A demigod or just an extraordinary HUMAN BEING….????

A kidlike face, diplomatic style of speaking, a determination quite visible in those innocent eyes, face oozing with tremendous confidence, a paragon of modesty, style and grace synonymous with his name…He is our very own , Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.. This genius made his test debut at the age of 16 in Karachi against the likes of Younis , Akram spitting fire at the speed of knots. When he walked in , those fireballs started passing by his nose on the way to the keeper when he could hear only the sound of the wind as they passed by. He said to his partner,”I can’t see what’s being thrown at me”.One Younis bouncer smashed his helmet and severly damaged his nose.He had to take off his helmet , thus emerged a gory face which looked astonishingly determined to tackle more of such deadly bouncers.Non striker Sidhdhu made a reference of this incident in one of his talks and flabbergasted everyone.After being treated upon his nose, he decided to stay on. He didn’t score many in his debut test but made a graceful half century in that series . That particular injury incident marked the beginning of a Sachin era in Indian cricket.

Highest century maker in both forms of the game, highest run getter in the shorter version of the game and with several other records to his credit, he has become a national icon and a blue eyed boy of Indian cricket. Indian cricket fans have not only treated him as a great player but have gone as far as putting him in place of GOD.Fanatic as the Indian cricket lovers are, Sachin and many other stalwarts of Indian cricket have been exalted to the level , no Indian has so far managed to reach in terms of popularity. The dark side of their fanaticism has forced these demigods to bear the brunt of it and constantly carry the weight of expectations whenever they go out in the middle. Sachin has carried that weight with utter ease but 16 years of dedicated service has certainly started taking its toll on his body. His whimsical fans have now started to raise questions over his commitment and even the talent which seems preposterous to say the least.

He has often been blamed for not performing when team needs him the most to deliver.This brings out disappointment of his fans whenever he doesn’t perform. It’s true to a certain extent but it’s totally upto us to understand and follow the game with reasonable expectations from the players. Passion is an integral part of the game but whenever players don’t live up to the expectations it’s better to accept it as a part and parcel of the game.At the same time whenever players do well, the publicity and the flattering should stay within certain limits for this emotional response blows up the bubble of expectations. It’s high time we understand this and imbibe in our mind to prevent embarrassing situations we often find ourselves in. The demolishing of houses , stone pelting at the player’s residences, burning of their effigies definitely put forth our callow nature.Sachin is going through a phase in his career when the age has started to degrade his performances. Graceful exit is all what is needed because booing the great players out of the game is like showing disrespect to several years of fabulous service they did to this wonderful game.Don’t forget Sachin’s gallant innings at Sharjah, his nearly match winning knock in the Chennai test, brutal assault against Warne in 1998, admiration from the greatest of greatest Sir Don Bradman. This is enough to regard him as one of the great cricketers but that doesn’t make him a GOD who is an invincible batter. Keep him within the humans yet identify him as the second to none. Take a bow for such a glorious , rocking and astoundingly consistent career.