Sachin Tendulkar, cricket’s truest religion

The first Test between South Africa and India has from Graeme Smith’s perspective gone rather nicely. His opening pair bowled like they were blood thirsty with even Morne Morkel, not usually the most aggressive of chaps, keen to play some chin music for the batsmen … at high pace. His batsmen then, himself included, went about pushing home the advantage against an Indian line-up still reeling from being knocked over for a paltry total. The batting was so domineering that Hashim Amla’s century will end up being the fourth most memorable in the match. Kallis got the monkey off his back (finally by George) and De Villiers played like a serial killer, butchering anything the Indians threw at him.

That fourth century however, the one not made by a South African, will be the match’s most memorable even though it was for the losing side. That is because that century was scored by a man with millions of followers, and with a hunger that hasn’t been tamed for 20 years thus far. A person of lesser cricketing stock would be obese from feasting on bowlers for so long, but Sachin Tendulkar has a metabolic rate that is impervious to all things ninja … and Shane Warne. The statistics alone tell a story of relentless murder, which has turned unsuspecting pitches into graveyards for two decades. The century he scored in this match was his 50th at Test level, an achievement that if one thinks about it, is absolutely disgusting. He has scored 11 more Test centuries then his nearest rival, Ricky Ponting. To put that into perspective, that is the same amount that Amla and De Villiers had scored, in their entire careers, before this previous Test.

Still, for a person such as I, who for years regarded Brian Lara as the greater batsman, the bell has finally told. It is clear that Sachin Tendulkar is the greatest batsman alive today. In regards to where he would be on the all-time list, number two would be his, guaranteed. Only the mystique of Sir Donald Bradman, who finished his career with figures that were before regarded as impossible, stands before him. Lara was a tornado, consuming everything in his path. He is a figure that has often been misunderstood, one suspects, and who was unfortunate to suffer the fate of being the West Indies’ Atlas from the late morning of his career. However, even a batsman such as he is not universally loved amongst cricket’s volk.

Expressed in a personal letter of sorts, it would go something like this:

Dear Brian

I still love you, but my heart has finally caved into a feeling I’ve been fighting for 15 years. You will always be special to me, but it is now time we part ways. I’ve been ignoring it for so long, making myself unhappy (and others around me in the process), and I just can’t take it any more. It’s not you, it’s me.

I still hope we can be friends. We will always have our memories.

Yours,

Cricket fan

PS: I’m keeping the dog

Tendulkar, however, has shown his greater magnificence over a longer period of time, and in doing so claimed every batting record that means something. The fact that Lara still has the world record is a fit representation of their comparison. Lara could do it when he wanted, but Tendulkar didn’t see it as a choice. He saw it as the status quo. Remember this gem?

The “Little Master” has scored the most runs in Test cricket, 2 200 runs more than Ponting. He is now the most capped Test cricketer of all time, eight ahead of Steve Waugh. He is four hundreds short of 100 international hundreds, if included with his 46 ODI centuries. Again, to put it into perspective, he has scored more runs in those centuries alone than Hansie Cronje and Jonty Rhodes’ entire career tallies combined.

The way he carries himself on and off the field is also a sign of his greatness. He seems to have accepted the adoration India has for him, and the cricketing public at large, being humble yet only staying in the spotlight due to his exploits on the field. I was lucky enough to get his autograph once when India were in SA. He, along with a few teammates, was eating a meal at Sandton City and as soon as the meal ended he was beset by fans keen for his signature. Needless to say, he signed every piece of paper thrust at him. His privacy outside his own home is constantly invaded, requested upon and seen as gospel. To deal with that for such a long time says much of his mind and his views on life.

In that way he is a far greater cricketer than Shane Warne, a man who revolutionised the game in his own way yet always saw himself as being bigger than the game. Tendulkar on the other hand is all about cricket, which can be seen in his compact technique, built to last the Test of time, and his sheer longevity. For some, constantly scoring hundreds over a 20-year career would lose its aura. With Tendulkar, that simply doesn’t seem to be the case. Every time he heads towards the crease he espouses determination, the refusal to be dominated by the bowling attack and most of all, that there is nowhere else on the planet he would rather be than on a cricket pitch. The fielding side can feel it too, that’s why his wicket is celebrated more than all others. He has made sides chase so much leather that he would be known as the boomerang if he were Australian: you send the ball one way and it comes straight back, except much faster.

Tendulkar deserves every single second of adoration that is heaped upon him, even though at times it can get nauseating yes (talk about irony). That was one of the reasons why Lara used to be the right choice for me. But now, as I’ve grown wiser, Tendulkar’s way has shown to reveal itself for all that is deserved. Cricket fans are a funny bunch in that they fall into their little cliques and groupings, espousing certain players above others, as a form of political rhetoric where the fan body itself contests the very meaning of the players within their specific contexts. Ultimately, it is a means to figure out a player’s true worth to the game itself, something which eclipses all players.

At least it should be that way, but Tendulkar is now of such a status that his followers have almost splintered from the body politik, following the deeds of Sachin and no other. Perhaps they did it due to the pureness of Tendulkar’s place in cricket, where when it comes to watching one of his innings, it is about his innings and nothing else.

When the day comes that He retires (if?), Tendulkar will, like Yoda in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, become one with cricket’s force. He transcends the game itself and He is all that is good about the game, and He, being Sachin Tendulkar, is the truest religion cricket can offer over five days.