da esport bet： “Thank God, I won’t be around when he is 25” said Allan Border who wasas tough as they came
Woorkheri Raman24-Apr-2001″Thank God, I won’t be around when he is 25″ said Allan Border who wasas tough as they came. A lot of great achievers in cricket havelavished praise on this young man who has already written himself intothe all-time great list. Despite all the statements made by many, thisyoung man’s ability and genius was best described by the late RamanLamba at a time when this young man was barely becoming aware of a fewhairs bursting through the upper lip. It was in the 1988-89 seasonthat a young prodigy took the domestic circuit by storm with hisbatting. Towards the end of the season the Tamil Nadu and Delhi sideslanded at the airport in Bangalore to play each other in the WillsTrophy. Delhi had just then played against Bombay in the Ranji Trophyand the youngster made a big impact in a high profile game.As one who had read about this young man, I casually asked Lamba forhis impression on the youngster. He said, “Even if he loses half hisability on the way up, he will still end up as a world beater.” Thatwas some assessment from a man like Raman Lamba who was alwaysforthright. By now I am certain that the readers would be aware of whoI am referring to as ‘the young man’. Of course, he is none other thanSachin Ramesh Tendulkar. He is without doubt the most popularcricketer in India and not that his popularity is any less in othercountries.I first came across Sachin during the Irani Trophy match in 1989before the tour of Pakistan. He was in his mid-teens then but whatstruck me first up was the confidence and hunger in his eyes. Hestruck me as a shy youngster but boy could he bat even then! We had acouple of partnerships in that game and the way he batted both againstthe medium pacers as well as the spinners was something special. Hewas picked for the tour of Pakistan and by a strange coincidence thechampion was fated to make his debut in the arch rival’s country. Hemade a modest debut but the swift way he adapted himself to thedemands of international cricket was peerless. Imran Khan took greatdelight in going after this little boy during that tour and towardsthe end Tendulkar ended up in winning the admiration of “Khan Sahib”as Imran was referred to by his team-mates.Tendulkar’s obsession with cricket is illustrated best by oneparticular incident. A few of us went to a bat manufacturing companyand the manufacturer agreed to make a few bats for Tendulkar. Thedelivery of the bats were delayed by a day or two due to unavoidablereasons but the delay was too much for the little boy to bear. Theresult was that he started walking in his sleep and went from room toroom to find out if the bats were delivered to the wrong room bymistake! Eventually the bats arrived and with that Tendulkar’s sleepwalking ceased. Sachin did show his impish side as well by taking theMickey out of Salil Ankola as often as he could. For some reasonSachin always preferred the medium pacers to play his pranks,especially in his early days.It would be a futile exercise to reiterate Tendulkar’s achievements,but the impact he has made on the younger generation and the way hehas conducted himself is much more appreciable. Every youngster wishesto emulate this little champion and in fact the parents try and nudgetheir wards into becoming a cricketer like Tendulkar. In this contextit would be worthwhile to mention that Tendulkar has made a lot ofsacrifices to reach where he is today. The flip side of beingTendulkar is that he finds it difficult to take a stroll on the roadseven in his home city. In a couple of years time, he will have toventure out on the roads to buy his children some ice-cream and thatwill not be an easy task.Today he is celebrating his 28th birthday and I take this opportunityto wish him a very happy birthday. It won’t be long before he has toget back to duty and he is happy playing cricket and happier winningmatches for the country. He is at his prime having notched up 25centuries in both forms of the game and everyone can rest assured thathe will continue tormenting the bowlers world over and provide loadsof entertainment to the public. Not only is Tendulkar a greatcricketer but he is also a gem of a person. It is only fitting thatthis gem enjoys all the adulation and the respect of the entirenation. May God bless him with all the appropriate things for hisextraordinary personality on his birthday.