Sachin Tendulkar is reckoned as India’s very own “god of cricket”. His announcement to retire from ODI cricket brings to end illustrious career in the 50-over format, having played 463 ODIs, scored 18,426 runs and made 49 centuries, each of them a world record. His last ODI was against Pakistan in Dhaka during the Asia Cup, where he made a half-century in India’s victory. He will never again answer fans’ prayers for runs in one-day internationals after his decision to retire from the format he served for more than two decades.
In a statement, the cricket legend said: “I have decided to retire from the One Day format of the game. I feel blessed to have fulfilled the dream of being part of a World Cup winning Indian team. The preparatory process to defend the World Cup in 2015 should begin early and in right earnest. I would like to wish the team all the very best for the future. I am eternally grateful to all my well wishers for their unconditional support and love over the years.”
Tendulkar’s announcement of his ODI retirement came through a statement from the BCCI which stated that he had spoken to BCCI president N Srinivasan. His retirement was announced on the day the Indian selectors picked the teams to play in the five-match T20 and ODI series against Pakistan. According to Sanjay Jagdale, the BCCI secretary, “It was not sudden. He informed us before the selection about his decision. He spoke to me and the president about his decision. Naturally he must have been (emotional) I can’t say we just spoke on the phone.”
It did not take much for the cricket experts to spot a genius in Sachin Tendulkar after he made his international debut in a Test match against Pakistan in Karachi on 15 November 1989. He was 16 then. More than two decades later, he has gone on to become one of the greatest batsman the world will ever see. He scored his first half-century in his ninth ODI and made an immediate impact when promoted to open the batting in 1994, in an ODI against New Zealand in Auckland, where he smashed 82 in 49 balls. His first century took 79 ODIs to arrive but he kept piling them on with remarkable consistency.
Some of the batting highlights in his ODI career include back-to-back hundreds against against Australia in 1998 in a triangular tournament in Sharjah, finishing as the highest run-getter in the 2003 World Cup in South Africa, and becoming the first batsman to score a double-century in the ODI format, against South Africa in February 2010. He was part of one of India’s greatest ODI achievements over the last three decades, when they won the World Cup in 2011, beating Sri Lanka in the final on his home ground in Mumbai – it was his last ODI in India.
In preparation for that World Cup, Tendulkar had curtailed the amount of ODI cricket in the year playing only four ODIs in the 12 months before the tournament. Since the end of the World Cup, Tendulkar has played 10 ODIs, seven in the CB Series against Australia and the last three of his career being played at the Asia Cup in Dhaka. His innings of 114 against Bangladesh on March 16 was his 100th international hundred in what turned out to be Tendulkar’s penultimate ODI match for India.
He holds the record for the maximum number of appearances and is the highest run-getter and century-maker in both versions. He has turned out in six World Cups at a stretch, playing a key role in winning the title in 2011 and finishing runners-up in 2003.
The `Little Master`, as he is often called, is the only man to hit 100 centuries – 51 in Tests and 49 in ODIs – and also the first man to score a double-century in the 50-over format.
However, it was not all smooth sailing for the champion batsman in his initial ODIs. It took him all of five years and 78 matches to score his maiden hundred. But experts never lost faith in him. Another Indian cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar commented that once he gets his first one, there will be no stopping him. Finally the big day came Sep 9, 1994, when Tendulkar struck a blazing 110 against Australia in Colombo. The jinx broken, Tendulkar celebrated with two more three-figure knocks in the next two months. From then on, there was no looking back.
The memories of Tendulkar tearing into one of the greatest spinners of all-time, Shane Warne, at Sharjah, will forever be etched in the minds of cricket fans. In that tournament, he hit two back-to-back centuries (143; 134) against Australia — the first helped India qualify for the final based on a better Net Run Rate and the second, in the finals — which was played on Tendulkar`s 25th birthday, helped India beat Australia to win the title. After the tournament, Warne claimed that he had “nightmares” at the thought of bowling to Tendulkar after being dominated by him.
Tendulkar’s India overcame Shane Warne’s Australia in Sharjah in 1988
An abiding image of Tendulkar would be the hundred he scored in the 1999 World Cup match at Bristol. Ramesh Tendulkar, a novelist and professor, who had deeply inculcated in his son the virtues of modesty and humility, died when India were in the midst of the Cup campaign.
Tendulkar flew home to attend his father`s last rites, and returned to the tournament, beating the Kenyan bowlers to pulp scoring 140 off 101 balls, and dedicated his innings to his father. On completing the hundred, Tendulkar looked at the sky, praying for his father, and has done likewise after reaching every milestone of his glittering career since then.
