Brian Lara (r), Shivnarine Chanderpaul with Sachin Tendulkar. Photos courtesy of WICB Media
By Ravendra Madholall in Toronto
The duration of his illustrious and stunning career says it all and no doubt the two finals tests for Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar will be fascinating as India and West Indies do battle from Wednesday at Kolkata.
There has been a hive of frenetic activities by India Cricket Board since the announcement of the 40-year-old Tendulkar’s retirement. Statues, upgrading of facilities, extra parking spots among other miscellaneous things have been put in place to say ‘goodbye’ to the little master, who has been commonly called.
Over two decades this elegant right-hander has been a batting superman and undoubtedly, he will want to stamp his authority against the Caribbean boys. The feat of playing 200 test matches is obviously unprecedented but the onus is rested on him to make a huge impression on this occasion not only for his country but also for his loyal and adorable fans.
Many cricket writers have spoken greatly of him and his gigantic contributions to India’s cricket. He has been a role model and certainly, he will leave the field with a great legacy.
Sachin Tendulkar will call it quit on his illustrious career after playing his 200th game.
Now, Tendulkar can cherish his astounding accomplishments. 198 tests signified his consistency coupled with his endurance and thorough dedication while his incredible 463 one-day internationals also demonstrated the profound love and indomitable spirit to succeed.
The contest will draw interest to millions of cricket lovers given the fact the game will be seeing the ultimate innings of a quality player who devoted his time with incessant perspiration over the years.
He will not only be missed but his presence on any field will certainly be without an icon. He commenced his career at the age of 16 against Pakistan and at that time, many former great players and commentators spotted his talent and predicted a bright brilliant batting prospect.
No intimidation is anticipated from the tourists but they will be up to make a challenge out of this encounter. Manager Richie Richardson of West Indies is already confident of winning the games and urged his players to focus on victory not to be distracted by the Indians’ gumption.
The intensity of the game is much surrounded on Tendulkar’s farewell but one can still expect the country is buzzing with extreme excitement for this sensational cricketer send-off.
Professionally, Tendulkar has played an unbelievable total of 1617 matches in all three formats. Scoring 100 100s recently epitomized his willingness to accumulate runs and to set records that seemed unbroken.
Many see his colleagues on the field as humans but they see him as a God!
I was lucky to meet a friend from Delhi, India, in Toronto recently. His name is Pratab Cheerala and he was quite emotional since learning of the retirement of Sachin from all forms of the game.
He had the fortune to witness an IPL game in Mumbai and stated that Tendulkar’s appearance on any cricket field and match really inspired the fans to love him and the game.
People have great admiration for him since he has been a dominant batsman while they showed appreciation for his discipline and continued dynamism. Tendulkar scored over 18 000 runs in one-day matches while he aggregated 15837 runs in the five-day version.
His style always captured the attention while his tenacity for India is a winning factor. He was more than gleeful in 2011 after India had won the ICC 50-over trophy, more auspiciously in India too.
Against the West Indies, India is optimistic that a victory is very much likely once they play to the best of their ability and to make the event memorable with a brilliant culmination to a wonderful cricketer.