Meta tags:
description= India-India-India Jai-Jai-Jai (i3j3);
Headings (most frequently used words):
this, share, the, posts, blog, cricket, i3j3, podcast, episode, and, twitter, i3j3cricket, of, indian, recent, top, for, fans, reality, meets, fiction, omnipravisent, sachin, tendulkar, bharat, ratna, arguments, god, argumentative, don, want, test, series, dear, cricketers, talk, more, please, ipl, was, fun, contributors, by, date, archive, all, pages, on, feeds, rss, buttons, sanjaysub, mohankaus, maheshkrishnan, blogroll, popular, links, meta, comments, clicks, mohan, musings, mahesh, brain, droppings, sanjay, board, games,
Text of the page (most frequently used words):
the (696), and (247), that (164), his (98), #cricket (94), for (93), tendulkar (84), was (84), this (72), have (68), india (67), not (64), had (52), they (50), will (49), new (48), are (46), has (46), #indian (45), there (45), game (42), with (42), from (42), opens (40), window (40), like (39), can (37), all (37), but (37), team (35), ipl (35), you (35), him (35), about (34), test (32), just (32), match (31), did (31), more (30), share (30), who (30), even (30), fans (29), been (29), them (29), many (28), played (27), one (27), their (26), when (25), series (24), email (23), comments (23), 2013 (23), posted (23), may (21), print (20), facebook (20), what (20), always (20), other (19), out (19), shastri (19), win (19), sachin (19), made (19), play (18), would (18), know (18), then (18), how (18), blog (17), people (17), man (17), were (17), perhaps (17), against (17), ravi (17), world (16), i3j3 (16), january (16), bharat (16), ratna (16), sport (16), now (15), day (15), australia (15), podcast (15), 2011 (15), after (15), much (15), also (15), greatness (15), players (14), dhoni (14), bcci (14), which (14), media (13), patel (13), 2008 (13), 2010 (13), 2012 (13), some (13), few (13), years (13), singh (12), england (12), 2007 (12), november (12), 2009 (12), talk (12), god (12), because (12), still (12), first (12), most (12), really (12), get (12), too (12), could (12), loading (11), link (11), than (11), don (11), episode (11), friend (11), got (11), right (11), down (11), over (11), our (11), only (11), retirement (11), career (11), award (11), i3j3cricket (10), com (10), games (10), pakistan (10), why (10), cricketers (10), want (10), fixing (10), tagged (10), same (10), himself (10), during (10), something (10), any (10), around (10), watched (10), never (10), view (9), last (9), july (9), yet (9), cannot (9), mohankaus (9), august (9), reality (9), jai (9), where (9), cricketer (9), think (9), should (9), does (9), next (9), time (9), tour (9), without (9), pleasure (9), these (9), art (9), tax (9), improbable (9), june (8), article (8), trophy (8), watch (8), february (8), september (8), october (8), fiction (8), your (8), here (8), long (8), end (8), said (8), playing (8), country (8), best (8), field (8), innings (8), wanted (8), through (8), pride (8), ground (8), feel (7), back (7), mohan (7), cup (7), kohli (7), odi (7), twitter (7), march (7), april (7), december (7), spot (7), into (7), big (7), later (7), maybe (7), days (7), bring (7), life (7), every (7), almost (7), although (7), retired (7), part (7), contributions (7), service (7), rabble (7), tension (7), must (6), mumbai (6), home (6), chennai (6), icc (6), again (6), contributors (6), posts (6), sports (6), times (6), popular (6), tweets (6), 2017 (6), arguments (6), rajiv (6), modi (6), case (6), say (6), happened (6), nothing (6), year (6), sure (6), though (6), wasn (6), fan (6), yes (6), questions (6), indians (6), asked (6), going (6), two (6), underdogs (6), announcement (6), men (6), crafted (6), ever (6), sense (6), walk (6), once (6), runs (6), towards (6), highest (6), unprecedented (6), army (6), professionals (6), lose (6), wordpress (5), sehwag (5), khan (5), come (5), show (5), mouth (5), clamps (5), reso (5), sydney (5), better (5), argumentative (5), course (5), under (5), krishnan (5), shukla (5), lalit (5), league (5), being (5), else (5), before (5), old (5), least (5), answer (5), make (5), someone (5), those (5), loved (5), eyes (5), international (5), couldn (5), might (5), fact (5), give (5), won (5), follow (5), internet (5), close (5), public (5), wicket (5), wickets (5), within (5), land (5), bat (5), ball (5), seen (5), four (5), order (5), either (5), given (5), 200th (5), heard (5), quite (5), numbers (5), expected (5), see (5), victory (5), music (5), hearts (5), literature (5), science (5), seek (5), endeavour (5), exceptional (5), advancement (5), villagers (5), australian (5), british (5), run (5), plot (5), twists (5), log (4), subscribe (4), already (4), pandemic (4), board (4), mahesh (4), heroes (4), news (4), harbhajan (4), tours (4), teams (4), yuvraj (4), laxman (4), kumar (4), gavaskar (4), bangladesh (4), top (4), statements (4), mohank (4), thought (4), let (4), post (4), krishnamoorthy (4), bagrat (4), another (4), pay (4), while (4), weak (4), nobody (4), situation (4), everyone (4), mean (4), need (4), selected (4), hours (4), own (4), wife (4), accept (4), take (4), love (4), batsman (4), left (4), football (4), past (4), trying (4), bagrat15 (4), social (4), getting (4), possible (4), matter (4), able (4), move (4), different (4), occasional (4), way (4), good (4), captain (4), front (4), question (4), look (4), second (4), bunch (4), start (4), point (4), beacon (4), hope (4), moment (4), young (4), 241 (4), leg (4), hold (4), sporting (4), talent (4), needs (4), middle (4), often (4), opinion (4), human (4), fall (4), industry (4), very (4), beautifully (4), single (4), bit (4), result (4), arm (4), decision (4), recognition (4), unlike (4), experienced (4), government (4), receive (4), exemption (4), performance (4), speech (4), head (4), task (4), nations (4), achieved (4), pant (4), bhuvan (4), huge (4), dreaming (4), surely (4), desperate (4), website (3), name (3), report (3), sign (3), create (3), video (3), support (3), makes (3), meeting (3), richards (3), shane (3), bradman (3), humour (3), cricinfo (3), chappell (3), zimbabwe (3), south (3), africa (3), zaheer (3), pathan (3), selection (3), t20 (3), ganguly (3), future (3), dravid (3), fun (3), celebrate (3), recent (3), raj (3), seat (3), cricketing (3), sanjaysub (3), 2021 (3), please (3), jan (3), date (3), send (3), read (3), above (3), resign (3), away (3), fellow (3), aside (3), takes (3), pace (3), everywhere (3), owner (3), non (3), sit (3), seats (3), themselves (3), others (3), involved (3), beyond (3), accepts (3), believe (3), debate (3), handed (3), assume (3), vested (3), goes (3), didn (3), seemed (3), saw (3), conversation (3), allowed (3), watching (3), parallel (3), movie (3), 1990s (3), seems (3), self (3), off (3), deserve (3), ourselves (3), figure (3), minutes (3), champions (3), mahendra (3), issue (3), neck (3), brand (3), mentioned (3), inside (3), story (3), expectations (3), tests (3), between (3), virat (3), form (3), arrival (3), context (3), written (3), such (3), bowler (3), battle (3), find (3), place (3), dungarpur (3), knew (3), hard (3), specific (3), carefully (3), moved (3), 194 (3), 155 (3), conclusion (3), drive (3), says (3), 1996 (3), national (3), selectors (3), stay (3), ought (3), forms (3), three (3), choice (3), earned (3), pujara (3), bouncer (3), ignores (3), finished (3), 1999 (3), whether (3), wrote (3), agree (3), doubt (3), 2004 (3), cape (3), town (3), 1998 (3), score (3), announced (3), faced (3), boy (3), beautiful (3), gave (3), myself (3), box (3), routine (3), worked (3), secret (3), far (3), indeed (3), less (3), assured (3), tense (3), early (3), australians (3), mark (3), poise (3), focus (3), longevity (3), stood (3), promised (3), centuries (3), winning (3), simply (3), example (3), impact (3), gandharva (3), argument (3), sportspeople (3), balls (3), enable (3), understand (3), artists (3), live (3), especially (3), person (3), citizen (3), greatest (3), talked (3), car (3), functioning (3), ferrari (3), well (3), level (3), policy (3), previous (3), batsmen (3), english (3), ramble (3), border (3), several (3), draught (3), bear (3), cinema (3), barrage (3), aggression (3), mounts (3), edge (3), cocky (3), ensure (3), fit (3), required (2), site (2), reader (2), content (2), subscribed (2), account (2), couple (2), sanjay (2), windows (2), azure (2), modern (2), patterns (2), cloud (2), talks (2), tech (2), london (2), trek (2), changabang (2), wish (2), boxing (2), ranji (2), viv (2), strauss (2), shoaib (2), ponting (2), mohammed (2), hussey (2), hayden (2), smith (2), gilchrist (2), brett (2), lee (2), andrew (2), rohit (2), prem (2), panicker (2), nasser (2), hussain (2), ian (2), advertisement (2), commentary (2), 136 (2), viswanath (2), tie (2), sledging (2), sixes (2), six (2), referee (2), sri (2), lanka (2), bowl (2), coach (2), select (2), west (2), indies (2), wasim (2), jaffer (2), vvs (2), symonds (2), sharma (2), raina (2), zealand (2), kumble (2), gambhir (2), badrinath (2), criteria (2), events (2), mary (2), bhara (2), greece (2), powerball (2), res (2), ala (2), feed (2), morning (2), newspaper (2), express (2), videos (2), eye (2), brilliant (2), blogs (2), maheshkrishnan (2), 2014 (2), hang (2), anyway (2), dear (2), omnipravisent (2), meets (2), respectively (2), older (2), srinivasan (2), dalmia (2), save (2), ousted (2), trouble (2), court (2), lost (2), director (2), group (2), ways (2), office (2), broken (2), wants (2), put (2), becomes (2), steps (2), responsibility (2), credibility (2), soon (2), xyz (2), cements (2), csk (2), interesting (2), crisis (2), betting (2), law (2), cries (2), deal (2), imperfect (2), work (2), tell (2), ridiculous (2), sound (2), son (2), doesn (2), happy (2), grow (2), jokes (2), joke (2), thinks (2), original (2), season (2), multiple (2), until (2), night (2), based (2), speak (2), happens (2), kid (2), freely (2), meet (2), hands (2), knowing (2), buy (2), park (2), journalists (2), burning (2), air (2), etc (2), ask (2), ravindra (2), jadeja (2), monkey (2), birthday (2), wonderful (2), gives (2), idols (2), impossible (2), outside (2), showing (2), bowling (2), exactly (2), went (2), table (2), finals (2), unanswered (2), sitting (2), press (2), leaving (2), forget (2), breathing (2), lives (2), drawing (2), peaceful (2), 200 (2), true (2), across (2), length (2), its (2), ago (2), substance (2), squeeze (2), 2nd (2), stories (2), card (2), tea (2), neither (2), bad (2), player (2), fly (2), century (2), month (2), fine (2), diary (2), today (2), travel (2), matches (2), built (2), history (2), build (2), environment (2), attempts (2), alter (2), constant (2), legend (2), views (2), anecdotes (2), twirl (2), become (2), turning (2), continue (2), measure (2), comfort (2), numbness (2), gone (2), 1989 (2), argued (2), raged (2), plays (2), shot (2), equally (2), importantly (2), curly (2), haired (2), lad (2), discussion (2), 111 (2), 177 (2), debates (2), fast (2), cut (2), slips (2), focused (2), flick (2), deep (2), imagine (2), since (2), questioned (2), took (2), manchester (2), earlier (2), called (2), somewhat (2), rich (2), luxury (2), duty (2), replace (2), respect (2), found (2), rahul (2), steady (2), 2003 (2), final (2), whole (2), siddhartha (2), vaidyanathan (2), occasion (2), itself (2), polarizes (2), opinions (2), having (2), 1992 (2), months (2), admiration (2), perth (2), space (2), wonder (2), wide (2), eyed (2), grown (2), mind (2), cause (2), simple (2), famous (2), pre (2), stance (2), adjustment (2), helmet (2), assurance (2), retire (2), felt (2), seem (2), interest (2), things (2), care (2), side (2), anti (2), eden (2), gardens (2), worn (2), number (2), jersey (2), timing (2), elegance (2), balance (2), grace (2), technique (2), determination (2), power (2), dominance (2), imperiousness (2), confidence (2), arrogance (2), consistency (2), awareness (2), essence (2), tear (2), bereft (2), blemish (2), giver (2), brought (2), strokes (2), enough (2), politicians (2), gratitude (2), talking (2), saaaaaachin (2), writes (2), bold (2), bright (2), bowlers (2), class (2), opportunity (2), risky (2), words (2), appeared (2), dna (2), gained (2), clear (2), transcend (2), complex (2), high (2), caste (2), endurance (2), kids (2), wankhede (2), generation (2), cure (2), peace (2), making (2), integrity (2), late (2), notes (2), hit (2), ordinary (2), provide (2), ability (2), permanence (2), excellence (2), javelin (2), limits (2), mere (2), children (2), model (2), compared (2), great (2), gary (2), sobers (2), warne (2), longer (2), accident (2), perfectly (2), loud (2), permission (2), gym (2), house (2), presentation (2), received (2), clause (2), addition (2), reporting (2), honour (2), wording (2), rewording (2), homes (2), arguably (2), wept (2), heart (2), touch (2), childhood (2), include (2), awarded (2), squad (2), overs (2), gotham (2), city (2), third (2), both (2), promoted (2), fortnight (2), listen (2), paddy (2), padmanabhan (2), vish (2), ashwin (2), fortress (2), breached (2), hide (2), feels (2), swell (2), overjoyed (2), severe (2), prolonged (2), fittingly (2), drenched (2), rain (2), lifted (2), double (2), blessing (2), mental (2), fortitude (2), handle (2), hits (2), rush (2), onto (2), tears (2), streaming (2), extraordinary (2), odds (2), difficult (2), handedly (2), remaining (2), easily (2), highly (2), pint (2), sized (2), dynamo (2), sheer (2), impudence (2), suddenly (2), worried (2), looks (2), actually (2), damn (2), measures (2), smallest (2), margins (2), ismail (2), chase (2), steadied (2), partners (2), target (2), triumph (2), break (2), eerie (2), unbearable (2), theatre (2), thighs (2), flesh (2), total (2), rock (2), batted (2), massive (2), barely (2), assembled (2), mountain (2), climb (2), haven (2), asking (2), belong (2), write, comment, collapse, bar, manage, subscriptions, privacy, join, subscribers, free, weeks, shelves, aug, sep, heroscape, quest, datacenters, finally, architecture, ndc, slides, qcw, implementing, brain, droppings, elusive, bagini, glacier, details, mountains, calling, marathon, runners, idea, etiquette, responding, emails, requests, champagne, bottle, pangarchula, appearances, deceptive, experience, shruti, kapoor, 2024, musings, uncategorized, u19, purpose, pronunciation, peter, lalor, wessels, vettori, vaughan, vaas, umar, gul, tshabalala, tremlett, tait, stuart, clark, steyn, steve, waugh, sohail, sidebottom, malik, akhtar, bond, ranatunga, pollock, pietersen, philander, ntini, muralitharan, morne, morkel, yousuf, asif, misbah, haq, micheal, clarke, michael, holding, lillee, lara, langevelt, kallis, duminy, jeff, dujon, jayawardene, jayasuriya, inzamam, hoggard, harmison, greame, gibbs, gayle, flintoff, fleming, collingwood, brad, hogg, afridi, pictures, paper, round, highlights, tony, cozier, brijnath, roebuck, sivaramakrishnan, harsha, bhogle, gower, david, lloyd, bruce, yardley, boycott, blofeld, commentators, jim, maxwell, superkings, former, current, mello, 135, taufel, aleem, dar, umpire, scheduling, racism, minnows, chris, broad, fielding, endorsements, vista, scorecard, gadget, download, scotland, ireland, 124, canada, bermuda, 156, 021, category, yusuf, vengsarkar, uthappa, twenty20, sreesanth, praveen, powar, piyush, chawla, parthiv, murali, kartik, munaf, manoj, tiwary, kaif, ishant, irfan, greg, dinesh, karthik, agarkar, none, clicks, gautam, bungles, opener, approach, rubbishes, loose, iccwt20c, groupings, points, key, jimmy, nessham, uk49s, results, votegriffin, eskillsweb, pity, 6ta, carson, reed, brody, dynamics, telegram, salesove, entries, meta, telegraph, herald, hindu, guardian, bbc, sportstar, rediff, mid, links, unplugged, tryst, boundary, rider, samir, chopra, reflects, quiz, pavillion, mataram, nice, bro, misfield, kunal, nanda, keecricket, kartikeya, homer, cents, web, fever, fanatic, betfair, blogroll, plain, text, feeds, rss, buttons, pages, archive, mohali, worse, whose, resource, extraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, 2026, submit, review, submission, appropriate, i3j3guest, blogesh, smangalam, ajit_bhaskar, ajit, bhaskar, srikanth, mangalam, subrahmanyan, search, phew, saved, jagmohan, absolutely, funny, laughed, corruption, banned, leagues, sole, runner, hid, pulling, fight, charges, sued, claims, bankrupt, staying, expired, visa, president, business, awesome, floor, chairs, stand, solve, problem, attitude, dude, coffee, machine, working, ownership, dented, whaaa, resigned, commissioner, conjure, blogpost, breakthrough, everybody, fired, bullets, substitutions, chief, goer, follower, fellows, elected, occupied, supposed, bark, doing, anything, owners, enthusiast, crore, punished, arms, bookies, placed, bets, denies, blames, somebody, misusing, contact, foul, actors, dialogues, scandal, rulebook, allowing, towels, fix, properly, forgot, signal, scenario, insiders, came, means, age, importance, drs, appoint, shreya, ghoshal, sweet, interests, loss, losing, decade, lied, plugging, ears, screaming, otherwise, puppeteer, cric, premier, rather, erase, evidences, exclaiming, fixed, jinxed, whenever, fishy, tihar, wait, judgment, till, sources, inform, watchful, majesty, highness, holyness, sir, lord, ignorance, rajat, images, courtesy, hindustantimes, southasiabiz, domestic, chased, practice, hello, nayan, mongia, nets, comparison, worry, answered, coming, shake, photo, luck, vegetables, chair, whistling, tune, universe, chained, slaves, candid, interviews, spoke, openly, issues, cleared, speculations, answers, informed, eat, hyderabadi, restaurant, likes, awadhi, cuisine, allergic, totally, basketball, nba, use, interact, houses, alike, noticed, joined, engaging, millions, freedom, connect, respond, obsessed, universities, promotions, horses, festival, wishes, kind, checking, scores, stumps, fandom, billion, atleast, idolize, mimic, batting, styles, call, each, dream, spending, boils, emotions, jump, railings, bouncers, explain, caribbean, subash, jayaraman, methods, amazingly, tilted, favour, replied, secrets, yourself, 101, conference, reeling, allegations, 