When God leaves...Soul of Cricket will Die..Long live "The God"
The Soul is dead..Long live "The God". When you discuss about Cricket, no discussion can start or end without a mention of "The God". That's how it has been all these 24 years. God is someone who has no limits, no boundaries, no stop..Sachin Tendulkar too did not know his limitations, he had no boundaries which could stop him and till the time he decided he had enough, there was no stopping him. The announcement was expected sooner than later, and that's when I felt that the adage.."The body dies, the Soul lives on" is also something which needs to be debated. When God leaves, the Soul will Die. The Soul of Cricket will definitely Die..perhaps another soul will be born to keep the Religion going, to keep the hearts beating and to keep the breath breathing.
How else can one explain the 100 hundreds? How else can one explain the over 34000 International runs and How else can one explain the many records which are his? I still have two regrets, he should have got the 100 Fifties and 50 Centuries in ODIs, very narrowly missed. And to think that the God wanted to be a tear away fast bowler. But for Dennis Lillie, we would not have got to see God bat. That shows, God also requires direction to support you. He has so many things to do that sometimes he misses out the importance. Many a time I felt that he was the "Fielder" at 9 positions, "The Fast bowler that India lacked", "The greatest spinner..right arm, left arm, legspin, offspin", "The Wicket Keeper" and the "10 other batsmen" apart from himself..All this happening in his mind. He is someone who used to be the person performing the "Act" and this very enthusiasm rubbed off all the others in the team. Unfortunately, this very enthusiasm did not allow him to perform as Captain of the team. Irrespective of his success as "Captain on Paper"..He was the real Captain of the Team. The entire team revolved around him. There has never been and never will be any other Cricketer or Sportsman who can wield such a significant effect on the others in the Team. Not only the team, the billions of followers of Cricket around the world..were simply spell-bound when "The God" wielded the willow. I remember the last over in the Hero Cup against South Africa when one of the Great all-rounders of Cricket Brian McMillan was simply spell bound by that one over spell. South Africa lost the match having to score 2 runs of the last over and that too bowled by Sachin Tendulkar. The "Solar System of Cricket India has "Sachin as the SUN" and the rest of the team simply revolving around the Sun. Even the Greats like Rahul Dravid (Saturn), VVS Laxman (Earth), Sourav Ganguly (Mars) and Anil Kumble (Jupiter) were just doing their rounds around this Phenomenon which happens only once in a life time.
And to think that other greats like Dilip Vengsarkar, Mohd Azharuddin, Kapil Dev, Srikkanth also played alongside him, they were spectators even while on field, just like modern day champions like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Yuvaraj Singh, MS Dhoni continue to be spectators when he bats. Whether it was Imran Khan or Allan Donald or Steyn or Mcgrath, Wasim or Waqar, Shane Warne or Saqlain Mushtaq, Murali or Quadir, Walsh or Ambrose...It was all the same. They wanted his wicket and it was the most precious possession they aspired. They continued to have nightmares after nightmares. The time it took for all this to happen 24 years. Pure entertainment!!! Its true that this man is the Ultimate Entertainer of all times, of all entertainments..Bollywood, Hollywood, Formula one, Wimbledon, World Cup football or Euro Cup...Simply Second grade..when compared to seeing "The God" wield the willow. Sharjah, Kolkatta, Melbourne, Manchester, Sialkot, Chennai, Durban, Port of Spain, Colombo, Dacca, Mumbai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Sydney, Johannesburg...every where he went he Conquered. "Lords"???the cynics may quote...Why should the "Lord" care about "Lords"? He chose not to score a century there...that's his way of saying I don't feel that you are important...
The Don, Lara, Richards, Gavaskar, Vishwanath, Dravid, Inzamam (Ha ha ha), Kallis, Ponting...were batsmen great in their own ways..But there was no chance that they can ever be compared with "The God". Its like some of their innings were similar to what "The God" played and that's were the comparisons ended. These greats too will agree (including The Don in his grave).
One can go on and on. But there has to be a finish somewhere some time. I stop this here much before the clock stops on November 18th 2013. I wish that the God saves his best for the 199th and 200th. Only God can make this wish come true.
The Soul of Cricket is Dead...Long Live "The GOD" and his legacy..
How else can one explain the 100 hundreds? How else can one explain the over 34000 International runs and How else can one explain the many records which are his? I still have two regrets, he should have got the 100 Fifties and 50 Centuries in ODIs, very narrowly missed. And to think that the God wanted to be a tear away fast bowler. But for Dennis Lillie, we would not have got to see God bat. That shows, God also requires direction to support you. He has so many things to do that sometimes he misses out the importance. Many a time I felt that he was the "Fielder" at 9 positions, "The Fast bowler that India lacked", "The greatest spinner..right arm, left arm, legspin, offspin", "The Wicket Keeper" and the "10 other batsmen" apart from himself..All this happening in his mind. He is someone who used to be the person performing the "Act" and this very enthusiasm rubbed off all the others in the team. Unfortunately, this very enthusiasm did not allow him to perform as Captain of the team. Irrespective of his success as "Captain on Paper"..He was the real Captain of the Team. The entire team revolved around him. There has never been and never will be any other Cricketer or Sportsman who can wield such a significant effect on the others in the Team. Not only the team, the billions of followers of Cricket around the world..were simply spell-bound when "The God" wielded the willow. I remember the last over in the Hero Cup against South Africa when one of the Great all-rounders of Cricket Brian McMillan was simply spell bound by that one over spell. South Africa lost the match having to score 2 runs of the last over and that too bowled by Sachin Tendulkar. The "Solar System of Cricket India has "Sachin as the SUN" and the rest of the team simply revolving around the Sun. Even the Greats like Rahul Dravid (Saturn), VVS Laxman (Earth), Sourav Ganguly (Mars) and Anil Kumble (Jupiter) were just doing their rounds around this Phenomenon which happens only once in a life time.
And to think that other greats like Dilip Vengsarkar, Mohd Azharuddin, Kapil Dev, Srikkanth also played alongside him, they were spectators even while on field, just like modern day champions like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Yuvaraj Singh, MS Dhoni continue to be spectators when he bats. Whether it was Imran Khan or Allan Donald or Steyn or Mcgrath, Wasim or Waqar, Shane Warne or Saqlain Mushtaq, Murali or Quadir, Walsh or Ambrose...It was all the same. They wanted his wicket and it was the most precious possession they aspired. They continued to have nightmares after nightmares. The time it took for all this to happen 24 years. Pure entertainment!!! Its true that this man is the Ultimate Entertainer of all times, of all entertainments..Bollywood, Hollywood, Formula one, Wimbledon, World Cup football or Euro Cup...Simply Second grade..when compared to seeing "The God" wield the willow. Sharjah, Kolkatta, Melbourne, Manchester, Sialkot, Chennai, Durban, Port of Spain, Colombo, Dacca, Mumbai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Sydney, Johannesburg...every where he went he Conquered. "Lords"???the cynics may quote...Why should the "Lord" care about "Lords"? He chose not to score a century there...that's his way of saying I don't feel that you are important...
The Don, Lara, Richards, Gavaskar, Vishwanath, Dravid, Inzamam (Ha ha ha), Kallis, Ponting...were batsmen great in their own ways..But there was no chance that they can ever be compared with "The God". Its like some of their innings were similar to what "The God" played and that's were the comparisons ended. These greats too will agree (including The Don in his grave).
One can go on and on. But there has to be a finish somewhere some time. I stop this here much before the clock stops on November 18th 2013. I wish that the God saves his best for the 199th and 200th. Only God can make this wish come true.
The Soul of Cricket is Dead...Long Live "The GOD" and his legacy..
Beautiful write up !!! Have put it so straight. .. love the flow... ver nice RK :D
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