Indian cricket legend ready for last Test hurrah
The first farewell bells on 24 years of cricketing excellence were rung yesterday when Sachin Tendulkar announced that the two Tests against West Indies in November would be the last of his career. Having quit ODI cricket earlier this year, the 40-year-old’s retirement from Tests marks the end of the road for the batsman who leaves as the highest scorer and century-maker, by a country mile, in both Tests and ODIs.
The enormity of his numbers defies comprehension. 15,837 runs in Tests with 51 centuries at an average 53.86 and 18,426 runs with 49 tons at 44.83. That he reserved particular brilliance for the best team of the day and the best bowling attack — Australia — only underscores his genius. Two years ago, he fulfilled his long-cherished dream of winning a World Cup. The only thing the man did not achieve was a Test triple hundred — the only omission from a career which saw him hitting triple hundreds as a 14-year-old schoolboy.
“All my life, I have had a dream of playing cricket for India. I have been living this dream every day for the last 24 years,” Tendulkar said in an official statement which, while emotional, was as precise as his legendary footwork. “It’s hard for me to imagine a life without playing cricket because it’s all I have ever done since I was 11 years old. It’s been a huge honour to have represented my country and played all over the world. I look forward to playing my 200th Test match on home soil, as I call it a day.”
And there perhaps lies his greatest achievement — 200 Test matches stretched over 24 years. No cricketer has ever been able to maintain their fitness, ability and appetite for as long and at such high levels. On top of such excellence, when one considers that he has spent the entirety of that time without controversy, the picture of a once-in-a-lifetime sportsman emerges.
When Tendulkar walks off an international cricket field for the last time sometime between November 14 and 18, the cricketing world will be witnessing the end of an era. He has been at the top of the cricket world ever since making his Test debut in November 1989 against Pakistan — 24 years ago. As early as 2005, when he endured his first real bad patch, some journalists were asking why he would not go.
He did not listen then, and in 2010 — at the age of 38 — had his most successful year in international cricket. But a long lean patch in search of his 100th international century ensued, and the knives were duly sharpened. In the face of such pressure, many batsmen would — and many have — call it a day with an eye on their legacy. But that is the thing about Tendulkar — his single-mindedness. The same mindset that enabled him to practise his craft with an intensity few ever approached also steeled him to ignore external pressures throughout his career. Legacy was not as important as playing cricket was, and he did that till there were no conquests left.
In the end, questions about the timing of his retirement will fade away. When India next play a Test after the West Indies series, most of the cricket world will feel a pang of nostalgia that the man who encompassed two generations of cricketers will not be there. More than that, they will miss the batting perfection — the mastery over spin and pace alike on both front and back foot, the perfect position to each ball that he arrived at almost organically – and most of all they will miss the event that was a Tendulkar century. He has given us a hundred of those, and for that we should always be grateful.
Was he the greatest batsman? That has been and will be the subject of heated debate. And long may that debate continue; Tendulkar however, over 24 years of matchless brilliance, has ensured that he will always be a major part of it.
-With The Daily Star input
