All Hail The King!!!

I remember a young strapping of a lad of 16, blood streaming from the nose, sprinkling the pristine white batting pads with  rivulets of red, and yet refusing to retire hurt – facing up to Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Zakir Khan and Waqar Younis in his fourth test match. Coming in at 38 for four, he saves the match with a three  hour vigil at the wicket scoring 57....that is the first memory I can conjure up when I think of Sachin.......

I remember a 17 year old, an epitome of patience coming in at 110 for four, save India once again with defeat staring in the face, working  his way to the first of 99 international centuries at Old Trafford.

I remember him as an 18 year old, taking on the fiery Australian pace attack on a lighting quick Perth pitch, scoring what remains one of the most talked about hundreds Down Under even as bigger and older names fall like nine-pins all around him.

I remember him waging lone battles in lost causes. Each time coming in at next to nothing for two. The 122 in Birmingham 1996  The 136 which brought India from 6 for 2 to the doorstep of victory against a rampaging Akram, Waqar and Saqlain in the fourth innings at Chennai. The 169 in Johannesburg against Donald, Pollock, Klusener and MacMillan after taking guard at 25 for 3. The 116 at  Melbourne against McGrath , Gillespie and Brett Lee while the rest of a vaunted line up collapsed like a pack of cards.

For twenty years and more he has come in to bat with enormous expectations, seldom has there been a respectable score on the board and even now battling the odds after quick loss of wickets.

Through the amazing last few years, he has won an emotional Test Match against England with a fourth innings hundred chasing down a steep total on a turner. He has walked in to bat at 38 for 2 chasing 478 against Australia and has won the match with 214 and 53 not out. He has battled the pace of Dale Steyn to score two hundreds down in South Africa at the age of 37, each time coming into a boiling cauldron of heat and pressure.

I remember him winning the VB Series finals with  two scintillating demonstrations of batting, taking India to the final in the 2003 world cup with a calculated assault on Shoaib Akhtar that left all speechless except the bowler who now answers with a pen. And he achieved his goal of a World Cup win, topping the batting averages yet again, changing the match in the semi final, with a chancy yet colossally important 86.

Yet, why did people still voice their conviction that Sachin was not a match winner? That he crumbled under pressure? Even supposedly intelligent people with statistical education.

Why did people believe Lara has often won matches with second innings centuries and Sachin always failed in such situations when Sachin, according to data, outscores Lara and has 3 centuries in second essays of won matches to Lara’s 1.
What makes numerous people wallow in make-believe quagmire of their own where a man worshiped by cricket fans all over the world is brought down in his own land? I guess we are Indian's and can never tolerate another India's success and will always try to pull the legs of those who have achieved in life...

Recently I had a war of words with my boss after he said some rather unsavory remarks for Sachin Tendulkar....I got so pissed off with the guy that I nearly bit his head off.....and I know my appraisal this year is gonna be screwed up....precisely for this reason (just kidding)....But I do have some overly knowledgeable friends who at every chance they get...try to belittle the little master.....well not anymore....I have decided to answer to some of the plateful of crap people dish out in the name of Sachin......and here is my thundering response to the baseless retorts thrown by people....to slander the little master.....

All of his centuries result in India loosing matches....
Of course as a Tendlia fan...I disagree with this...Stats might differ from me on this...but give it a thought..he used to be the guy scoring more than half the runs when all the other Indian batsmen used to crash like a house of cards...He was the lone star who outshone...and he has won several matches for India..single handed....and to blame him for the matches India lost because he scored a century....is tantamount to saying...there is evil on earth because God created earth....I mean com'on guys...how can you blame him that he scored the century and as a result India lost....what were the other batsmen in the team for....clapping hands.....

He is hero worshiped and called GOD....
Is there a more crappy reason you can think of to taint the saint....oh!! yes he is the saint of cricket for me....especially if you know your history about sainthood...you would dare not disagree with me....We as Indians are taught from our very childhood to emulate or hero worship people....why else do you think people build temples for actresses in south India....why else do you think statues are built on every square of every road in India... Sachin never told he is God..it is we Indians who elevated him to that position....it is the media which solidified that platform for us....he never asked for it.....he was the sole engine who almost single handed propelled India in 3 world cups.....1996...2001....2004 and that is the reason he is hero worshiped....but i know..you have forgotten that.....

Cricket is a team game..why is Sachin hailed so much.....
Yeah!!! its a team game no doubt....with 11 players...at it....but hey...why do you have packed stadiums in the heat of Sharjaha...in the cold chill of Canada...in the cloud overhung skies of the West Indies....its because of one genius....Sachin Tendulkar. I know...dogs will still bark...and say this is no reason...let me counter it with another angle...there are 11 players...in the team...but frankly speaking there was only ONE match winner for India...and that was Sachin....he was the beacon who outshone all the others...and this happened day after day....month after month....year after year......what do you expect....Of course those not blind saw this...and those not retarded understood this....and hailed Sachin over all the others.....

He is selfish and all his records are his own....
Another shit load that people drop after every new record he bags.....I mean com'on guys...the guy scores runs for you...and continues playing year after year...of course the records set by the earlier generation Brits and Aussies are bound to fall to this marauder....He has bagged those records with aplomb and with modesty.....he has never ever said...I want to break so and so's record...the records have simply bitten dust under him....how the hell is it his fault...if he scores 200 runs in a one day match and creates a record....how the hell is it his fault that he scores the maximum number of centuries in both one-day and test matches....how the hell is it his fault....that he simply is classes above the rest...and plays equally well in India as he does abroad....

He plays only well in India and not abroad....
Oh is it? Do you mean Australia is overseas for Ponting , he had scored hundred and double Hundred against India in the current series on overseas pitch?. If Ricky (a Australian scores 100 in Australia it is a great thing for you guys ,But if Sachin an India scores hundred in India is a worst thing for you). How come dude?. Home ground is always an added advantage for any player or any person (for you also it applies) ... they score more on that than any others .. it is same for all go n see the stats of Ricky ...how many runs he scored in Australia and how many runs he scored outside Australia ... Australia won record number of matches in Australia not outside of Australia ....... On the other hand just google up the centuries of Sachin...and then you will find out..he is the one player..who has scored centuries against every cricket playing country in their own backyard.....Beat that!!!!

He plays for money and not for country......
The shit load..you people dish out....okies..here i go again....Sachin plays for money and not for country....tell me do you work for the country or for the money.....I mean the guy gets paid for the job he does...and you have a problem with that too....Stop wasting your time...reading this...and go work your bums off to earn your share of the money...and yes don't forget to crib that Sachin plays only for money......

He should have retired long time back and given opportunities to youngsters.....
They say wine tastes better with age...but that is for wine connoisseurs....not for good for nothings like you guys...who probably drink Grappo Fizz everyday in office and think that you just had wine....lolz....The guys scored a double ton a couple of years ago in a one day against SOUTH AFRICA....and you guys still suspect his fitness....hmm what can be said...ignorance is indeed bliss.....Sachin is still miles ahead of the youngsters in the current crop.....there have been many Johnny Come Lately who have come and gone...but Sachin has stayed on...maturing with age....there was the time....he was the original Boom Boom man...then he mellowed to become the batsman for long haul.....and today...he has adjusted his game to such an extent that he seems at ease be it the 5 day version or the wham bam good bye mam...20 over format....Why the hell should he retire...are you going to replace him in team India...highly unlikely....then shut the F- up and allow him to play.....

In the end...I rest my case....Judge Sahib..........after all they say never argue too much with FOOLS....because they drag you down to their pathetic standards and then defeat you.... ;-)