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For the record ,Sachin is greatest

As Test cricket’s most prolific run-maker, the question kind of becomes redundant. But it will still be asked in certain uncharitable quarters. So he
re goes: Is Sachin Tendulkar the greatest batsman this game has seen?

The answer, at least before the ugly new millennium sneaked in, was close to an emphatic yes. But since then, the body — probably jealous of its own extraordinary exploits — rose in revolt. It blunted the one thing that made him super-special: his stroke-play.

Tendulkar has always been a smart cricketer; but more than that, he has also been a smarter person. He did his math, plusses and minuses, and painfully arrived at the conclusion: it’s better to forsake a thing or two for that ultimate gain: the highest perch in history.

He cut off a few strokes, paced his innings more and yielded the spotlight to the younger guns. The booming cover-drives, searing cuts and pulls surfaced only as afterthoughts. The cheeky shots became part of his repertoire.
Well before he had entered the Test arena, of course, he had abandoned the towering sixes; now, the boundaries too came only as rapidly as they do for most other batsmen. The ones and the twos got pally with him too. But then Tendulkar always understood the real value of every drop.

As the world mocked him, he laughed along: the grander designs of great men are never understood by the lesser mortals of this world. Today, as he crosses 12,000 and enters an even more rarefied stratosphere, one can only look up and marvel at his conquests.

For many years, Tendulkar was of course the little boy on the burning deck, fighting fire with fire. Before him, Indian batting was more about survival, even self-preservation, when it came to the fiercest fast bowlers; after him, the word fear was removed from our conscience.

It didn’t matter if it was Waqar Younis, Allan Donald, Curtly Ambrose, Wasim Akram or Glenn McGrath; the faster they came at him, the harder he hit them. Incredibly, he had all the time in the world to play them; more fascinatingly, perhaps, he brought serenity to the crease. As the years rolled on, however, the assaults came from within: he had to be ever-conscious of his back, his elbow, his little finger. He just didn’t know which part would betray him in the next match; more than the little screams from inside, though, the noises from outside were disturbing.

Everybody wanted him to be that little boy again; everybody yearned to see him dominate the bowlers. But Tendulkar had already evolved: he had gone on to the next level. The world might not like it this way; but he is at peace with himself, and the world too.

Let us never forget, he has spent 19 years of his life taking the game higher and higher. First, he brought big money into cricket; then, he made it a national passion. Indeed, for a very long time, he was the main unifying force in the country; in times of trouble, he was the only soothing balm too.

Along the arduous journey, though, he maintained his poise all the way. Dignity and humility were part of his armour; amazingly, the hunger for the game never subsided. Is it surprising, then, that virtually all the important records in the game have come and lay down at his feet? Can there be any greater player than that?

This article is written by Bobilli Vijay Kumar of TIMES NEWS NETWORK for a personal request. And the article publish on Saturday Times of India.