50th Test ton: 20 Years of 50 wonderful memories

Have you ever seen God, a spectator asks another spectator watching Sachin bat in final against Aus at Sharjah in 1998. The other one replied” No, but he couldn’t play better than this Avatar of his playing in front of us”. Such is the respect the little master has in public eyes. Twelve years down the line watching Tendulkar score his 50th test hundred; one can easily say that the spectator that said those words was not wrong. So, what’s the hype around the 50th test ton? Is it just a number or is it something else? It was make to look like a number the way master handles it, the way he was answering to questions at the press conference immediately after his hundred. As if, every second player gets it and there is nothing unusual about it. This stuff makes him God and not a hero. People vouch for a hero that’s true but the times are so full of negativity that they also wait for heroes to make mistake and fall and this is where the master differentiates from the rest because he never falls neither in his game nor in his conduct. He brings such sage like austerity to cricket that without him I won’t call cricket a gentleman’s game anymore.

Let us try to list down a criterion of what makes a sporting great across all sports. Longevity: I cannot remember anyone playing as long as he does across all sports. Performance: well there are few contenders here, Roger Federer, Lance Armstrong, Tiger Woods, Pele, Maradona and Schumacher. Well all these great had there prime time when they made most out of it and achieved greatness. Federer had his share of fight on clay courts where he looks susceptible, Woods has done a lot of damage to his reputation due to his off field antics, Maradona had a career that was full of drug allegations, Pele and Schumacher performed but retired in short period of time or atleast none of them lasted for 20 years to pass on the criteria of longevity. But, for Sachin, he never seems to descends to normal level. He has kept performing at the same level with same intensity, consistently for the last 20 years. And mind you cricket can be sometimes more taxing than any other sports due to its long format under different and trying conditions. Beat that !!.

Every time this little guy walks to bat he is expected to carry the hope and expectations of billion people and a few years back of a team that was too fragile without him. All this pressure rather than affecting him has made him more strong as if his determination and grit is made of metal called Unobtainium (Unobtainable+ ium). Just watch the innings of 241* vs Australia in Sydney in 2004 and you will never forget these two words: “discipline and determination”. This innings was an epitome of these two words because he was not doing great as far as his form is concerned (as per his standards) as he was getting out a couple of times to rash stroke outside off stump. He determined and disciplined his mind not to do anything with the ball on the off side and he didn't score a boundary on the off side, didn't hit a cover drive. He waited for the ball to come to him, picked it off and clipped it to midwicket all the way not just to three figures, but a double hundred.

People in my generations are fortunate to witness such a sporting legend. There will be great sportsman that will come after him but the legend of Tendulkar cannot be beaten either in longevity, performance, attitude, behaviour and nor in character. I will end this homage to his 50th test ton by describing a real incident when I overheard two street beggars conversing, waiting and pushing each other to get back to work and one said if Tendulkar win this one today ( an ODI match with his 175 vs Australia in Hyderabad in 2009), I wont mind sleeping empty stomach tonight. Such is the hope and happiness he provides to millions. Master you truly are an “avatar” of God, born in the age of men. I wish for your longevity and many more such centuries to come, so that I can say to my kids: look at this man he is the great ”Sir Sachin Tendulkar”.