Sachin Tendulkar’s farewell Test may be the most teary-eyed in cricket history

Sachin Tendulkar will become the first sportsperson to be awarded the Bharat Ratna © PTI

By Madhav Sharma
 
A group of rickshaw-pullers had parked their rickshaws outside a park, and they were playing cricket. There were a couple of new cricket bats and some rubber balls. Honestly, it was the most innocent cricket set-up, I have ever seen. Big bricks, because they didn’t have stumps, fake Adidas bats, tri-color rubber balls and every batsman was referred to as “Sachin”.
 
After spending 30 minutes watching them play, I realised that they had no idea about the rules of the game. They were playing only for Sachin Tendulkar. Like many other fans, admirers, writers, these middle-aged men were also paying tribute to Tendulkar. I can tell you, many of them didn’t have any idea about the game.
 
I must admit that this is not a very rare sight in India. In each and every maidan of India, there lies a cricket story — a Tendulkar story. Those rickshaw-pullers were no exception. I have seen young kids missing their exams. I have seen a groom asking on his wedding day, “Sachin khel raha hai na?” I have seen a 70-year-old fasting for Tendulkar. Again, I am not the only one who has seen this. India is a cricket-crazy nation, and Tednulkar is India‘s most loved cricketer, ever.

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Tendulkar has bid goodbye to international cricket as a player — the game that he lived for 24 years. The game that made him the most celebrated sportsman of India ever. The game that defined his journey from Sachin Tendulkar to “God of Cricket”. The game that gave him a “Bharat Ratna.”
 
Indian cricket has seen many great farewells, but just like his batting, Tendulkar’s farewell was truly exceptional. If any statistician could provide the data for “the most number of tears shed in a cricket stadium,” Tendulkar’s last Test match would be at the very top.
 
In the last 15 years or so, Indian cricket has been surrounded with “why not Rahul Dravid,” “why not Sourav Ganguly,” and “why only Tendulkar” debates. As someone who has chased these questions for more than a decade, I got my answers when Tendulkar walked off the field for the last time.
 
For many years, many people in India knew MRF only as bat-manufacturers! They had no idea about their tyres.
 
We always talk about how Dravid was overshadowed by Tendulkar, but the fact that a batsman of Dravid’s stature could be overshadowed, amazes me a big deal. In my honest opinion, Dravid had one of the tightest techniques in the world — one of the greatest batsmen to have ever played the game. I strongly believe that, if someone could make Dravid look second best, then surely, he is an absolute legend.
 
For millions of Sachin Tendulkar’s bhakts, cricket too retired with his retirement.

(Madhav Sharma wanted to be a cricketer. Unfortunately, he has today more words than runs to his credit! He blogs athttps://madhavsharmacricket.wordpress.com/ and tweets at https://twitter.com/HashTagCricket)