100, floating, super, kings, employee, stakeholder, microphone, facing, hushed, manager, related, escape, hardly, excessive, attention, help, groceries, stores, autograph, pep, photograph, revered, breadth, ambassador, television, dreams, wright, thompson, espn, trip, crowded, airport, airplane, shops, wherever, icon, describing, incident, meaning, frankly, thrill, fare, excitement, amounts, dress, matters, wrap, bow, present, truth, lie, bare, meaningless, framed, deciding, winner, meant, fluke, 150, haul, beat, leveled, 3rd, hell, word, scorecards, lines, saeed, ajmal, clean, slate, scored, hmmph, knows, repeat, performed, sake, she, fill, visit, suitcases, week, rivalry, academic, scoreboards, arrives, settle, food, climate, atmosphere, crowd, sketched, climax, anyone, guess, memorable, duels, ones, taken, describe, volumes, books, memories, emerging, corners, event, attract, conversations, hair, raising, excerpts, creep, glare, fielder, expectant, spicier, biting, dogs, reducing, carcass, legends, unexpected, author, unabashed, blogspot, http, www, meanwhile, unabated, cheat, throw, procured, throughout, lived, cocooned, warm, sadness, enhanced, appreciation, 2000, saga, abandon, learned, line, pockets, sportsperson, nay, pick, enthusiastic, instead, hour, sight, meandered, arrive, meaningful, necessary, rage, straight, colleague, upper, arched, slightly, inclined, foot, covers, casual, square, job, done, except, marginally, zest, nurture, artist, axe, wood, chopper, overstay, welcome, indicated, departure, loses, stalwarts, fell, swoop, arrogantly, endlessly, pipeline, affords, brutal, revolving, door, keen, disrobe, clearly, chat, extended, continued, notwithstanding, member, stable, replacements, cheteshwar, replacement, sourav, suresh, ajinkya, rahane, mixed, success, integral, used, thinking, criticize, hadn, skied, mcgrath, reached, bruised, helped, stayed, endless, quotes, jay, comes, smell, balancing, finest, threads, occasionally, pounce, imposing, seize, moments, clutch, quit, constitutes, knocks, list, unique, johannesburg, nottingham, 169, 1997, bloemfontein, 2001, 193, leeds, 2002, multan, 154, 119, stage, 148, company, awe, growing, braved, craig, mcdermott, merv, hughes, paul, rieffel, mike, whitney, tom, moody, 114, defining, however, enthusiasm, clay, feet, sometimes, grew, stature, midst, ups, statesman, cruelly, endulkar, 2006, rough, patch, beings, joy, routinely, thrashed, uncomplicated, untainted, joyous, pure, acceptance, happen, assuring, replaced, vigorous, visor, wipe, belongs, calm, pavilion, ramp, skyward, purposefully, guard, perform, sensed, prepared, engineered, blatantly, beast, created, ogre, continually, endure, invested, prolonging, open, worst, kept, landscape, growth, decline, innuendo, handshakes, planning, mattered, filled, merchants, product, architects, advertising, honchos, launch, statistics, stake, announce, possibly, deliberately, constructed, pains, large, discourse, limited, black, white, apparently, moron, ignorant, bum, held, pro, champion, particularly, confident, soundly, ridiculed, significantly, five, bangalore, visiting, 214, missed, majestic, 146, knock, occasions, oval, mcg, thursday, ten, prefixed, surname, turn, defined, heady, confluence, intent, qualities, extensive, distinguished, marked, violent, disagreements, automatically, polarized, accepted, definition, eager, size, analysis, hero, outlasted, claimed, rest, causes, wins, wouldn, count, labeled, selfish, produce, fluent, purchase, dvd, desert, storm, evaluated
Text of the page (random words):
r lit the hearts of a million people through making many runs continuously in the most trying circumstances a whole generation of indian cricketers and indian sportspeople wanted to play with pride poise productivity and promise like tendulkar who was a beacon of integrity and hope when india suffered agonizingly through the match fixing crisis that paralyzed the sport in the late 1990s kumar gandharva just sang notes many notes and beautifully but bharat ratna for the record i adore kumar gandharva s music and his contributions i developed the above parallel argument just to demonstrate how facile patel s argument is there can be no doubting tendulkar s contributions the impact of his work is harder to measure but there are statements of impact that can be made most kids would say that they want to bat like tendulkar everywhere i have watched the game he has been a draw card people come to watch him play he has been cheered on most international arenas he has played in audiences at the melbourne cricket ground the lords and antigua anticipate his arrival at the crease and cheer him as much as the crowds at the wankhede the eden gardens or chepauk do just as many aspiring musicians wanted