38 − The Sachin Sunset
He stands proudly for India and plays with his heart on his sleeve for the pride of his country. Not many people can have that position in a country’s psyche! - Brett Lee
demonstrated the sheer willpower of his mind to
When Tendulkar is the subject of discussion,
contribute to India’s cause at the expense of his
leaving out the views of one of the world’s greatest
a man for all reasons.”
has enjoyed many successful battles against the spin
natural ability to entertain.
“Tendulkar is not just a man for all seasons; he is Steve Waugh, the former Australian captain, who
was known for his grit and fighting spirit knows all
about the pressures of playing a cricket game. So much that he goes one step further in recognising and acknowledging the pressure and expectations
that Sachin carried in every game that he went out to play for India.
“It is very amazing just to think that Sachin has
been there for over 20 years on the top. That is
hard enough to do in any cricket side, but I think it
is doubly hard to do it when you are representing India and you are out there and 1.2 billion people are
watching and praying on every move that it is going to be positive. So to handle that sort of pressure you have to be mentally very strong. And I think he compartmentalises very well, so he can put things
in boxes and figure out things and concentrate on the job at hand. But at the same time his love for
batting is very important, he loves to score runs, he has got the unquenchable thirst for making runs and hundreds. He tends to relax between the balls pretty
well. So he has caught almost the unique focus where
he can concentrate for that split second when he has to and then he can tune off and that helps him bat long periods.”
spinners and the highest wicket-taker in Test history – Muttiah Muralitharan – would be unfair. Tendulkar
wizard, and Muralitharan sums it up best when he says the only way out against a rampaging Tendulkar was hoping he would commit a mistake.
“I was very impressed by Sachin when he was
very young; he was a very attacking batsman. And after that he became a great player and now he is one of the best players in the world. I don’t think
anybody will ever be able to break the record of 100 international hundreds.
“I have played against him and I must confess it
was really tough to bowl against him. You can’t find
weaknesses in Tendulkar because he is perfect when it comes to batting. And we can only hope that on
a particular day he does something wrong, and we can capitalise. Tendulkar has no weak area where you can bowl to, but human beings make mistakes
and we sometimes hope he does that too. But the best thing about Sachin is in how he has his feet on the ground. I think it is the most important thing
because however successful you are, you have to be humble. Sachin is humble. That is the way of life and that is how things come to you.”
Nobody sums up Tendulkar’s parting better than
Sourav Ganguly, the former Indian captain; someone Tendulkar had remarkable success with as an opener,