“Thank God, I won’t be around when he is 25” said Allan Border who was
as tough as they came
Woorkheri Raman24-Apr-2001″Thank God, I won’t be around when he is 25″ said Allan Border who was
as tough as they came. A lot of great achievers in cricket have
lavished praise on this young man who has already written himself into
the all-time great list. Despite all the statements made by many, this
young man’s ability and genius was best described by the late Raman
Lamba at a time when this young man was barely becoming aware of a few
hairs bursting through the upper lip. It was in the 1988-89 season
that a young prodigy took the domestic circuit by storm with his
batting. Towards the end of the season the Tamil Nadu and Delhi sides
landed at the airport in Bangalore to play each other in the Wills
Trophy. Delhi had just then played against Bombay in the Ranji Trophy
and the youngster made a big impact in a high profile game.As one who had read about this young man, I casually asked Lamba for
his impression on the youngster. He said, “Even if he loses half his
ability on the way up, he will still end up as a world beater.” That
was some assessment from a man like Raman Lamba who was always
forthright. By now I am certain that the readers would be aware of who
I am referring to as ‘the young man’. Of course, he is none other than
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. He is without doubt the most popular
cricketer in India and not that his popularity is any less in other
countries.I first came across Sachin during the Irani Trophy match in 1989
before the tour of Pakistan. He was in his mid-teens then but what
struck me first up was the confidence and hunger in his eyes. He
struck me as a shy youngster but boy could he bat even then! We had a
couple of partnerships in that game and the way he batted both against
the medium pacers as well as the spinners was something special. He
was picked for the tour of Pakistan and by a strange coincidence the
champion was fated to make his debut in the arch rival’s country. He
made a modest debut but the swift way he adapted himself to the
demands of international cricket was peerless. Imran Khan took great
delight in going after this little boy during that tour and towards
the end Tendulkar ended up in winning the admiration of “Khan Sahib”
as Imran was referred to by his team-mates.Tendulkar’s obsession with cricket is illustrated best by one
particular incident. A few of us went to a bat manufacturing company
and the manufacturer agreed to make a few bats for Tendulkar. The
delivery of the bats were delayed by a day or two due to unavoidable
reasons but the delay was too much for the little boy to bear. The
result was that he started walking in his sleep and went from room to
room to find out if the bats were delivered to the wrong room by
mistake! Eventually the bats arrived and with that Tendulkar’s sleep
walking ceased. Sachin did show his impish side as well by taking the
Mickey out of Salil Ankola as often as he could. For some reason
Sachin always preferred the medium pacers to play his pranks,
especially in his early days.It would be a futile exercise to reiterate Tendulkar’s achievements,
but the impact he has made on the younger generation and the way he
has conducted himself is much more appreciable. Every youngster wishes
to emulate this little champion and in fact the parents try and nudge
their wards into becoming a cricketer like Tendulkar. In this context
it would be worthwhile to mention that Tendulkar has made a lot of
sacrifices to reach where he is today. The flip side of being
Tendulkar is that he finds it difficult to take a stroll on the roads
even in his home city. In a couple of years time, he will have to
venture out on the roads to buy his children some ice-cream and that
will not be an easy task.Today he is celebrating his 28th birthday and I take this opportunity
to wish him a very happy birthday. It won’t be long before he has to
get back to duty and he is happy playing cricket and happier winning
matches for the country. He is at his prime having notched up 25
centuries in both forms of the game and everyone can rest assured that
he will continue tormenting the bowlers world over and provide loads
of entertainment to the public. Not only is Tendulkar a great
cricketer but he is also a gem of a person. It is only fitting that
this gem enjoys all the adulation and the respect of the entire
nation. May God bless him with all the appropriate things for his
extraordinary personality on his birthday.
