The Life Of Sachin Tendulkar - Essay

As said by the legend – Amitabh Bachchan himself “Sachin (Tendulkar) is the heartbeat of our nation. The country breathes every time he goes out to play and when he is out, the country stops breathing.”

Demi – God, The Master Blaster, Bombay Bomber, the little master, Sach, slashin sachin, 4+6=10ulkar, 10ulkar, God of Cricket and so on and so forth . This is the presence of Sachin Tendulkar in the World Cricket.

One sports personality who still remains uncorrupted and unassuming as ever.

Champion in the Making

• Early life and beyond

Sachin Tendulkar comes from a humble and cultured background of a middle-class family. His father, Prof. Ramesh Tendulkar was a poet and a professor of Marathi Literature.

Prof Ramesh eldest son Nitin also became a literary and poet and was recognized by the state government for his first book. But it was not Nitin Tendular who needed constant vigilance; it was the family’s youngest, the trouble maker – MASTER SACHIN was.

When young he played in the playground day and night without wanting to come back home for his afternoon meals and nap. Sometimes his grandmother or mother would have to tie up one of his legs to a wooden chair so that he does not go out playing yet again and then go back to their knitting’s.

Sachin attended Sharadashram Vidyamandir (High School) and began his cricketing career under the guidance of his mentor and coach, Ramakant Achrekar. Sachin used to practice for hours in the nets. When he got tired his mentor would put a One Ruppee coin on the stumps, and the bowler who would be able to dismiss Sachin would get the coin. If on the other hand Sachin would pass the whole session without getting dismissed, the coach would give him the coin. Sachin today considers his 13 coins he had won, some of his most prized possessions.

Humility and Credibility has always been in Sachin’s innate nature and his strongest of allies from his days of nobody to a super celebrity. In his early years also, as told by his elder brother, he has not once seen sachin behave in an insensitive or arrogant manner.

• Respect and Responsibility:

A quality which is not replaceable is his respect for his elders. Before embarking on his tour he never forgets to take the blessings of his elders in the family. And also he never forgets to buy each of his family members something when he returns from the tour. There is another endearing quality that Sachin has, which is he never gets angry.

He has no known enemy in the media circuit neither does he have any favorites. To those who have offended and criticized him by their writings, he has only one philosophy: “Pressmen too are entitled to having their bad days.” Sachin allows nothing to affect him.

In the early years of his career, he understood his responsibility towards Environment and social responsibility. He had never endorsed any alcohol brand, cigarettes and pan masala, when other of his counter parts were endorsing the same.

• The Person:

At the age when others play gully cricket,, Sachin was already shoulder to shoulder with names like Kapil Dev and Mohammed Azharuddin.

There is unanimity that achievement and fame has not changed Sachin a bit even though he had started earning exceeding well very early in his career. And today also, apart from his passion for Luxury Cars and Fast Driving his interest still remains of a middle class person – