Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar

Writing this piece on the man I feel overwhelmed by the pressure to live upto his stature. And though I know it’s impossible still I will try to send out my message.

Every era has its heroes. Since long we have read, heard & spoken of great men that walked among us. Their glory standing tall even after they are long gone, some fade away in decades, others in centuries but there are few who transcend ages and go on living for eternity.

Sachin is one such person whose heroics on and off the field made him immortal. Whenever anywhere anyone talks about cricket, sachin would be talked about. Today he commands such respect that I can rightfully place him among the heroes of the past. I am not just talking about sporting arena. I dare to go a step further and place him alongside immortals like The Hercules, Achilles, Alexander or even some back home like the Arjuna. Like these great men he too is the best at what he does, has fought many a feisty battle and emerged victorious, like Achilles he too strikes fear among his enemies, like Alexander his hunger relentless. He is a warrior in his own right, fighting his battles inside the cricket arena for the past 22 years.

Now I don’t deify him for the reason that he is the greatest cricketer ever. No sir, that status is up for grab, anyone can take it if he wants to be it Sir Donald Bradman or Viv. Richards. If they say so, I will readily agree.

The reason we respect him, deify him is because the man has entered the field, carrying the burden of millions of people day in day out for over 2 decades without ever complaining. This is something that separates him from the other greats of the cricket. Some of whom never even facing an iota of what he had to go through.

I still remember the time when not so long ago he was the only person waging a lone battle against the ruthless opposition. All our hopes pinned on this man and still he delivered unselfishly. Only an individual like him could have done that. Carrying the weight of expectations knowing that he has already imprinted his name into the history books forever, still he remains so humble, focussed and grounded. He truly must be a great soul to have achieved this

Such is his dedication that two decades later, the very spectators, followers, fans whose dreams he carry have started sharing his burden.

Today we don’t want this cup for ourselves, more importantly we want and pray that this hero who has sweat, bled and cried for us wins this final frontier that has eluded him. We stand by him, doing whatever we can, contributing in our own small ways so his dream is fulfilled.

Go on Sachin Tendulkar, there’s no burden on you; we stand besides no matter what happens. We hope, pray and fight for your cause now.

Win this one!!!

Win this one for yourself, your team and the country you love so much.

Indiaaaaa.......Indiaaaa!!!