Long before my first encounter with Sachin Tendulkar during a one-day series in 1993, he had become a legend. I had hardly watched him on the television as in those days, we rarely saw live TV broadcasts in Sri Lanka. But as soon as I saw him first hand, I realised he was special. He only scored 20-odd, but he played with such authority and command that it was unnerving.
Indeed, Sachin in the first half of his career was a very aggressive and intimidating batsman. He took control of a bowling attack and did not allow you to settle into any rhythm. Bad balls were punished mercilessly and even good balls were often plundered for boundaries. He was willing to take risks and he was a wonderful sight in full flow.
As the years ticked on, though, the expectations from him mushroomed so much that he had to change his game. As he matured as a person and batsman, he was less inclined to take risks and was less aggressive. For me as a bowler, I then started to find it easier to bowl at him, although he obviously remained a brilliant batsman.
The thing with Sachin is that the statistics don’t lie. He’s done it all. He was consistent at home and overseas. He was comfortable against pace and spin. He could thrive on slow pitches and bouncy ones. His technique was rock solid and he has been outstandingly consistent throughout a truly amazing career.
My greatest admiration, though, centres on his rock-solid temperament and his astonishing mental strength. Performing consistently when under such enormous pressure of expectation is not easy. I know, because I had that for most of my career. I was expected to take wickets at will and be the match-winner all the time. It is incredibly draining mentally to have that pressure on you all the time.
In Sachin’s case, the pressure was far greater and yet he managed to soak it all up for a quarter of a century. How he sustained that level of excellence for so long, I have no idea. Other players would have just slowly burned out and faded away, but Sachin just kept going and going.
One of the secrets to this is clearly his inner discipline. You can’t develop and maintain such mental fortitude unless you are extremely disciplined. You need to prepare meticulously. Sachin’s exemplary conduct on the field just said it all. To play for 25 years and to do so without controversy and any run-ins with match referees or umpires is incredible.
I am always asked who was better: Sachin or Brian Lara? It’s a very difficult question. For me personally, Lara was a real genius and incredibly hard to bowl to. The fact that he was a left-hander helped him, but he was also able to play strokes of outrageous quality. But while Lara at his peak was incredibly hard to bowl to, Sachin sustained his excellence longer and was more consistent. Lara had the natural flair, but Sachin was the more complete player.
Another amazing thing about Sachin’s success was the fact that as his reputation grew and grew, he did not change as a person. He has always been very humble and down to earth, which is amazing when you consider all the hero worship around him. He has never been a particularly talkative guy, but he was always friendly and polite. He kept to himself and perhaps that allowed him to retain control.
There were so many amazing innings over the years that it is difficult to pinpoint his best. However, his match-winning unbeaten 103 against England in 2008 at Chennai, his 203 against Sri Lanka in 2010 at the SSC and his twin hundreds against Australia at Sharjah way back in 1998 were all performances that I remember as being very, very special.
In this day and age, with less Test cricket being played after the advent of Twenty20, it’s hard to believe that someone will surpass the number of centuries he has scored in Tests. It’s also inconceivable that someone is going to match his all-round record in all formats because 100-plus centuries are incredible. Records are there to be broken, but it will be very tough and my guess is that his records will be safe for many years to come.
India will obviously miss him, as will the world game. Sachin has inspired children all around the world to play cricket and during that time he was also the perfect ambassador for youngsters. We all owe him a huge debt for contributing so much.
It’s always sad to bid farewell to a legend. Like others, I hope he finishes with a flourish against the West Indies. It would be wonderful to cherish a little more Sachin magic before that railway sleeper of a bat is finally laid to rest. Opposition bowlers will breathe a sigh of relief; as will he, perhaps, after such a long, exhausting and truly extraordinary journey.
-Gameplan
