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ns in new window email like loading 6 comments from cricket one day test cricket my tendulkar experience november 3 2013 i like writing my tendulkar posts on days when he doesn t score too many that s when there is a lull in the torrent of posts about him this one is about the one time i experienced a tendulkar innings from about 100 yards from the action sure i d like to have been at perth on his maiden tour of australia but the only time i decided to brave the inhospitable conditions of watching a live match in india was to watch him the occasion the first test match of the south africa series in february 2000 at the wankhede in mumbai when a friend unexpectedly got passes the decision to forgo a day of academic enlightenment to watch a test match was an easy one to make the trip from the northern reaches of the city to the stadium was an unexpectedly long one and match was underway as we reached scrambling to locate the right gate for entry we noticed the lack of crowd noise having learnt that we were batting we feared the worst those were still the days when the indian batting was prone to abject collapses against pace bowling and the first day of a series against an attack comprising allan donald shaun pollock jacques kallis and lance klusener was a disaster waiting to happen from an indian spectator s perspective having entered the seating areas we heaved a sigh of relief after a bit of rubber necking told us that the indians had lost just the one wicket in the pre sehwag gambhir era our openers didn t really count so it was ok dravid and laxman were at the crease and keeping things largely unexciting by leaving as many as they could with my first and only experience of a live game i was amazed by a couple of things from our position at a wide long the keeper and slips stood to allan donald almost 70 of the way to the boundary and it was loud or so i thought then the general noise levels stopped in their tracks when white lightning snuck one through the defence of the wall and clattered the off stump from the time the off stump was disturbed as dravid started walking back to the pavilion amidst the whooping celebrations of the springboks it was like the 45 000 strong crowd had been frozen in its tracks as dravid reached no mans land beyond mid off but not quite long off there was a smattering of applause and then it began it sounded a low rumble like a bunch of super bees had descended on the stadium then a definite rhythm was audible in the rumble the chant grew louder as dravid reached the boundary the volume rising at an exponential rate the whole stadium was in a frenzy and then it happened mumbai s favourite son emerged from the pavilion the molded polyurethane pads the short squat stature the mrf blade the stadium erupted compared to this it had been quiet a moment ago a decibel level i have never experienced as 45 000 pairs of eyes followed him to the crease each pair of lungs seemed to want to outdo the next as if to eradicate any doubt about the cynosure of mass hysteria the chant went saaaachin sachin it was like the people of the city were making their claim known this is mumbai and this is sachin tendulkar the deafening chant followed him to the crease he looked up then took guard just before donald started his run it went quiet again i can t prove it but am fairly sure 45 000 breaths were held the delivery pitched on a good length and was met on the back foot with a straight bat the reassuring thud of bat on ball went around the stadium and all breathed again i was just in awe of an individual who was able to go about his business with a semblance of normalcy in that environment he went on to make a masterful 97 that day complete with drives cuts and pulls his dismissal 3 short of another century might seem like an anti climax but it was as if to round out the performance he had lived up to his expectation just about and was given a loud round of applause mixed with relief india were still behind the eight ball but he d scored runs and so it wasn t so bad it was only on my way home that i became aware of the hoarseness in my throat share this share on facebook opens in new window facebook share on x opens in new window x email a link to a friend opens in new window email like loading leave a comment from cricket all else is irrelevant october 30 2013 tags adidas australia border gavaskar cadbury s india sachin tendulkar test cricket there was this commercial that used to appear a few years ago in a world of identical looking promos this one struck a chord i ll explain after laying out the hindi storyboard with its attempted translation scene opens with a crowd quietly standing in front of a huge television screen all kinds of people in the crowd a few with the dabs of paint on their faces depicting the indian tricolor the camera pans across as they re anxiously looking at the screen a little girl oblivious to the tension in the air chomps away on a bar of chocolate there s a background score playing slow quiet male voice humko ye kisne chua hai who is this who has touched us a living room overflowing with people staring at the television background jadoo sa ye kya hua hai what magic is this a bus stop a kid in a bottlegreen school uniform bites into a bar of chocolate then shadow practices a straight drive shakes his head in disgust then does it again better this time then nods in self approval background khel ka rang chaane laga hai the game is everywhere a couple in their living room the guy is lost in concentration watching the screen bar of chocolate in one hand as his girlfriend slips the contents out of the wrapper and takes a bite background dil ki dhadkan badhaane laga hai setting the heart racing a barber salon tv in the corner showing the game this guy in the chair with u guessed it chocolate bar in hand watching intently the barber in true desi style twists this dude s head to one side the guy keeps turning his head towards the television who the hell gets a haircut when st is batting background andaaz badle hue hain changing everything local convenience store typical middle aged owner listening to radio kid asks for a chocolate when apparently a boundary is struck the owner signals four looks like he s saying its free kid grins and leaves background chaaron taraf mastiyaan hain everywhere we see its the joy of the game more scenes in living rooms people watching nervously then exploding into celebration hugs and high fives all around background chorus increasing in crescendo humko ye kisne chua haiiiiii who is this who has touched us final scene as everyone in the room celebrates this guy is kneeling at the tv screen as if to feed the batsman his chocolate bar please no pun intended finally the well recognized glasses of milk pouring to give cadbury s dairy milk chocolate background cadbury s dairy milk mazaa aa gaya damn right mazaa aa gaya that was fun now the reason it struck a chord this commercial was aired during the 2003 world cup and i can almost smell the coffee we used to brew at 4am central time in the morning to watch india s games i was to leave on vacation to india the next day and india was chasing an improbable 275 against pakistan to stay alive in the tournament after a quiet first over from akram shoaib to bowl the second to sachin ball 1 short wide quick st stretches and goes at it with everything ball takes the top edge they say its medically impossible but am pretty sure my heart stopped at that instant but