'Mein Khelega'

"Mein Khelega"

2 squeaky words sum up the spirit of the boy who hardly spoke much during his playing days & let the bat do the talking instead.

We talk about a 15 yr old a lot these days & naturally the mind goes back to 1989 when a famous journalist asked a 16 yr old Sachin how is he going to possibly play against the mighty fast bowling as part of team india as he hasn't faced anything remotely close to that level in either his Ranji or Shivaji park matches.

Everyone almost felt protective, concerned & incredulous...is it even right ?

Smiling, nervous...lil sure of what to say

Sachin just said "mein khelega"  

Bloodied in his first test, steeled for life he indeed played for 24 years.

The God of Indian cricket, Bharat Ratna. Sachin Tendulkar who turns 54 today, was representative of a generation who believed 'quiet determination' would triumph against insurmountable odds, it coincided with Indian rise as well.

Idol of not just the masses, idol of even the current cricketing idols, SRT is a ultimately a feeling now, more among the genX, millennials & older folks who grew up with him in the nineties. 

Sachin's phenomena coincided with liberalisation, the IT boom, early days of internet, MTV & many other factors which defined an entire generation. He remains commercially relevant to this day as somewhat demonstrated by the slew of  endorsements. But today his birthday is again an opportunity a brief reminder about what were the some of the differences in a sporting context that made him the God that he is.. his humility and overall personality has anyway made him an ambassador across borders.

For anyone who follows the sport & goes beyond cold stats, Sachin played at a time where 'bat technology' was a few generation behind, the tech that now ensures  raining 6s in every T20 game by anyone in the line up from 1 to 10.

To compensate for lack of tech & add power to his technique & to add more punch to his in-the-V drives, Sachin added more weight to his bats in the crudest manner possible. In those days as reported azhar perhaps held the lightest bat and Sachin the heaviest bat which ultimately led to the most painful phase in Sachins career, the tennis elbow.

Sachin also played at a time with no DRS &always quietly walked away gritting his teeth without ever taking off his helmet, not to show more emotions, on many a occasion on dubious umpiring errors, even while a nation collectively despaired & couldn't even vent their frustration immediately on social media or digital debates...while it was discussed for days at chai stalls as much his multiple great knocks.

Sachin also dominated at a time when pitches were uncovered, perth was actually fast, so were brisbane & Joburg..There was no field restrictions or max 4 fielders inside the 30 yard circle in ODIs, a single ball used in ODIs from both ends, which reversed prodigiously in outfield conditions which was less than lush & a fearsome pace battery line up across all nations, even though the windies pace battery had somewhat started its decline..bowling was a thing then to aspire to..bowlers were proper role models & the prodigious Indian talent factory was yet to bloom.  Opposing captains felt & voiced getting Sachin out was more than half the job done. SRT carried that hope & burden for decades.

Everyone will have their favorite Sachin throwback moments in a career that spanned 24 long years.. from sialkot'1988, to chepauk test 1997, the desert storm sharjah 1998, the 1999 & 2003 WCs to even the late surge in his ODI career scoring a 200 and dominating the aussies in CB series , Sachin carried the hopes of a cricket crazy nation who hadn't yet gotten addicted to smartphones for 7-8 hours a day...

People went on with the routine lives and a possibility of watching Sachin almost paused everything, streets became deserted, traffic eased, his ability to enthral an entire nation was & is unparalleled 

My favorite Sachin moment often used to come in the stadiums. Within India naturally it was madness always when Sachin batted, but what used to give me goosebumps is huge international stadiums be it SCG or Centurion park used to vibrate and reverberate with booming chants of 

'Sa-chinn... Sa-chin" as the little man strided out, completed a landmark or played a glorious straight drive. The sheer phonetics of that rhythmic chant who ever has heard live is a memory of a lifetime indeed.

Debates will forever rage as to who is the greatest and that is the nature of sports aficionados but the God of cricket will hopefully always continue to inspire.

Happy birthday ! 

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