Published: Apr 24, 2016, 09:49 PM (IST)
Edited: May 19, 2016, 05:30 PM (IST)
Dear Sachin Tendulkar,
I still remember the day you retired November 16, 2013, tears rolled down my cheeks while watching you give a long due speech. I was sitting and a flashback of you hitting fours and sixes came in front of my eyes just like they say comes before someone dies. It suddenly struck me that you won’t be playing for India anymore and I wouldn’t be fighting with my family that “sirf Sachin ki batting dekhne do”. I cried like a baby that day with millions of your fans all around the world. I consider myself lucky to have lived in an era where Tendulkar took the guard, and decimated each and every bowling attack on earth.
I saw you yesterday during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2016 match between Delhi Daredevils and Mumbai Indians at the Feroze Shah Kotla, shouting “Sachin-Sachin” from the stands wishing you “Happy Birthday” in advance. As soon as you acknowledged the crowd my heart felt heavy, and I do not know what happened but I just wished that you come out to bat for Mumbai Indians. Had you been there, Mumbai would have won the match before it went into the last over. I was supporting Delhi but I would not have regretted losing to Mumbai Indians just because of you.
Every time you came out to bat I would have goosebumps as the crowd chanted “Sachin-Sachin”. I just have one regret, that I did not watch you bat live in front of my eyes. I started following you at the age of 6 in 1999. At that time you were already an established name in world cricket. I watched you reach the 10,000-run mark and then facing towards the sky remembering your father. I felt bad whenever you scored a century and India lost following criticism from your temporary fans. I have been arguing with them for as long as 17 years. It was never your fault and it never will be.
I never had the best of the childhood but the best thing I had growing up was you. It was a calming sight for me every time I switched on the television set to see you batting. I would rush to see you batting from school and asking the score from workers after every class. My parents said that you will never benefit from Tendulkar’s batting but they did not know the impact you had on me in developing my love for cricket and the reason I chose a career in it.
I watched each and every match in 2003 World Cup with you scoring centuries in almost every match, hitting Shoaib Akhtar for a six and teaching him a lesson. Just one bad innings in the final and every one made you a villain who wouldn’t stand up when the team needed you. They forgot that India wouldn’t have been in the final if it was not for you.
I was on the ninth cloud every time you scored century, having said that I was in a different zone when you told the world that double century in one-days is possible, so what if the opposition bowling consisted Dale Steyn. That would have been the first time he had taken a beating like this.
You know what? I still watch the highlights from Sharjah where you manhandled Australia’s bowling attack qualifying for the final and then winning it with one more century. There is no happy sight for a Sachin Tendulkar fan better than you hitting boundaries in Sharjah and haunting Shane Warne in his dreams.
I missed you when you were out of the team due to Tennis elbow and barely watched any match where you did not walk out to bat. And after 890 days since your retirement my eyes still wait for you to take the guard. Harsha Bhogle said about Rahul Dravid that, “There isn’t a better calming sight that Rahul Dravid taking guard”.
That statement applies to you when it comes to me.
I recently had an argument with my chief editor on you being the best all time batsman to walk on the face of the earth and I told him that one day I will prove it to him with thorough research. And yesterday I got an email from him to write something on the occasion of your birthday. I was excited but ended up having a sleepless night after seeing you at Feroz Shah Kotla dugout. I couldn’t write an analysis or your best innings or your career but pour my emotions writing this and everything I wanted to tell you over the years.
I couldn’t write a single word about you until today, and was nervous about doing anything wrong about the guy I worship. But just how you had the courage to play Waqar Younis after getting your nose broken, and you saying “me khelega”, I also made a resolve: “me likhega”.
I always hoped to play alongside you, and be your fanboy even after your retirement just like Virat Kohli, bowing down to you after scoring a crucial half-century against Pakistan at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. But I could not.
My mother always says I am an atheist and do not believe in God. She ruled out the possibility of you being my God, as my bio says that I could not play cricket so did the next best thing, write for it and that I believe Sachin Tendulkar is God. My mother says God answers your prayers sooner or later. I just wish that you can read this article and I promise you that one day I will find a way to meet you.
Long live Sachin! Happy Birthday!
(Arun Rawal, a reporter with CricketCountry, is a daydreamer, movie buff, and cricket fanatic. He could not play cricket, so did the next best thing, writing for it. He loves to play the flick shot over square leg, and believes Sachin Tendulkar is God. His twitter handle is @ArunRawal93)
