Me, Sachin & Cricket.

I was about 9 yrs old when I first came to really understand the game. Of course I knew about it, what with my dad & his friends watching & talking about it all the time. It is difficult really to ignore it really when u’re living in an Indian Air Force base & your father is an ardent sportsman. My first memories of cricket are from my dad. I remember once going to the barracks (that’s the place where bachelor officers stay on the base) coz dad wanted to watch the game there. It was the 98 Australian tour to India I think. Amidst lots of shouting & praying & cheering & cursing I saw a little guy with curly hair raise his bat. I asked my dad “papa,woh kaun hai?”  (Dad, who’s that?). I remember this vividly coz my dad told me with pride in his eyes “that, my son, is our champion”. There were crackers bursting all the way as me & my dad walked home late at night that day. That day, the cricket fanatic in me was born. I was 9 yrs old. And like all other fanatics in India, to me, Sachin became God.

My days & nights revolved around cricket & Sachin. Air Force School, Jamnagar, Gujarat was a great place to study, & a greater place to learn cricket. And I played.I played until my hands ached. I bowled until my shoulders ached. I played cricket sometimes upto 9 in the night coz we had floodlights in the main ground at the base. Dad & Mom would be out for their evening walk with my sis. They watched sometimes as I played with officers sometimes  triple my age. My dad used to tell me” This game is the greatest game in the world. It’s not a contact sport like football. It’s for gentlemen. Play like a champion, play hard, but always play honestly. Never play the game for winning. Play the game for the sake of the game itself. Play coz u love it. Play like  there’s nothing else you wanna do in the world.” Then he switched to Hindi. I was fluent, being brought up on Air Force bases across north India, but Dad spoke with a typical tamil accent “Beta, tum jeeto ya na jeeto, Hamara game jeetna chaahiye.” U win or lose, my son, it doesn’t matter, but our game should always win.

And then it was the Coca Cola trophy in Sharjah. We were glued to the tv when the situation arose that we had to get this minimum score to get to the final against Australia otherwise Pakistan would qualify. And Sachin was batting. My mom sat praying near the place where we kept our deities. I fingered my gold Ganapathy on my neck. My sis sat with me asking questions like “anna, did we win???”.And then came the innings which I rate as Sachin’s greatest ODI innings ever. Damien Fleming said something to Sachin & I saw Sachin’s face change a bit. I’d no grasp of sledging then but still understood that he wouldn’t have asked him the time. That was what sparked it off. Ball after ball disappeared to the fence as Sachin launched into the greatest counter attack ever seen. He pulled, cut & drove as a nation of six million watched their hero play. I could hear cries & cheers from the street as people shouted their happiness. We qualified easily but lost the match. That innings was to be christened  “The Desert Storm” at Sharjah in later years. But i didn’t know all that. I sat there & looked at the street outside filled with people shouting & hugging each other.

What did Sachin mean to me & thousands like me? What made people ignore work & watch a little man with a voice u sometimes couldn’t hear play? My dad told me that in 1983 when he was in service at Ladakh(near the foothills of Kargil), he was miserable & very homesick. He had just signed up for the Air Force & that was his first posting. He didn’t know a word of  hindi & had never seen such cold before, having lived in Pondicherry for 20 yrs. In all those testing times he said only one thought drove him on-that our team should win the world cup. After we won, he said he braved the cold & the fighting & the general misery for 2 yrs thinking about our win. He said it brought a warmth to his heart in those desolate times. Seeing his country’s flag fly high kept him alive. If you can understand my dad’s feelings, you sure can understand what Sachin means to my country.

The next day we won the final too. Sachin hit a century again. Mom made sweets that day. I celebrated by eating all of them & then went off to play cricket.

But my most sad & at the same time proud Sachin moment came in World Cup 99. We had lost the first 2 group stage matches, much to the dismay of me & my friends, & were due to play Kenya next. We had to win to stay alive in the world cup.  Then came the news. Sachin’s father had passed away. A nation was in mourning. I remember seeing a letter to our team in England written by a small girl. It said “Dear team, play without Sachin this time. Let him stay at home.” The letter moved me then, it still does now. This maybe can make u understand what Sachin & the team mean to my country. But Sachin came back to play the match, flying in to the venue. With a face that betrayed not an inkling of the storm that raged within his heart, Sachin slammed 140 not out. But there was a rare display of emotion. On reaching his century, Sachin took off his helmet & looked at the sky with tears in his eyes. I couldn’t help but cry. The man had did it for the sake of his country, for a nation of six million expected him to make them win. If there was ever a man to be called a Champion, there he was.

Years passed & Sachin played on. Dad retired from the force. I began to concentrate on my studies. But even now, a match is a family occasion. We sit together & watch it as often as we can. And as Sachin gets to the 90’s my mother goes off to pray. She’s Headmistress of a school, a major in physics & every bit an intellectual, but even for her, when Sachin is playing, Sachin comes first.

This year 2 of our old warhorses retired, champions in every sense, loved & adored by us. Jumbo & Dada were the finest my country had ever produced. But I still dread the day when Sachin will retire. A childhood of raised bats & straight drives & flying tricolors will flood my memory.

Anyone can be called a good player or a great player. But its very difficult, even impossible to be called a great man. My champion is all of these & more. Cricket is the greatest game in the world & for me, Sachin is the game’s greatest ambassador.