Sach a tale...

Beneath the impervious blue helmet, the uncouth curly hair, the impenetrable cranium, there exists an entity of ingenious wonder. Something that you, I and the rest of the world cannot even dream to fathom in the wildest of our imagination. The entity when in synchrony with the article the preternaturally limbs clutch can make the average exhausted homo sapien forget the TV but remember the channel.

I present before you some of the significant events that took place around the world in November 1989.

§ ("November 1989" – Cold War: East Germany Nov 7, 9; Bulgaria Nov 10; Czechoslovakia Nov 17, 20, 28)

§ November 2 – North Dakota and South Dakota celebrate their 100th Birthdays.

§ November 4 – Typhoon Gay devastates Thailand's Chumphon Province.

§ November 7 – Douglas Wilder wins the Virginia governor's race, becoming the first elected African American governor in the United States.

§ November 7 – David Dinkins becomes the first African American mayor of New York City.

§ November 7 – Cold War: The Communist government of East Germany resigns, although SED leaderEgon Krenz remains head of state.

§ November 9 – Cold War: Günter Schabowski accidentally states in live broadcast press conference that new rules for traveling from East Germany to West Germany will be put in effect "immediately". East Germany opens checkpoints in theBerlin Wall, allowing its citizens to travel freely to West Germany for the first time in decades (November 17 celebrates Germans began tearing the wall down).

§ November 10 – After 45 years of Communist rule in Bulgaria, Bulgarian Communist Party leader Todor Zhivkov is replaced by Foreign Minister Petar Mladenov, who changes the party's name to the Bulgarian Socialist Party.

§ November 10 – Gaby Kennard becomes the first Australian woman to fly non-stop around the world.

§ November 10 – CKO (a Canadian national all-news radio network) suddenly terminates all broadcasting during the newscast at noon (Eastern time), due to financial losses (the station began broadcasting on July 1, 1977).

§ November 11 – Louie Espinoza inaugurated as WBO World Featherweight Champion.

§ November 12 – Brazil holds its first free presidential election since 1960. This marks the first time that all Ibero-American nations, exceptingCuba, have elected constitutional governments simultaneously.

§ November 15 – Sachin Tendulkar starts his international cricket career in Karachi. He got over for just 15 runs but over the next 20 years was regarded as the greatest batsman of all times.

Stop at the last piece of information. It is something that should adorn the touchstones of your mind. Stay rooted there for as long as you can live. Stay well adored in there for you to savour the richness of the deed…

In an era wherein an Andrew Symonds or an Andrew Flintoff can embrace irresponsibility, complacency and the lusts an international cricketer is supposed to be entitled to, in an era which ushers in the ‘I am above the team’ belief with even great servants of the game like Sourav Ganguly and MS Dhoni getting themselves a little too close to the thought, in an era which can make a 20-ball 40 make half a dozen advertisers line up at your personal secretary’s office the next morning, in an era which has seen the worst possible manifestation of the consequences of mishandling the luxury of fame and money, Sachin Tendulkar has been a lodestar to emulate—an ingullible jewel in India’s crown. Standing up and applauding him with all the force you can muster is a mere firefly when the approbation he deserves can imaginatively be equated with the brilliance of a spectacular Sun. To hear he still is a carrier of child-like enthusiasm to a training session or that he still moans in inconsolable agony after a game India loses with him scoring runs and breaking milestones, almost sounds improbable. To relate to it is impossible. This spirit of the great man is something that is way beyond what you and I have to say about it. His passion for wearing the Indian Tricolour and giving his 100% on the cricket field is of proportions you and I cannot even contemplate about.

I’ve had the absolute delight of following his career for a decade now. In an era of the game where tarnished cricketers are hogging limelight more than the coveted ones, he to this date enjoys the tag of never having indulged in any sort of activity that would have brought to his name any kind of disrepute. To this date, Sachin has maintained a blot free image. Something that we cannot even imagine to be possible. Being the fugleman of a generation of fiercely competitive cricketers, Sachin has carried himself with admirable dignity both with the cricket bat in hand as well as the microphone. I have not heard a pugnacious statement from His Majesty ever. Can you and I merely carrying out our monotonous errands ever even dream of getting close to that? Sachin hasn’t just been an outstanding cricketer. He has been a better human being.

His batting technique has changed over the years, almost like a lifeless machine shunning jaded outfits giving rise to fresher ones. Yet, there are certain arms in his glittering repertoire that shall bring smiles to people’s faces as long as their video clips exist. The straight drive past the bowler, the pull shot depositing the ball out of the ground off the 135-145 paced deliveries, the paddle sweep on ferociously turning wickets, the backfoot cover drive at the start of an innings against a shining new ball, the flick over the keeper’s head off a 150 paced bouncer—all make for very fine visual delight. To be called the coaching manual of modern day batting, to be told that the best lesson a young batting novice can have is watch Sachin bat at the nets even on a fine, sunny morning is indeed quite some distinction.

Yet, I have a pang of regret which exists despite the colossus of contemporary cricket having done deeds of unprecedented proportions. I wish Sachin continued being the destroyer he was. I guess, somewhere down the line, Sachin decided he was going to be the anchor of the batting line up irrespective of the proficiency of the rest of his fellow batsmen. That is probably an area wherein misconception and the fear of failure had their influence even on Sachin Tendulkar. I poignantly wish he continued the Viv Richards style of batting he had started off with. I wish he remained the batsmen most bowlers around the world would dread about in the middle of the night as opposed to being a batsman who managed to harness profound respect among his opponents. I wish he decimated attacks with as much aggression as was possible of him. I quite know for a fact that he had the ability to do so. He could probably have been a much better ‘destructor’ than a Sanath Jayasuriya or a Viv Richards had he chosen the road not taken. Somewhere in the midst of the ocean he had created around himself, Sach lost his way trying to be a moderate Sunil Gavaskar in pursuit of greater endeavours. I know it would’ve eaten partially into his records which are so innumerable now that even statisticians find it onerous to keep track of them. Atleast, we could’ve had a batsman on our TV sets doing what he could do best. Yes, the greatest could’ve been greater.

It is with a sense of remote regret then that I must label the Operation Desert Storm innings, the 175 at Hyderabad, the 80-odd in his first ever stint as an opener in ODI cricket and the 100 at Perth in 1992 as the best Sachin Sizzlers of all time. The fact that I was at the stadium, part of the historic night he bludgeoned the 175 gives me unparalleled privilege. It is a day that shall be etched in golden ink in my mind as long as I breathe.

Sachin Tendulkar is the greatest cricketer of all time. The finest ambassador the sport has ever seen and the finest talent you will ever get to see on a cricket field. As I pledge my veneration to the Creator for having ensured I was born in the era of Sachin Tendulkar, I cannot erase the miniscule thought at the back of my mind—Should he have continued to be himself?