Birthday: Sachin … Sachin! The voice that tied the nation together
It has been a long time since Sachin Tendulkar retired from cricket, but for an Indian cricket lover he is still as important as he was before. For nearly 25 years, cricket fans had hoped to win on the name of Sachin-Sachin.
22 April 1998 … India vs Australia … Sharjah … Coca-Cola Cup. Match No. 6. Australia batting first scored a mountainous score of 284 runs. India needed to go to the finals to win. But then there was a sandstorm in Sharjah and the score was reduced. But when the storm stopped, there was a storm inside the ground, which blew the whole Australian team and got its name recorded in history. The name of this storm was Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.
Sachin, who landed at the opening with Sourav Ganguly, seemed as if he had some determination in mind. The way he started playing Australian bowlers was seen in the angry batting. Sachin constantly spared Shane Warne, Kasprowicz, Steve Waugh, Tom Moody. And moving forward, hit sixes. India lost this match, but made it to the finals on the basis of net run rate. Two days later, when the final was held, it was the same scene.
In the final too, Sachin smashed an innings of 134 runs and similarly blasted the Australian bowlers. Sixes by Sachin, Tony Greig’s voice and Sharjah. These two innings of Sachin were named as Sharjah Storm, that is, the storm of Sachin in Sharjah. In Sachin Tendulkar’s career of nearly 25 years, there were many such moments or innings that separated him from other players, these two innings were also one of them.
On November 15, 1989, when a 16-year-old boy landed in Karachi to bat in front of the dreaded Pakistan bowlers. So no one thought that this child will be called ‘God of Cricket’. Master blaster, God of cricket, Tendalya dont know how many names are there for Sachin. It is Sachin, who lived the hopes of Indian fans on his shoulder for nearly 25 years and almost met those expectations every time.
Sachin changed the attitude / way of watching cricket in this country. Because in the 90s, when Sachin was at his peak, TV in India opened with Sachin’s batting and closed after his dismissal. Millions of people fasted for Sachin, former Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has also said that he used to say that when Sachin came to bat, then pick me up.
Sachin wanted to become a fast bowler, but luck made him a batsman. And the batsmen also made all the records of the cricket world in their names. Sachin used to come down to bat in his early career, but a decision by the then captain Mohammad Azharuddin in 1994 completely changed Sachin’s batting and perhaps even Indian ODI cricket.
The day of 27 March 1994 proved to be a historic day for cricket. In the 70th match of ODI career, Sachin got the opportunity to open, which he took full advantage and went on to record one after the other. During the 1994 tour of New Zealand, Sachin was made to open the innings due to the neck problem of Team India’s regular opener Navjot Singh Sidhu. Sachin also wanted this, for this, he had also appealed to Captain Azharuddin and manager Ajit Wadekar. In this match, Sachin hit 82 runs in 49 balls.
The way Sachin lived his career from 1989 to 2013 and he was always a ray of hope in the hearts of every Indian cricket fan during these years. Perhaps no other cricketer will be able to do that thing. A career as long as Sachin Tendulkar is not possible in today’s time, nor does the spirit of Sachin appear in anyone.
Sachin spent many years of his career in injury, but the insistence on playing was such that he fought again and came back again. The batsmen will come, go, record will be made, they will be broken. But Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar will remain the same. That’s why Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, neither ghost nor future.