Bharat Ratna Sachin Tendulkar has retired 7 years ago in December 2012 from one-day international, creating a void that no one can fill. He is not just a terrific player and God for all the cricket lovers but his contribution to the game of Cricket is much more than that.
At the age of 16, he represented India and from that point of time, he never looked back.
Everyone knows about his records and achievement so we can see a different aspect of his role towards cricket and uniting India.
The best aspect of Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar is that he was not only a great player but a great human being too with whom no one can be compared. When someone followed Sachin, he not only enjoyed his cricketing abilities but also his honesty and dedication.
In his 24 years of international career, no one can say that he heard Sachin using any foul language at the ground, the youth used to follow him and tries to adapt his nature so the best thing was that no one tries to use abusive language during a gully cricket also and everyone wanted to give response with performance but nowadays no matter how good a batsman is most of them are so money minded and arrogant that all of them uses foul language on the field ignoring the fact they are idols for crores of people and no player can be seen declining an advertisement of alcohol brand to set a good example.
Even if someone breaks his record then also he can’t be compared to Sachin, because the rules during Sachin’s time were very strict and scoring runs were difficult, in current scenario, there is no quality bowler exist which was during Tendulkar’s tenure, bowlers like Akram, Walsh, Akhtar, McGrath, Warne, and Lee were so deadly that no one can compare a single bowler of current teams with them.
At Sachin’s time team was dependent on him and he proved that he is the real fighter not only on the ground but off the ground too, in his career Sachin suffered various injuries including fatal injury like Tennis Elbow bit he overcome all the difficulty because of his desire for the goal he has set in his career to serve the nation and win the World Cup for India.
His role to unite India was quite similar to Gandhiji when he used to bat the whole nation watches him on TV and everyone celebrated his successful innings together. Where politicians and religion play a divisive role in that time Sachin unites country such was his contribution to India.
When a player like Brain Lara said that he wants his son to be like Sachin then we can easily understand the level of respect Sachin commands.
Aura of Sachin was such that great players like Dravid never got the fame which he deserved as he was playing during the era of Sachin. One may remember that Sachin and Dravid were playing their last CL20 match in finals for their respective teams but because of Sachin, Dravid was overshadowed.
Sachin was so humble that neither he nor his family members try to take advantage of his stature and never boasted about his position.
He was so disciplined that even during Chappel’s tenure a player of his stature accepted the coach’s decision that he will bat at number 4. Unfortunately, Sachin was wrongly given out in the 90’s run by umpires like Steve Buckner and D, Harper but unlike current-day crickets, he never showed any annoyance but he played the cricket just it was expected- a gentleman way!
When a kid used to watch Sachin, he not only leaned straight driver or the concept of letting your work do the talking but also patience, discipline, kindness, and flexibility.
When other players fight in media or the field while playing for a short span for the Indian team he played for team India for 24 years without any such controversy.
During these 24 years, most of these years were such when it was a one-man army and he has to deal with the pressure and expectation of all the world. When the cricket fixing scandal tarnished the image of cricket then his commitment and respect for the game of cricket became very prominent.
He was such a great player that no opposition player wanted to sledge him and whenever someone poked Sachin then he had to face the consequences just like Shoiab Akhtar and Andrew Caddick.
He was only the first player for whom rules were changed to include him in the team but it was he who became the first overseas cricketer to play for Yorkshire county, he started the culture of image buildup companies.
He refused for 1 whooping 35 crores deal of an alcohol brand advertisement considering that the fact it will give a wrong message to youth, a lesson taught to him bu his father.
He even showed his respect for cricket when he refused to an advertisement in which he was supposed to hit the ball with thread and said that he is not bigger than the game.
He was a bit superstitious and no never liked anyone to touch his kit and always kept an image of Lord Ganesha under his kit bag.
During 1999 he lost his father but he skipped only one match and came back to serve his country such was his love for the cricket and his country.
His humbleness was acknowledged all over the world, he got a standing ovation at the Lord’s, he also always respected his fand and everyone enjoyed the chant Sachin Sachin.
When he became MP, then also there was a controversy regarding his attendance but one should also know that the village he adopted in Nellore district is now open defection free and (under Sansad Adarsh gram yojana) is the most developed village adopted by any MP under that scheme, after completing his tenure as MP Sachin donated all his salary too.
So, comparing Sachin with any other player is easy but in reality, no other player can become even 10% of Sachin Tendulkar.
After 7 years of his retirement, there are still lakhs of cricket lovers who hate watching cricket as they no more see Sachin opening for team India.
Ashutosh Rabindra (Advocate,Studied at CLC,Faculty of Law and Kirori Mal College,DU)