With the left-handed Sourav Ganguly, Tendulkar formed the greatest opening partnership in limited overs cricket, and the pair holds the world record for the most number of runs – 6609 in 136 matches that includes 21 century and 23 half-century stands. In 40 other matches, batting together but not as openers, the duo partnered another 1668 runs, taking their total aggregate partnership to 8277.
“These were the moments of my career I always cherish. My batting with Sachin in one-day internationals at the top was a huge learning experience,” Ganguly once said.
But the greatest adulation for the Mumbaikar came from the legendary Don Bradman – considered the greatest batsman of all times. Sir Don once asked his wife to take a look at the Indian as he felt Tendulkar played like him.
It was Tendulkar`s technique, compactness, and shot production that endeared him most to the Aussie, according to Roland Perry, who authored the book `Don`s Best`.
But in a revelation that even the `god of cricket` has his human frailties, it took Tendulkar 370 days to get over an agonising century-less period after the 99th international hundred he got March 12, 2011 facing South Africa in Nagpur during the World Cup.
In recognition for the laurels he brought to the country, Tendulkar was nominated to the Rajya Sabha as an eminent personality by the President of India in April 2012 – the first sports personality to get the honour.
In Praise of Sachin
Sachin’s decision of retirement has sparked an outpouring of tributes from his team-mates, cricket pundits, and millions of fans who believe watching the game will never be the same without the master batsman. The record-breaking cricketer will continue to play in Test matches, but this has not provided any consolation to his fans.
Tendulkar was part of a formidable batting line alongside Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, that combined to earn India many memorable wins in Tests and one-day internationals.
And the three champions from form the quartet were first to pay their tributes to Sachin’s illustrious one-day career.
Former skipper Ganguly felt that there was “still hope” that he will continue, but the decision eventually came as a “big blow”. “His greatness did not lie in being a terrific talent, but the way he used his talent to attain enormous heights. He is too precious and too good,” the former captain wrote in hisHindustan Times newspaper column. He added that playing alongside Tendulkar “was an honour” and his longevity has been “beyond imagination”.
Also writing in the Hindustan Times, Laxman said the master batsman always put his team ahead of personal laurels and this quality earned him respect from his team-mates and fans all over the world. And fellow ex-captain Dravid admired the ability of the ‘Little Master’ to give his absolute best in any conditions and against any team.
Many fans, including former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq, say they will never forget Tendulkar’s elegant straight drives, his artistic stroke play and those thunderous sixes. Inzamam said a “chapter in cricket’s history has come to an end” but rather poetically he added that the “book is still to be finished”, referring to Tendulkar’s decision to continue in Test cricket.
Tendulkar and Inzamam
Tendulkar and InzamamThe champion batsman’s ability to read the 50-over format of the game won many matches for India, but it was the mix of his artistic style and aggression that amazed cricket fans during his glorious 23 years in one-day internationals. He could play an elegant cover drive and then go for a towering six the very next ball. This made him a class apart among his contemporaries.
Cricket pundit Pradeep Magazine said his “masterly control and “intuitive innovations” made him play knocks “out of bounds for mere mortals”. The Hindu’s Vijay Lokapally wrote that Sachin believed in adapting to different tasks, and it came “naturally to him”.
Tendulkar has been often compared with Australian legend Don Bradman, and West Indies batting star Brian Lara among his contemporaries, but very few can match the kind of respect he commands among his fans round the world. His innings of 143 against Australia in Sharjah in 1998 has remained etched in the memory of millions of fans. The match had every emotion one associates with sports.
After a sandstorm disrupted play, India faed a revised target of 237 in 46 overs to qualify for the final. The middle order collapsed, leaving Tendulkar alone to take the team home. The heat was unbearable but a determined Tendulkar took the adverse conditions in his stride and saw the team home by smashing five sixes and nine fours.
Laxman, who was at the non-striker’s end, said “the strokes he played were exemplary. Good ball or bad, it simply had to go to the ropes”. Tendulkar repeated his heroics in the final to help India win that one-day tournament in Sharjah and his innings earned “the sandstorm” nickname. And 12 years later in February 2010, he became the first batsman to score a one-day international double-century against a well-balanced South African attack.
The social networking website has been abuzz with tributes to Tendulkar since the news broke on 23 December 2012 as celebrities, cricketers and fans joined hands to pay their tributes.
“Emotional time! Letting Sachin go from one-dayers. 18 thousand plus runs. Your jaw drops when you see those records, master you will always live.” Yuvraj Singh
“You’ll be missed a lot. Thanks a lot for whatever you have given to Indian cricket.” Ishant Sharma
“In Test cricket, Sachin may have had serious rivals in Lara, Ponting, Kallis for being the best batsman. But in ODIs, he was peerless.” Ayaz Menon (cricket analyst).
“Tried thinking of my favourite Sachin ODI moment. So many. Gave up. He’s left behind a mountain no one can scale.” Harsha Bhogle (broadcaster).
