Only 3 years before, march 24th 2007, the Indian team got kicked out of the World cup in its league stage. The fans went wild attacking and booing their most adored heroes. Few left the scene as new ones entered.. I happened to read a post of Ian Chappel around that time. He had questioned Sachin's commitment and even told that Sachin needs to quit as he is not capable of winning matches for India.."At the moment, he looks like a player trying to eke out a career; build on a glittering array of statistics, if he really is playing for that reason and not to help win as many matches as he can for India, then he is wasting his time and should retire immediately.”, were Chappel's words. I couldn fanthom wat must have been going through the master's mind at that time..
After all Winning the World cup has been his ultimate dream, and when such a dream got bulldozed away, man u need motivation to carry on.. As always he found that motivation from within.. The first tour after the world cup was tht of Bangladesh's. Sachin had a point to prove, though he was not at his best he stuck to the task and saw us through.. After this came a series of ninety's from the master. Match after match he showed glimpses of the Sachin tht we knew of in 1997. India won the CB series finals against the aussies thanks mostly to Sachin. Still his critics were not satisfied. Sachin then became the highest run scorer in tests, which again was destiny. 2009 was simply awesome and toward the fag end of 2009 Aussies were belted like never before. Aussies always brought the best out of Sachin as he plundered 175 and singlehandedly put the Aussies to rest in an epic chase. The world took notice once again. This man had it in him to take it a step further, a place where no batsman had gone before. Yes, it was on the 24th of February 2010; I was studying for my Economics mid trimester exams and watching the live streaming of the match as there was no power in the hostel.. A chance-less innings from the master, 2 records in one match. Again I call it destiny.. Who better than Sachin to break the 200 run barrier.:) To cap it all, the master dedicated it to all of us who stood by him and believed in him..:):) After this i doubt there are any more critics for all have become believers, believers who kno tht this man is the best tht could happen not just to Indian cricket but to cricket as a whole. This was the comment by Ian Chappel now in 2010, "It’s not just the number of runs he’s scored in this prolific period (although four Test centuries in six innings is pretty impressive); rather it’s the manner of his run-gathering. In his scintillating 175 against Australia and the double-century that demolished South Africa, it was his dominance that stood out. Both innings rattled along at much better than a run-a-ball,s and when he is regularly punching drives off the back foot you know Tendulkar is master of all he surveys."
How things have changed from 2007 to 2010.! Its hard to believe people commented and had doubt on the India’s biggest icon and most favourite son. At his present form, I feel the only chance for India to win the T20 world cup is by having him in the team. Its about time we let the master enjoy every game he plays for Us and hopefully wait for the World cup to be ours which would make it even more memorable for him. Things have turned around again and we now see the Tendulkar of the past we always knew of..To conclude everything there can’t be better sayings than these that follow. Firstly a palcard during the The Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super kings match in chennai yesterday which read, "Who said there are only 1411 tigers left, There is one here, Sachin!" ( with a pic on the side) and secondly the Ultimate placard during the Mumbai Indians vs Delhi Daredevils read “ Sachin Tendulkar— Reducing the number of atheists since 1989.” :)
There are always those who stand by the champ like us.. Nice post though.. Brought back fond memories especially of the economics exam for which we never studied ;)
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