the ball soars over thirdman into the crowd first ball and six ball 2 straight fast defended ball 3 good length outside off st punches of the backfoot through the covers four ball 4 just outside off left alone to the wicketkeeper ball 5 fast overpitched and on the pads dont bowl there clipped sublimely for four in front of square by this time the 7 of us in the room are bowing in reverence arms outstretched palms facing down am not kidding ball 6 good length straight st stands tall and plays defensively except that the ball races to the long on fence noone s supposed to be able to do that http content ind cricinfo com ci content story 130122 html 18 runs off the over sir donald bradman who end of the over the ad i just described in graphic detail appears now you know congratulations sachin tendulkar for taking over the mantle of highest run scorer in test match cricket the scale of achievement is not diminished just because it was only expected from a player who took the game to new heights who for the first decade and a half of his career shouldered the burden of carrying india s hopes alone and unflinching who never appeared bitter about the doubters who could never fathom what it was to walk out to bat with a nation holding its breath to be expected to turn the most impossible situations around to see opposing teams celebrate like the match was won when his was the only wicket to have fallen for maintaining dignity and showing class whether it was after a century or a zero for being a true champion can t help but recall the last line of a print ad i d seen in an adidas store some 9 years ago it went something like this try as i might can t seem to find the complete text of that ad this is a spurious reproduction when sachin bats captains and bowlers think and rethink their plans when sachin bats school kids forget about their homework when sachin bats housewives forget about their monthly household budgets when sachin bats all of india forgets its worries when sachin bats all else is irrelevant amen to that share this share on facebook opens in new window facebook share on x opens in new window x email a link to a friend opens in new window email like loading 22 comments from cricket test cricket sachin tendulkar match winner october 16 2013 tags england gautam gambhir india rahul dravid rbs cup sachin tendulkar test cricket virender sehwag yuvraj singh sachin tendulkar scored the final runs to achieve the target he scored an unbeaten 103 he scored his 41 st test century sachin tendulkar did not win india the test match in chennai in december 2008 day 4 evening session what if india s most attacking batsman missed an attempted sweep to be hit in the front of middle and leg stump to then be given out lbw day 5 morning session what if india s most dependable batsman last 3 series not included was caught behind off an outside edge early in the day day 5 morning session what if india s most prolific run scorer got an inside edge that then deflected off the thigh pad dropped to the ground feebly bouncing to hit the base of leg stump dislodging a solitary bail day 5 afternoon session what if the young but experienced indian batsman looking to prove his test credentials saw one hit the edge of the rough graze his glove and pop into silly point s hands day 5 evening session what if the first two happened the last three did not india won chasing down the highest ever total to win in the fourth innings at home would india have won had one or more of the last three happened the answer to that question holds the key to a debate that has raged for the most part of a decade and will likely continue for several to come the one that goes sachin tendulkar is not a match winner this post is not set to strike a blow for either side of the debate it aims to invalidate it indian cricket fans are not strangers to capitulation the chennai test that ended yesterday is one of the very rare counterpoints to the list of abject surrenders that have happened over several decades of test cricket all of them followed a pattern of the 6 or 7 batsmen comprising the lineup 1 or maybe 2 would set about the task in earnest blazing away at the target or inching towards it depending on style of batsmanship the rest would be picked apart mesmerized by the situation or beaten early in their innings the 2 batsmen who turn up for the contest would get an unplayable delivery courtesy a wearing pitch and the challenge would end well short of making significant contributions the ensuing post mortem would then hold its biggest batting names responsible for the defeat tendulkar invariably bearing the brunt as the most talented batsman in the world to not win games for his team traditional indian teams have been susceptible to one or two of several what ifs this one handled the four setbacks and kept batting in business as usual mode top teams find different ways of winning games match winners if defined as those that will win games while the other 9 10 on the roster do not turn up do not exist such performances will always be aberrations a search of cricket statistics to unearth lone 4 th innings centuries while other batsmen in the lineup score less than 50 to win will prove that point games are won by partnerships and by more than one of those yesterday s win would rank in the top 3 4 indian victories of all time it took 4 batsmen making meaningful contributions to win the match sehwag 83 gambhir 66 yuvraj 85 and tendulkar 103 sachin tendulkar is not a better batsman today because india won the match india won the match because their batting lineup showed backbone and sachin tendulkar remains today what he was the day before yesterday arguably the best batsman the game of cricket has seen share this share on facebook opens in new window facebook share on x opens in new window x email a link to a friend opens in new window email like loading 11 comments from cricket test cricket would you like to be reborn an indian september 14 2013 tags c p surendran india ramachandra guha batsmen walk out into the middle alone not tendulkar every time tendulkar walks to the crease a whole nation tatters and all marches with him to the battle arena a pauper people pleading for relief remission from the lifelong anxiety of being indian by joining in spirit their visored saviour wednesday or friday tendulkar lifts his gleaming bat points it like a sword towards the tv cameras after his customary hundred and a million hands go up in blessing and in begging pleading silently for redemption from the oppressive reality of their existence seeking a moment s liberation from their india bondage through the exhilarating grace of one accidental bat one billion hard pressed indians just one hero the poor indian lifts his hands to sachin tendulkar in supplication give us respite a sense of liberation lift us up from the dark pit of our lives to well lit places of the imagination with your skill wrought perfections give us an idea of what a light thing life ought to be take our blessings but give is a break please win win for us losers excerpt from an article titled would you be like to be reborn an indian c p surendran the sunday times of india 26th april 1998 future historians and those born after the mid nineties will be flummoxed by the unhealthy deification of merely a sportsperson some sense can be made from the points put forth in ramachandra guha s a corner of a foreign field the above excerpt has been sourced from the ...
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