Life, Legend and Beyond

It is April 24 again. It is that time of the year when the nation would be celebrating the birthday of one of its greatest sporting heroes. Sachin Tendulkar, born on April 24, 1973, a child prodigy who emerged as the greatest batsman produced by India. Some may have watched him grow, but I have grown up watching him. This is the first birthday for the cricket great after he quit all forms of cricket in November 2013 after playing his 200th and final Test at his home ground, Wankhede Stadium, in Mumbai against the West Indies. Tendulkar hung up his boots after a glittering international career that saw him amass 15,921 runs in Tests, at an average of 53.78, and 18426 runs in 463 ODIs at an average of 44.83. He had scored 100 centuries during his international with Test matches accounting for 51 of those, the most by any batsman in the world. He was the part of 2011 World Cup winning squad captained by Mahendra Singh Dhoni. His 49 ODI tons is also a world record.

Who can forget his words “Main khelega” (I will play), after being hit by Waqar Younis’ bouncer. Despite his nose profusely bleeding he scored a half century. His batting was based on the purest principles: perfect balance, economy of movement, precision in stroke-making, and that intangible quality given only to geniuses – anticipation. The man who brought about a new age in cricket and rewrote the laws of how a ball could be hit with a bat is a busy man these days. He still follows cricket and the latest developments in the Gentleman's Game with equal passion, yet he pays his full attention to his social responsibilities as well. Rudolph Lambert Fernandez has come up with a book 'Greater Than Bradman', which aims to prove that the Little Master is the greatest batsman of all time.

Despite having won every honour that one can possibly win, he hasn't changed. Today, being the polling day for the Lok Sabha Elections 2014 for Mumbai and several parts of Maharashtra along with 11 other states in India, Sachin Tendulkar has returned from his mentoring capacity for the Mumbai Indians from the ongoing IPL 2014 tournament in UAE to celebrate his birthday with his family and also to vote in the general elections to decide the fate of the country for the next 5 years.

Sachin Tendulkar is a record in itself. Thousands records broken, new ones made but one thing that remained constant was the love for the God of Cricket in every Indian’s heart. A very Happy Birthday to Sachin Tendulkar.