Sporting mortality might appear alluringly predictable, but we have to be rather cautious when making sweeping statements, writes Nirmal Shekar
YOU got the feeling that if he had a revolver in his hand instead of a cricket bat, he might have contemplated shooting himself. So uncharacteristically remorseful, and so self-deprecating, was the act that you had trouble associating it with the actor himself. But there it was, happening right in front of your eyes.
As Sachin Tendulkar raised his bat in self-directed anger on seeing a Tim Southee delivery flatten his middle stump on the fourth day of the second Test against New Zealand in Bangalore, the incident brought back a kaleidoscopic wave of memories in me.
There I was, on the old No. 2 court at Wimbledon, almost as stunned and shell-shocked as the man I was looking at. A few feet away, long after his conqueror, a little known Swiss called George Bastl, had left the court, Pete Sampras was staring at the turf in front of him, looking so devastated that you wondered if he was hoping that the earth would cave under his chair.
It was the great man’s worst moment in a tournament that he won seven times in eight years. Amidst disappointment tinged with sheer disbelief, for many of us that moment had an emotional valence that went way beyond the quotidian, way beyond the mere fact that a great champion had lost to a qualifier in a second round match. It was a moment infused with an aching sadness.
Glad to get it wrong
Even for veteran sportswriters, ones who believe they have seen it all and done it all, this was a moment when rationality was hard to embrace. In the event, emotions oozed out of my slightly shivering fingertips as I reported that match for this newspaper and somewhere along the way hinted rather cleverly — as only experienced sports hacks can — that it may be the end of the road for the American.
Three months later, I was not only glad to eat my own words but also astonished how a 30-something man who had looked completely washed up in late June could have reinvented himself as a great champion in such a short time. That was after Sampras beat Andre Agassi in the 2002 U.S. Open final to win his last Grand Slam title.
Now, as the Sachin-gate debate dominates the sports media in this country, I would like to steer well clear of making a confident assessment vis-à-vis the maestro’s future.
It is more than just a case of once-bitten-twice-shy; it is an honest admission that I do not feel I can assert confidently that India’s greatest and most celebrated cricketer is incapable of doing a Sampras on me, so to say.
Sporting mortality might appear alluringly predictable, but we have to be rather cautious when making sweeping statements in the rarest of rare cases — the ones involving men such as Sampras, Sachin, Roger Federer and Tiger Woods.
Windbag discussions about their impending demise can hurt us more than it does damage to great athletes. Of course, experts who have played the game at the highest levels deserve to be heard, but you cannot conduct a nation-wide referendum on the question whether it is time for Sachin to quit.
Nor, for that matter, can we simply pick someone from Central Casting to take on Sachin’s role in the Indian team overnight. For, this is a man who has dominated the Indian sporting landscape for almost a quarter of a century — a rare and luminous talent who has withstood years and years of hype-laden canon-making and undeserved criticism alike to achieve feats of surpassing greatness.
His longevity and skills have created an almost compelling illusion that time itself may be an illusion. Only the greatest of the great can make it appear that timelessness may be a reality.
Now, as he finds himself surfing the chaotic waves, with questions regarding his footwork consuming as much newsprint and television time as Coalgate and assorted other scams, we must acknowledge that Sachin is intelligent enough to know that he is a mortal, however much millions might have believed — when he was at his peak — that he wasn’t.
Reality check
He might be India’s sporting emblem of incomparable heroism with an iconic incandescence, but Sachin should know about the mercurial and merciless actuarial table of sport.
If a Hemingway or a Faulkner had written a book that was trashed by critics and bombed in the market, readers of that era could not have been sure that these great writers did not have another masterpiece left in them.
This is exactly what I think is the case of Sachin. In the event, I have neither the courage nor the predictive power to stick my neck out and say that he is finished.
Finally, a very pertinent question: if Sachin is hanging around beyond his time, is he selfish? The answer from me is a clear NO. But if you asked me if he was so passionate about the game that he may find himself ignoring his use-by date, then the answer is this: we will soon find out, won’t we?
Keywords: Sachin Tendulkar, India-New Zealand test
Really moderate views. We all hope that Sachin will rediscover and plug in the chink that lately has been his nemesis. If the selectors have great set of reserves, there is nothing wrong in trying them out. But if the othr batsmen get a lot of courage in Sachin's presence, his value to the team can not be questionned.
