Sachin Tendulkar received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the BCCI Annual Awards function in Mumbai yesterday. It was but natural he will. It could have happened earlier or a year later but the fact that Sachin would get it was known. His impact on Indian and world cricket is unrivalled and for many like me he was one of the reasons to fall in love with the sport.
My first encounter with Sachin was at the age of 11. The year, 1987. As a child growing up with cricket, it was inevitable that I’d be mourning Sunil Gavaskar’s leaving the scene. Indian cricket, overnight, was in need of a saviour. Sure, Dilip Vengsarkar was in great form, Sanjay Manjrekar had his sound technique and Mohammad Azharuddin had magic wrists. But truth be told, none of them were in the league of the just retired Gavaskar. It was then that I had first heard about Tendulkar. A child prodigy, he was being touted as the next big thing in Indian cricket. As a child myself, it seemed there was something to look forward to.
Then came his debut series in Pakistan. It was a terrifying thought to think how a boy of 16 would stand up to the likes of Imran Khan, Wasim Akram and the express debutant Waqar Younis. My worst fears came true when in the Sialkot Test he was hit on the nose by a Waqar scorcher. Navjot Singh Sidhu, batting at the other end, recounted later: “My immediate reaction was he has to be rushed to the hospital. I was about to run to the other end when I saw Sachin raising his hand. In his squeaky voice, he said, ‘Mein khelega’ (I will play). He had blood all over his face but never once did he think of leaving the field.”
These two simple words, “Mein khelega”, best sum up Sachin, who has always worn his nationalism on his sleeve. Watching Sachin continue to bat and then cream a four off the very second ball through cover, I realised we were finally seeing our saviour in action.
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Deeply honoured to receive the Col. C. K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award.
My cricketing journey, which spanned 24 years was never mine alone. It belonged to every coach’s guidance, every teammate’s trust, every fan’s unwavering support and my family’s belief, love and… pic.twitter.com/4y4vvs243q
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) February 1, 2025
This realisation was firmed up when Sachin scored a match-saving hundred in England in 1990. In only his ninth Test match, he stood unbeaten on 119, an innings that successfully sent the cricket world a message — its next superstar was here.
But all these were trailers to the real movie: Australia, 1992. India reached Perth, down and out. The hallowed turf of the WACA, the Australian fortress which offered the bowlers pace and bounce and where Australian gladiators tested the world’s best. Sachin, then 19, scripted a fantastic 114, a knock of incredible brilliance that made up for a tame Indian surrender. We finally had an answer to the Australian fast men: Tendulkar.
By the mid-1990s, Sachin had become my hero, a singular icon we could trust with all our lives. As we celebrate his lifetime achievement award let me say this: Sachin was bigger than five days of six hours on the field, lunch and tea, 50 overs in a match indistinguishable from any other. There is no need anymore to compare him with other cricketers. He has to be seen in the light of achievements thought to be not possible, and that has hardly to do with cricket. Michael Schumacher, Diego Maradona, Dhyan Chand, Martina Navratilova, Michael Jordan, Leo Messi? Cricket was just the game Sachin played.
But how can someone love it so much? Sachin wouldn’t know the answer to that. He still doesn’t. And we will spend our lives baffled. How could he?
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