Mumbai: He is the world's richest cricketer with an estimated wealth in excess of $10 billion. It is a tag he may lose to the likes of M.S. Dhoni. But then Sachin Tendulkar is also one of the humblest cricketers. That is a tag he will carry for the rest of his life.
Walking down the steps to practise at the Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday afternoon, Sachin was struggling to cope with the cricketer's paraphernalia -his trademark super light pads, thigh guards, gloves, abdomen guard, two heavy bats and the ubiquitous helmet hanging by the chin strap.
There was this young cricketer who was sticking his notebook through a break in the fencing for an autograph. Most players were too preoccupied or too busy or, perhaps, too rich to care. Not Sachin. He stopped near the boy, balanced the two bats from the lower step, transferred everything else in his cricket gear to his right
As world gets ready for farewell, the Master slugs it out in the nets Sachin Tendulkar's international cricket journey began 24 years ago almost to the day. He will be riding into the sunset in his last Test to be played on his home ground, Wankhede stadium -an appropriate enough tribute even if he has scored just one Test century here, against the Sri Lankans in 1997.
In a remarkable coincidence, the British actor Daniel Day-Lewis who won the best actor Oscar for My Left Foot in 1989 won it this year again for his portrayal of Abraham Lincoln in Lincoln. The similarities don't end there. The world's best actor (only man with three prime Oscars) is a man obsessed by his craft to the extent of it consuming his working life.
“If I weren't allowed this outlet, there wouldn't be a place for me in society,“ Daniel has been quoted as saying. The same could also be said of Sachin, the middle class Maharashtrian from the Maximum City who found his metier with the willow, which much like a magic wand in his chubby hands makes him a Maestro.
Over the next few days, Mumbai will be the focus of the cricket world as it celebrates its long-serving stalwart who won his place at the very top of the batting pantheon, even rivalling the otherwise incomparable Don Bradman as the most complete and compelling performer of the game.
Given the background of the events in Kolkata before and during his 199th Test, the Mumbai Cricket Association had made the Wankhade Stadium a virtual fortress with access only for those who had some work at the cricket. There were more support staff and certainly more media persons at the practice sessions than lay cricket lovers who were very few in numbers because not many were allowed in to watch the practice.
The very fact that Sachin was at the nets session was a testament to the work ethic that has driven him right through his Test career. He could very easily have opted out for a day in his home town to spend quality time with his family instead of motoring to the team hotel.
As part of the #Thank you Sachin series, he tweeted only yesterday -“Retirement is a way of life. You have to accept it and move on“ and he went on to say -“I have given 24 years of my life to the game.
Now, it's time for my family .“ -signed Sachin Tendulkar. Maybe, his son Arjun Tendulkar's presence made him feel he was spending quality time with family on Tuesday .
Father and son were seen standing next to each other behind the net for a while with one of the world's greatest batsmen possibly passing on his distilled cricketing knowledge and acumen to his son. But not for long since Sachin's work ethic kicked in soon.
He batted for well over half an hour, strokes all in the V in an obvious effort at imposing the same discipline that had been the most remarkable facet of his long career. A shortish stint in the nets is never enough to satisfy the technician who furthered his natural talent by being a workaholic.
A few hundred throwdowns later, he had a boy bowl underarm so he could play the swing stroke and sweep to leg off low-keep ing deliveries. To prepare this thoroughly for the final Test is akin to Daniel Day-Lewis obsessing with the characters he portrays on screen. Filmgoers as well as spectators at sport see only the end results and not the preparation that goes into the art.
As Peter Roebuck analysed it pithily once -(Viv) Richards came to the cricket with causes, for Tendulkar cricket is the cause. Yes, cricket will be the cause for another few days before Father Time draws stumps on his remarkable career.