However, why should the critics go after him? They did not spare a thought on What Sachin should do after his retirement, if he was not allowed to even complete his schooling. Yes, he was inducted into a team when he was in school and possibly subjected to child labour. When his contemporary greats were engineers or graduates, Sachin is yet to clear his board exam. Irony, isnt it?
The way this paragraph begins:**There I was, on the old No. 2 court at Wimbledon,
almost as stunned and shell-shocked as the man I was looking at.** I thought the
writer of the piece himself was a tennis player. Turns out he was just someone in the
audience. Too clever by half, that whole paragraph was!!
Editor -- are you paying any attention to such narcissistic flourishes??
If Sachin is picked into the team based on his performance, he should be sacked based on his score in last 10 Test matches or so. There should be no emotions/sentiments in picking players as it will hurt honest, deserving players.
I am great fan of Sachin, but still I believe, he is playing for his own brand value in IPL or for his IPL Teams brand value. I believe this is the reason for picking Harbhajan, not his performance. How can MumbaiIndians boast of its Captain when he is not good enough to make it to Indian Side.
Firstly one needs to understand that Sachin is & was always in pressure of expectations. You cannot expect from any player to score a century all the time, 40s and 50s is ok. As far as his current form is concerned, why you point out only Sachin.. is that coz of his age? Gautam Gambhir is also struggling, so is Raina. I knw youngsters are inline & shud be given chances but lets not hurry coz experience do matter (read oversees specifically).There are bad times, he understands himself more than anyone else. Leave him alone, he is the best judge.
The question is not at all tricky. Every great sportsman's career
comes to an end. Pete Sampras, Michael Schumacher, Michael Jordan,
Ronaldo and Rahul Dravid are prime examples who quit when they
realised that right time has come. The problem with Sachin is self-
created as he is not able to keep the interest of the team ahead of
little 'joy' he is getting by dragging himself to the crease. And he
is being very selfish in saying that "I will play till I enjoy". Does it mean that he has absolutely no respect for any junior player who may hope to get a place in Indian team? Don't we expect a player of Sachin's stature to show some magnanimity of heart? What kind of role-model is he becoming these days by sticking to his place just because selectors don't have courage to ask him to quit! I loved him as a player and a role model but by delaying his retirement, he is loosing the respect and becoming a mockery of sorts. I hope he realises it
sooner rather than later.
We are only glorifying cricket and cricket player. No wonder we are far behind in all other sports and athletic events! When this scenario will change?
He is getting bowled because he is playing across the line too often trusting his eye and instincts. The easy fix could be to change the stance to be more face on. That is with the feet pointing towards Mid-off. That way there will be less more inclination to play straight and in the V rather than across the line. Once set he can change back to original stance. I am no Gavaskar or anybody to give advice to Sachin but hope he takes this advice and tries it.
Thank You Nirmal for drawing the parallel you have between the only two sporting legends i truly adore. I personally witnessed Sampras' fall from glory when he lost to Federer in Wimbledon 2001 and then to Bastl in 2002. When i look back at those times, I feel ashamed that even I doubted Sampras' ability to make a comeback, but I am glad to this day that he did. Likewise, I've literally worshipped Sachin since 1996, the same year i started following both Cricket and Tennis. To say I've gone to unimaginable lengths to watch Him bat would be an understatement. Every ball that took His wicket hurt me, but instilled in me greater belief that He was going to come back stronger. But now, even I have to admit that that belief is fledgling. I loathe the realization of it, but it seems inevitable. However, even stronger is the belief that He is not yet finished, that He WILL pull off a Sampras and bring that smile of pure contentment back to my face, and to all those who truly care.
I fully agree with rakesh on this.Why we are so concerned about sachin?Why are we not ready to let him enjoy his game?Why are we questioning him about his retirement plans?He himself would know when he needs to retire.Who are we to question his capabilities?I understand that yes he has grown old.may be his reflexes are not as sharp as they used to be.If a man can carry the burden of expectations of a billion people on his shoulders then he can also handle this situation.I know he will come back strongly and would again silent his critics who call themselves cricket experts but ,except few ,majority of them were not even 10% of what sachin is.Rahul and laxman have retired so let it be.It doesn't mean that sachin should retire too.He is truly passionate about his game.His passion for the game has kept him going for so many years and will continue to help him going till the time he feels that he is not enjoying the game.so Muralita we are ready to see him playing till the age of 60.
