The Sachin Special

  So, where were you on the afternoon of 14th November when He came out to bat? Were you glued to your TV set jinxing Dhawan and Vijay to get out like a pure Sachinist, or were you in your office/school/college checking out Cricinfo every second, or who knows, maybe you were at the Wankhede itself. I am sure you chucked away whatever else you were doing to watch him bat once he came out in the middle. And then you bunked the rest of your college, postponed your meetings, held your pee and didn't move an inch until the day ended. It is that kind of a life when it comes to Sachin Tendulkar. You don't want to be the reason to jinx his innings at any cost by doing something out of the ordinary. Even you would not have been able to forgive yourself after doing something like that.

  He ended the day on 38* and he looked as fluent as ever. Nothing seemed to unsettle him. He was picking out the doosra, hitting those jaw dropping shots just like any other day at the office. All the pressure, all the expectations, all the drama going into this test match didn't seem to play on his nerves. It is not something any normal person would have been able to do. They were showing his whole family on the big screen at the Wankhede at one point and the crowd was cheering, doing all sorts of things. To ignore all that and to focus on the next ball is not a simple thing to do. I feel, only a Tendulkar is/was able to do something like that, because he has been exposed to that kind of a pressure for more than half of his career. I am no analyst, or I haven't played Cricket at a professional level to be analyzing his temperament. But, having watched a lot of Cricket, I believe I am at liberty to say that his ability to switch off from the whole world and to concentrate on the next ball is simply out of this world.

  When something of this magnitude like Sachin's last test is around, the Social media can't be far away from going viral, can it? I'm sure your Facebook, Twitter timelines must be filled with people voicing their "Sachin is God _/\_ _/\_ #ThankYouSachin"-like opinions. Nothing wrong in that. But, sometimes it just makes me wonder that aren't some of them the same people which criticised Sachin at one point when they said something like 'he only plays for centuries, and whenever he gets one India loses'?. It's uncanny how people change their opinions just to, you know, look cool. I remember the word "cognitive illusion" and this beautiful article on Why do some people hate Sachin Tendulkar? and move on. It's a really long article, read it after this one.

  We all are excited for tomorrow, aren't we? We've already made plans to relish what could very well be his last innings ever. I have made a few, too. But, I don't want tomorrow to come. I just want Sachin to be like this. Not out. Building a strong partnership with India's No. 3 on a crumbling wicket. Hitting those lovely backfoot cover drives, coming on the front foot and defending solidly. Soaking in all the pressure, making a billion people skip their beats.

  Sachin meant a lot to a certain set of people including me. When I was bullied at school, when my Mom scolded me, when I had a hard time in my acads, Sachin was always there. When the chips were down, his batting gave that immense joy which made me forget all the wrong that was happening around me. Everyone of us have our own beloved Sachin stories. We are very very lucky to have them. We'll tell our kids and our grand kids about them some day, and they will envy us. Who knows? Even tomorrow, we might see a Sachin special, but then again I am pressurizing him in my mind. It's time to let go. He is a great Cricketer and will always be regardless of whatever happens tomorrow. With Sachin, it's never the records that excite you, it's the drama, the perfect batsmanship that you simply can't get enough of. So, let's skip some beats for one last time tomorrow.

           "Enjoy the game and chase your dreams. Dreams do come true."