch the world waits with bated breath to see how the ‘Little destroys the confidence of the opposition with a harmonious blend of ruthlessness and clinical precision. He is also known as the ‘Master blaster’ in the cricketing fraternity. HK enormous and almost insatiable appetite for runs seems to be a never-ending process.

The greatest of all compliments came from the cricket legend Sir Don Bradman who saw a streak of himself in Tendulkar the joy that he and the cricketing fraternity experienced knew no bounds. He was much ahead of his contemporaries when talked about the statistics in the game of cricket. Every kind of record seems to be reserved for him, be it the number of centuries or highest run aggregate in both form of the game. He became the first person to score 10,000 runs in One-Day Internationals, in an ODI in Indore, Verses Australia. On September 5, 2002 he became the youngest player ever to play in his 100th Test match for any country. He has j been rated the No.1 batsman in the latest Wisden Cricket Ratings (based on Test match performances). He has scored at an average of above 57 in the last two years (26 tests). He was rated the No. 1 batsman in the world by the prestigious Coopers and Lybrands ratings in 1995 and now in 1998. He was also No. 1 in the CEAT cricket ratings of 1996.

Awards always seem to be showered upon him. The Mumbai | Cricket Association (MCA), headed by NCR leader Sharad Pawar presented Tendulkar with a 10 kg silver bat and a cheque of Rs 2.51 million to honour him after he was conferred with ‘Maharashtra Bhushan’ award by the state government and also for completing a record 10,000 runs in one-day internationals. Sachin Tendulkar was also awarded ‘Arjuna Award’ in 1994; in 1997 he became the 11th Indian to be named ‘Cricketer of the Year by the Wisden Almanack’. In 1991 he also got ‘Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award” India’s highest sporting award. Sachin Tendulkar also got Padam Shri in 1999 for his outstanding contribution to Indian cricket. He has a craze for car and has won many in international arena.

Even after almost a decade and a half in cricket, Sachin Tendulkar continues to be India’s symbol of hope and reason for celebration. He is a living legend and a great champion.

The new batsman strode to the wicket with that seemingly familiar languid gait, like a Christian entering the colosseum to face the lions. Around him, his opponents gathered, like vultures, sensing further success. Yet he had a determined resolve.

Assuming his stance at the crease he awaited the bowler, who was positioned at the start of his run-up. Was I watching the great West-Indian, Clive Lloyd? Was I about to witness our own Ian Botham, or Andrew (Freddie) Flintoff at their belligerent best? No.

This was the early 1980’s and I was umpiring a colt’s match between my club, Gosport Borough, and Droxford; played out in a remote recreation ground deep in the heart of Hampshire, on a warm damp summer’s evening. You know the kind we get in England?

The batsman? Young Ian Collins, a big-hitting fifteen year-old from Rowner, Gosport. A lad of few words, but very amiable. Even so, he was one that many lads of his age would have to think twice about before taking his last Rolo!

The Lion Panted

Everyone ready, the fresh-faced bowler set off, arms and legs pumping; approaching the crease he aimed his delivery and the right-handed Collins thumped it towards a very long leg-side boundary. A fielder gave chase as the batsmen charged from end-to-end. Youthful voices screamed instructions to the fielder, as a third run was comfortably completed. This crescendo of excitement only served to confuse; the ball was returned by the fielder but, nowhere near his team-mates – evading them all, it shot out towards the boundary on the other side; no-one was covering.

Briefly, the fielding side stood and looked at each other in confusion; the batsmen set off running again. By the time the fielders had galvanised themselves another three runs were nearing completion but, ……..hold-on! There was a chance of a run-out. The ball was now on its way in from the cover boundary and Collins, panting like a lion, flailed away in an effort to reach his ground safely.

Had Droxford learnt quickly? Not at all! The ball had been returned by the fielder but, nowhere near his team-mates – evading them all, it shot out towards the boundary on the other side; again!The batsmen, scarcely able to believe it or, for that matter, able to catch their breath, set off running yet again.

The Dog Barked

By now, noise levels had escalated. The batting team shouted encouragement from the boundary, to their team-mates running themselves silly in the middle; eleven fielders were still screaming at each other; their coach was tearing his hair out on the boundary edge and, some spectators (not that there were many) were rolling about laughing. All of which had excited a dog, who was sat over by the pitch roller and had joined in, barking madly. An apt phrase in the circumstances!

This time, though, the fielders restored some sanity and only two more runs were added before the ball was safely into the wicket-keeper’s gloves. Even so, amidst the mayhem, Collins had managed to score an implausible eight runs from his first delivery.

The excitement calmed momentarily and the bowler set off once more from the height of his run up. The adrenalin, not just his arms and legs, was pumping now as he reached the crease. Straining with effort, he emitted a groan. The bowler’s aim was slightly out, but Collins’ aim was true. Straining with effort, he too emitted a groan. The ball was clubbed cleanly, sailing over the long-on boundary for six. It was a super shot. A proper cricket shot, if you like, not a slog.

The Frog Crouched

All the same, this was remarkable entertainment. Once again, I resumed my position behind the stumps at the bowler’s end. The wicket-keeper crouched, frog-like, behind the stumps at the batsman’s end. Fielders had assumed their positions. The spectators, the coach, and the dog sat by the pitch roller, were silent now in bewildered anticipation. Collins, steely-eyed, was ready. You could almost hear his heart thumping; and the bowler, ball in hand, set off.

It was impossible to second-guess what the treat may be this time? The expectation was palpable. In the event it was, sadly, a huge anti-climax. Collins attempted to repeat the feat of the previous ball. Not one to die wondering, he missed and the ball hit. His stumps were shattered. So, I think, were we all. Normality resumed.

He had been bowled just third ball for fourteen runs. Ian Collins had not scored the most dashing century I had ever seen; nor batted with the most style I had ever seen; nor put his side into a winning position by any means. Yet this was, and still is, the most incredible and unforgettable innings I have ever witnessed. In modern terms, a strike rate of 700 – that takes some doing, however long the innings lasts. Cricket is a strange animal at times!

ENDS