If you put your end paragraph questions straight to Tendulkar, his
answer can be as follows according to me:
- 'Selfish' is not playing beyond time, selfish is when you quit at
the peak of your career OR when you put yourself above the team!
- Passionate word cannot be associated with 'use-by-date'. Steve jobs
was so passionate about technology, he kept on inventing new
technologies and we saw amazing products after products. Yes his
products/gadgets had 'use-by-date' but the passion never had one and
it remained with him even when he was breathing his last!
Sachin will never be a Hosni Mubarak OR a Gaddafi to hang on like
dictators. Master has given so much to the game of cricket carrying
billions of pressure every time he stepped on to the field, he'll
exactly know when to bid good bye and start giving back to the game
with the same passion that he did whenever he was there on the
field.Till then, go back to your work, relax while Tendulkar practices
even harder to entertain us
We must all understand that Cricket is a team sport and Team interests should not be compromised just because one legend refuses to acknowledge that age is catching up with him. There is no doubt that he will come up with big a score once in a while, but does that mean that he merits a place in the team. One may recall the great Sunil Gavaskar scored a 96 in a deteriorating pitch against the Pakistan team in his last innings. Sure he was good for a few more. But he realised his skills were waning. While one does not expect Tendulkar to be dropped from the team, the great man should reassess his ability to contribute meaning fully to the team's requirements.
Expecting Sachin to quit when he has clearly lost it - there can be no
doubting the fact that he has lost it, which is only human, especially
after 20-odd years at the top - is not a treasonous thought as is
being made out in all discussions on the subject. Sachin-gate is also
so very symptomatic of the Indian malaise that permeates our entire
social, political and sporting life: those who have gained and
remained in power are loathe to let go long after they have ceased to
be useful. The fact that they are blocking a younger person from being
blooded for the future of the team / country is irrelevant it seems.
You only have to look at the numerous septuagenarians in politics, and
business houses that have striven to hang on to their privileges etc
to see that this is true.
Sachin has served his country well and is running on past glory. Grace
lies in his quitting now unless India plans to exclusively play the
Pacific islands for the next 20 years so he can retire at 60!
Very nice article. Sweeping statements on true greats will be made only
by the ordinaries, mere ordinaries. A true champion like Glenn McGrath
says Sachin will know best when to go. Nirmal has always stayed positive
in the case of Sachin and has always been rewarded. I am very sure
Sachin will regain the magic before he retires.
(1) Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar is in news these days for the way he got out in the last three innings. Are we (those who post comments) the game experts? Answer is an emphatic NO. (2) If he has a desire to play and if he can prove that he is good enough to play for five days and also prove that so much of god cricket is still left in his game, we the public have no business to ‘advise’ him to do this or that. It is for the selection committee of BCCI to decide. Let us leave the decision to the selection committee of BCCI.
My heart felt very warm with the conclusion you made in the article. Let's
not say the cricket's demi-god what the future is. He made million of
hearts happy for almost quarter of century and shouldn't we leave a moment
to him to decide what to do?
The retirement is for everyone in every field. Sachin should understood
this. If you include Bedi and Venkatraghaven in Indian Cricket still
they are capable of taking wickets. Sachin should play as long as he is
entertaining the public and fans not the other way. Finally when is
retiring people should wonder why he is retiring. They should not
wondering why should not he retiring. Bye
To take a leaf out of Gavaskar's adage, 'Retire when people say why now, instead of why not?' I think Sachin has passed the 'why now' stage and will be out of the 'why not' stage unless he plays Afghanistan, Nepal, Bangladesh in that order. Kumble, Rahul and VVS have set the stage for graceful exit. Sachin grab the chance before the selection committe drops you without asking you.
The author seems to be clever. He wants to say that the time has come
for Sachin to retire but do not have the courage (generally he has loads
of it) to say openly. Let's accept the fact and not go by sentimental
values. Sachin, however great he may be, cannot be a Bhishma Pithamaga
who was blessed to select his date of date on his own terms and at the
time of his choice. Each day he prolongs his career, he should know that
he is delaying the career of a promising youngster.
Ardent cricket fans nowadays watch SRT with anxiety than expectation. With his long experience he may sparkle once or twice in the next few matches. But his best days are apparently over. It is for him and the selectors to assess.
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