Indian cricket great SachinTendulkar announced on Thursdaythat he will retire from the Tests followinghis 200th test match.
NEW DELHI – The news ofSachin Tendulkar’s retirementwas expected for some time,but when it did come, there wasa sense of numbness amongthe legion of devoted cricketfans and those fans who seeTendulkar as a cricket God.Hailed a genius on his internationaldebut, his achievementswith the bat and fame havetranscended the game.That is because ever sincehe burst on to the scene as a16-year-old in 1989, he hasentertained cricket fans like fewothers have. In return, thecricketing world, from SydneyCricket Ground to Sabina Park,have loved him like one of theirown. Across nations, his runswere celebrated and strokesapplauded. The rousing receptionthe announcement of hisname elicited was not restrictedto hometown Mumbai – theywere equally thunderous inEngland, Australia or SouthAfrica. The crowd reaction settledall debate as to who was thegreatest – for no one else in thisgeneration commanded suchpopularity. When it came toTendulkar nationality nevermattered. The 200th Testagainst West Indies will ring thecurtain down on the career ofthe most prolific batsman sinceDon Bradman – scoring 15,837runs in 198 Tests at an averageof 53.86. Not for nothing didWisden call him contemporarycricket’s most “wholesome”batsman.If Bradman’s average of 99.94made him beyond comparison,Tendulkar is the only batsmanto score 100 international hundreds.Neither feat is likely to bebettered.”All my life, I have hada dream of playing cricket forIndia. I have been living thisdream every day for the last 24years. It’s hard for me to imaginea life without playing cricketbecause it’s all I have ever donesince I was 11 years old,”Tendulkar said in the releaseissued by the BCCI.Tendulkar was omnipresent at theSaurashtra Cricket Association, stadium,where India played Australia in a T20game on Thursday evening. A tinge ofsadness engulfed the arena. At theentrance to the stadium, his biggest fanSudhir Kumar, the bald man who isalways in the stands with his bare bodypainted in white with Tendulkar’s nameon his chest, had the message: Miss uTendulkar.Tendulkar, for India, was beyond numbers.The entire nation celebrated andcried with him. If he was doing well, itlifted the mood of the nation. When hefailed, everyone sulked.When he came to the crease, the nationground to a halt. As Ramachandra Guhawrote in A Corner of a Foreign Field,when Tendulkar batted against Pakistan,India’s TV audience exceeded the populationof Europe.Any cricket fan younger than 24 cannotimagine Indian cricket withoutTendulkar. The vacuum in their lives willbe incredible. It won’t be any better forthose who are older, those who havebeen watching, entranced, his career, fornearly the past quarter of a century. Theexcitement of waiting for an India gamewith Tendulkar to bat – the straightdrives, pulls and flicks lit their lives.His form in Tests has been poor sinceJanuary 2011. There was speculation thatthe Indian cricket board would push himinto retirement. N Srinivasan had clarifiedthat he had no such intention. Goodfor the Board chief that he did so ontime, given the sentiment Tendulkarevokes all across the country.Tendulkar had always said he will retirewhen he feels it’s time. He was notknown to be contemplating immediateretirement, but something while playingthe Champions League Twenty20 seemsto have helped him firm up the decision.He did not wait long. His close friendswere immediately informed (a couple ofdays ago).We have two more Tests in which towatch him. Till his 200th – cricket’s currentlymost anticipated and momentousevent – takes place in an as yet unknowncity in India. That will be all. The memorieswill last us a lifetime. But those won’tfill the void he will leave behind.