to sing like bhimsen joshi or m s subbulakshmi almost every cricketer of the next generation wanted to play the game like tendulkar not only in india but around the world yes tendulkar never found a cure for aids nor did he advocate world peace but neither did bismillah khan there is no doubt that tendulkar is a popular choice but he is in my view a clear example of how not everything that is popular is necessarily of lesser value his contributions transcend the many divides and boundaries we have in our complex and layered society rich poor urban rural haves havenots high caste low caste popular esoteric aristocrats plebiscites and his contributions to his field have an unmatched endurance in the past the bharat ratna award has been handed out to recipients as though they were recognition for favours not contributions rendered for example 23 of our 41 bharat ratna awardees are politicians it is easy to see why the prestige and uniqueness of the award itself has been sullied by giving sachin tendulkar the bharat ratna my view is that the award has once again gained credibility mohan mohank share this share on x opens in new window x share on facebook opens in new window facebook print opens in new window print email a link to a friend opens in new window email like loading 4 comments posted in cricket tagged bharat ratna cricket india tendulkar god and the argumentative indian posted on 12 october 2013 by mohankaus 5 comments this article first appeared in dna on 11 oct 2013 in two parts part 1 and part 2 i once had the opportunity to travel from mumbai to singapore with raj singh dungarpur he was on his way to new zealand as a representative of the bcci at an icc meeting during our conversation i asked him what his best decision was almost before i could finish my question he said selecting sachin tendulkar to play for india and added with a twinkle in his eye although if you had seen him play as often i had it wasn t really a risky decision it was bold but not risky and mark my words any investment in tendulkar will always pay off raj singh dungarpur akash lal ramesh saxena gundappa viswanath and naren tamhane selected a young bright eyed squeaky voiced curly haired teenager to represent india in pakistan a young and determined 16 year old sachin tendulkar played against a tough pakistan team on 15 november 1989 a pakistan team that had three genuine pace bowlers in wasim akram wakar younis and imran khan and a world class leg spinner in abdul qadir almost twenty four years after that bold decision tendulkar will retire from international cricket after having played 200 test matches and in these 24 years almost as often as we have heard the chant saaaaaachin saaaaaachin we have also had tendulkar embody the very essence of the argumentative indian rahul bhattacharya captures this beautifully in his piece man child superstar in which he writes if the strokes are flowing spectators feel something beyond pleasure they feel something like gratitude the silence that greets his dismissal is about the loudest sound in sport with tendulkar the discussion is not how he got out but why susceptible to left arm spin to the inswinger to the big occasion the issue is not about whether it was good or not but where does it rank a tendulkar innings is never over when it is over it is simply a basis for negotiation he might be behind headphones or helmet but outside people are talking shouting fighting conceding bargaining waiting he is a national habit tendulkar never promised us that he would lead india to victory in every match he played yet we wanted him to no we expected him to no we made him mortal if he did not we expected more from tendulkar than we did from even our politicians tendulkar never promised that at 40 he would produce the fluent strokes he played when he was 28 yet we always expected the tendulkar of old or the tendulkar of 1998 we could of course purchase a dvd of the famous desert storm series and see that tendulkar of old but that wasn t enough it was as though even time stood still when we evaluated tendulkar we could not accept an ageing tendulkar and watch the tendulkar of now for the argumentative indian if tendulkar did not reproduce his shots from 1998 he did not deserve to be in the team in 2013 tendulkar himself never promised us that all his centuries would be made in winning causes yet we expected his centuries to always result in india wins or else those centuries wouldn t count or we labeled him a selfish cricketer tendulkar himself never claimed he was god but we made him god and then the