Remember when you failed an examination. How many people recall that, your class, friends, relatives? You failed to make it to the IITs or IIMs. Who remembers. How many times have you had the feeling of being the best in your class, school , university, state, you failed to get a visa stamped this quarter, you missed a promotion this year, how did it feel when your dad told you in your early twenties that you are good for nothing and now your boss tell you the same...
You keep introspecting and go into a shell when people most of whom don’t matter a dime in your life criticize you, back bite you, make fun of you. You are left sad and shattered and you cry when your own kin scoffs at you. You say I am feeling low today. It takes a lot from us to come out of these everyday situations and move on. A lot??? really?
Now here’s a man standing at Cover in the last over of a Mumbai Indians vs Kochi match. The bowler just has to bowl sensibly to win this game. What the man at the Cover sees is 2 bad bowls bowled (both Full-toss) without any sense of focus planning or regret. Mumbai Indians lose, in those circumstances when Sachin has done just about everything right Scoring a Century in just 66 balls.
He does not cry. Does not show any emotion. Just keeps his head down and leaves the field. He has seen these failures for 22 years now. And not just his class, relatives, friends but the whole world has seen these failures. We are too immature to even imagine what goes on in that mind and heart of his. That’s why I would never want to be Sachin.
True, he has single handedly lifted to moods of this entire nation umpteen number of times. He has been an inspiration to rise above our mediocrity. Nobody who has ever lifted the willow even comes close to this man’s genius. His dedication and metal strength is unparallel. This is specially for those people who would have made fun of him again when Match was lost after he scored a century. They are people who are mediocre in their own lives. Who just scoff at others to create cheap fun. Who have lived in a small hole throughout their lives and thought they have seen the oceans.
-Harsha Bhogle.
Adding further to it, I say:
There are statistics to prove them wrong:
Sachin Tendulkar has scored 48 century in one day matches and India has '33 wins', 1 tie, 13 defeats and 1 no result.
(The only Man on the Planet to Score 200* unbeaten in 1 ODI innings and India Won that Match against South Africa)
Think about the man himself. He is 37 years of age. He has been playing almost non stop for 22 years. The way he was running and diving around the field would have put 22 year olds to shame. The way he played the best opening quickies in the world was breathtaking. He just keeps getting better which is by the way humanly impossible. Its not for nothing that people call him GOD. We struggle in keeping our monotonous lives straight, lives which affect a limited number of people, but what about Sachin, his scores affect thousands? lakhs? no.. it affects Crores of those people who have hope on him everytime he comes in that green ring. No one can Imagine the Pressure on him, remember the last time you were in front of hundreds or thousands of people and how much scared and pressurized you were?
Imagine what would be the magnitude of the inner struggle for him, pain both mental and physical, tears that have frozen with time, knees and ankles and every other joint in the body that is either bandaged or needs to be attended to every night, eyes that don’t sleep before a big game, bats that have scored 99 international tons and still see expectations from a billion people.
Look at the hardwork he has put behind his cricket, there was a time in his life when he Practiced Cricket for 8-hours before the game & in the same day, played Cricket for 8-hours with a total of 16-hours of Crushing hard work in 24-hours of a day and would fall to sleep on the Dinning-Table itself (For 2 regular months; just to get back his cricket rhythm right). Simply Iron Made.
He has all the money in the World to live life like a King and give same life to his children and coming generations without doing any work, but still he doesn't give-up, the passion and hunger for Cricket is still the same, growing day-by-day. And most importantly expectations of Billions on him and he just converts those expectations into reality. Watching him and feel privileged.
This is not just a game, and he is not just a sportsman. Its much more than this. Words can't express it any further....
-Kevin
