Sachin Tendulkar and cricket post-retirement: Death, then… resurrection

What happened to the old guard? Grace, Hobbs, Hammond, Bradman? They disappeared. And for a while it seemed like death. But fresh faces appeared. First, a battalion, that included the irreverent Sobers, and later, Viv Richards. Then, in 1989, an entire army led by the deceptively cherubic Sachin Tendulkar, who stumbled upon the record-book in some locker-room and playfully tore it to shreds.

Sachin Tendulkar has played in nearly one out of every 10 matches so far in the history of cricket © IANS

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By Rudolph Lambert Fernandez
 
What happens when Gods leave the ground?
 
First, there’s a death of sorts, then… resurrection.
 
What happened to the old guard? Grace, Hobbs, Hammond, Bradman? They disappeared. And for a while it seemed like death. But fresh faces appeared. First, a battalion, that included the irreverent Sobers, and later, Viv Richards. Then, in 1989, an entire army led by the deceptively cherubic Sachin Tendulkar, who stumbled upon the record-book in some locker-room and playfully tore it to shreds.
 
Like the old guard that disappeared with his coming, Sachin too will disappear. But the passing of this star from the cricket sky will be like that of no other. Because that 16-year old, first dismissed on… well, on 15 runs, did go on to do a bit more.
 
As No: 4 for most of his career, Sachin has played some 12 fewer Tests than openers Mike Atherton and Alastair Cook combined, but he has about 300 more runs and 10 more tons.
 
Sachin has played 78 fewer ODIs than Graeme Smith, Matthew Hayden and Gary Kirsten combined. Although Sachin ended 1,481 runs short of their combined tally he has 16 more tons. Any team will tell you what a ton means to them in an ODI.
 
And while he was at it, this boy-man first taught us that it’s possible to score over 200 in an ODI.
 
Now, for the heck of it, try and calculate what Sachin may have scored had he played those additional 12 Tests and 78 ODIs — use his average score per innings (54 per Test innings and 45 per ODI) to arrive at a conservative estimate. His distance from the players listed above, would be even more galactic. In typical Biblical understatement, because he has been faithful over ‘little’ he has been set over ‘much’.
 
Sachin’s departure will leave a black hole in world cricket, not just Indian cricket: about nearly one in 10 Tests played — at any time in history, by any nation — involved Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.
 
Sachin is part of our yesterdays, todays and tomorrows, whether we are players, historians, fans or budding batsmen. Why, we can still hear the ‘thwack’ of his willow as he sends even the most dangerous deliveries to the ropes. We can still see the agony on his face as he edges one to the slips.
 
But he too will disappear and sometimes, it will feel like a death of sorts.
 
What follows will be a resurrection.
 
Fresh faces will emerge. Some already have. 
 
Today, the stars in Indian cricket are specialists because they are yet to establish themselves in Tests. Still, they shine brightly in the ODI/T20 sky.
 
Are they great? It appears, not yet. In a game that’s well over 200 years old, it takes a while to separate great, from good.
 
Do they have it in them? They may but if they don’t others will. Because while gods are out in the middle, there’s always going to be a boy in the stands who knows that he can belt the best of them. And who, when he finally comes on, does exactly that.
 
What a beautiful tradition; one that showers superior sportsmen on us, not every year but every few decades. For every Rod in the past there is a Roger in the future. For every Maradona gone there is a Messi to come. For every Sachin lost there is a Sehwag found. Hold on, that doesn’t sound right. Perhaps with Sachin it’s different. No sportsman on the planet has been on top of his game for as long as he has, in the way that he has. His kind are more like comets, passing by only once in a while. But there will be other comets and we await their coming with the child-like faith we had in 1989 when death seemed the only certainty and we were stunned when suddenly gifted……new life!
 
(Rudolph Lambert Fernandez is writing a non-fiction book that celebrates batting greatness in cricket history. His writing has appeared in Indian and UK cricket portals. Follow him on Twitter @RudolphFernandz)

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