rest of us brought him down bit by bit in the end analysis though in a country that is somewhat bereft of sporting heroes tendulkar the hero has outlasted the argumentative indian crafted a career without a single blemish and stood as a beacon of hope and a giver of pleasure perhaps that is the mark of his greatness in the indian context greatness in sport in india is perhaps not defined by the heady confluence of elegance balance poise grace technique focus determination power dominance imperiousness confidence occasional arrogance consistency longevity awareness and intent he has been all of that over a long career he has had all of those qualities over an extensive and distinguished career perhaps greatness in the indian sporting context has to be marked by violent disagreements on the very essence of that greatness what exactly that greatness is about his greatness should have been automatically assured yet in india tendulkar has always polarized opinion and that perhaps ought to be the accepted definition of greatness in a country that needs heroes but is equally eager to tear them down and cut them down to size every now and then sachin tendulkar announced his retirement from all forms of cricket on thursday 10 10 2013 the fact that he had always worn the number 10 india jersey may have had something to do with the timing of his retirement on this day or maybe it was the ten that prefixed his surname which in turn may have earned him the number 10 jersey early on in his career the one other date that may have worked better for him from the point of view of the numbers would have been 10 10 10 if he had retired on 10 october 2010 he may have retired some five years too early indeed on that very day he was 44 not out at bangalore against the visiting australians he went on to make a beautifully crafted 214 in that match if he had retired on 10 10 10 we would have also missed his majestic 146 that he made at cape town on 4 january 2011 that cape town knock was his last test century although after that he did come close to the 3 figure mark on a few occasions a 91 against england at the oval in 2011 a 94 against west indies in mumbai in 2011 a beautifully crafted 73 against australia at the mcg in 2011 a 76 against england at the eden gardens in 2012 and an 81 against australia at chennai in 2013 so on 10 10 2013 he has in my view retired two years too early i say that although i am confident that my view is going to be questioned quite soundly and ridiculed significantly but that is what you get when you have an opinion on tendulkar there is no middle ground you are either pro or anti tendulkar he polarizes opinions like no other champion players does particularly in india as siddhartha vaidyanathan says in a post on tendulkar what pains me is how a large part of discourse on the internet is so limited to black and white you are apparently either for sachin or against him if you question his place in the side you are a moron who has no right to express an opinion or an ignorant bum who has never held a bat in his life or someone with a vested interest for all talk that he didn t care about numbers and statistics numbers did seem to matter to the man or at least to the people around him who had a stake in him and many did so the choice of 10 10 2013 to announce his retirement was possibly deliberately crafted and carefully constructed like the 241 he made in sydney in january 2004 numbers may not have mattered to the man but they did to the industry around the man and there is an industry around the man an industry that seems filled with brand merchants product architects advertising honchos and people who launch things perhaps i ought to have said there was an industry around him i would if i can bring myself to talk about god in the past tense i cannot at least not yet numbers did seem to matter he worked hard to get to that 200th test whether he did so because he wanted to himself or because of the people who had invested in him who had a vested interest in prolonging his career we will never know but it had been an open secret for far too long that he would play on until his 200th test and that that 200th test would be played in india indeed it was the worst kept secret in the indian cricket landscape an environment that seems to have a steady growth and not a decline in innuendo and secret handshakes and less and less of assured planning and fact that his retirement in a home series was engineered so blatantly by his cricket board just makes the cricket world sit up again and wonder at the beast at the icc table