"Mascot of Cricket"

A Child Prodigy!!!

Nov 15th, 1989.

This date would have been just like any other day if it wasn't for a little boy who wore the India Cap for the first time and made his test cricket debut against the arch rivals Pakistan.

Seen here, in this picture is Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.

He is not ready to take strike - so, with an imperious gesture of the hand, he stops Pakistan ace fast bowler Wasim Akram in his tracks. 

The ground, Karachi. The occasion, Sachin Tendulkar's Test debut.

The date, November 15th, 1989.At the time, Sachin Tendulkar was 16 years old - and already rated by the international media as the Star of the Future. 

Note the body language - indicative, not of schoolboy shyness or even nerves, but of total calm, of absolute assurance...The body language of a player aware of his abilities, and glorying in them...

Today, when he completes exactly 20 years of successful participation in World Cricket, its only his passion, determination and his hunger for the game that still keeps him going...And if Health prevails, he would love to play for his country until he loses all his senses. Its this dedication of his' that has made him the greatest of all...

The reason why many, including the ones who have played against him, agree that he is the best to have played the game at the international level, is mostly because of the fact that he played in the era that saw the change of Cricket. When he started his career, World Cricket was still owned by the greatness of Test Cricket and through his tenure as a Cricketer, the very game has itself changed so much that a player needs to rediscover himself during the course of his career. The newly invented technologies and tactics of the game were only going to make it more tougher for anyone who plays the game for this long.

But the genius that he is, he could stand the test of time. When he began his career he did not have any technology to analyze and calculate the action and ability of a bowler of the likes of Wasim Akram, Courtney Walsh, Glenn Mcgrath, Shane Warne and Muthiah Murulitharan, to name a few. And he went on to play with the same success in the times when technology had almost dominated the game where each and every bowler can analyze and study the weaknesses of a batsman.

So it is this change of Cricket that made it almost impossible for many who started to crumble towards the latter half of their cricketing careers. The ones who started as Stars of the game and the ones who promised a lot in talent began to fall apart as the guide of technology saw more than a few loop holes in their repertoire. 

But this genius went on to become a Legend, who can only be compared and criticized with other stalwarts who played the game like Viv Richards, Sunil Gavaskar, but could never draw parallels with even one of them. For sachin was a Class Apart and the only player who himself admitted that he saw most similarities of his way of batting in Sachin, was the greatest Sir Donald Bradman. 

But to have played in this era where cricket in not just played physically but also in the minds of the players, to have successfully carried the hopes and expectations of a billion people every time he goes out to play, its without a doubt that this man is not just the Legend of the game, but the Best to have ever played the game of Cricket.

From the times when he got out almost everyone in India switched off their televisions, to the times when he had the support of other fellow greats in his team like Rahul,Saurav,Anil & Laxman, he has always played with the same passion for the game. 

But I wouldn't be surprised if in this last few years of his career, Sachin starts to play more freely and dominatingly, with the talents of Viru,Yuvraj and Dhoni around in the team. If that is so, then the innigs that we all saw very recently in hyderabad against Aussies (175 of 141 balls) would just be the beginning of something very special from this great man. 

I salute this little master who stormed into the world of cricket on this very day 20 years ago and made this game even more exciting and wonderful to watch over the years. I feel proud to have born in this era as i could watch the greatest of them all play for all these years.

The Greatness in is abilities, the Humbleness in his approach and the Kindness in is character, all this makes him...

The Best there was, The Best there is...and The Best there ever be...

to have played this wonderful game of Cricket.

Dilse...

MunnaSrk