that we indian fans have created the ogre that we continually endure and support so how did you feel when you heard of the news of tendulkar s retirement me although i sensed since the start of this year that tendulkar would retire after his 200th test and even though i was prepared for the announcement i felt a numbness when i heard the news i cannot imagine an india test team without tendulkar i cannot quite bring myself to accept that someone else will now walk in at the fall of the second wicket there was always a calm sense of assurance that sachin tendulkar would walk to the middle at the fall of the second wicket that he would walk down the pavilion steps or ramp look skyward squeeze his eyes walk purposefully to the wicket take guard and perform his pre stance box adjustment routine that was assurance it gave me comfort and i cannot yet bring myself to accept that the now famous and always assuring pre stance box adjustment routine will now be replaced by the vigorous bat twirl and inside of the helmet visor wipe routine that belongs to virat kohli that acceptance may happen too only because it must tendulkar had given me and many others like me much joy in the 1990s when india got routinely thrashed all around the world he gave me cause to celebrate because of the way he played the game his cricket was simple uncomplicated and beautiful his cricket was untainted and joyous his cricket was pure i had watched with admiration and pride as he grew in stature he was first a kid playing in the midst of grown ups then a boy then a lad then a man and then a god in his country and then a statesman in world cricket he did not want to be a god mind you we made him god and the same people who made him god cruelly called him endulkar in 1996 2006 when he was going through a rough patch as all human beings must and do but that was us fans this god did have clay feet sometimes in the end however there was only one constant he had always played the beautiful game with the same wide eyed enthusiasm he only wanted to play he knew no other life i had watched him score 119 in manchester yes that innings that really announced his arrival on the world stage i was in england in those days a few months later i moved to australia and there i watched every ball he faced when he made 148 in sydney in january 1992 in the company of ravi shastri but more importantly a month later i watched in awe with pride and a growing sense of admiration as he braved the pace of craig mcdermott merv hughes paul rieffel mike whitney and tom moody when he made 114 in perth i had watched the young boy grow up to be a man and then a legend all in the space of 18 months during that defining perth innings a boy wonder had become a man that is to date the best innings i have watched tendulkar play or is it was it that 241 in sydney in 2004 or the 111 in johannesburg in november 1992 or the 177 in nottingham in 1996 or the 169 in cape town in 1997 or the 155 against australia in chennai in 1998 or the 155 in bloemfontein in 2001 or the 193 in leeds in 2002 or the 194 in multan in 2004 or the 154 in sydney in that test in 2008 there are too many wonderful knocks to list but talk about the best tendulkar innings always polarizes opinions like talk about the man himself and that is what you get by having an opinion on tendulkar there is no unique answer was that 241 his best or was it that 194 perhaps that is the point about greatness we can t quit agree on what constitutes greatness although there can t be much doubt on greatness itself and then there were the endless debates on whether tendulkar played for himself or for his team siddhartha vaidyanathan wrote on tendulkar and the clutch question in which he quotes his friend jay who said most fans agree on what is a big game and what is not there comes a time during these big games when most fans smell the moment the moment when the game is balancing on the finest of threads i have seen tendulkar occasionally sense the moment and pounce on it imposing his greatness on the occasion but i feel i ve seen him not seize these moments more often perhaps these arguments would never have happened if tendulkar had finished the game off and won that chennai test against pakistan in 1999 what that ignores is that there were a whole bunch of players who could have stayed with and helped a bruised tendulkar win that game for india perhaps these arguments won t have happened if tendulkar hadn t skied that mcgrath bouncer in the 2003 world cup final what that ignores is that it was perhaps because of tendulkar tha...
|
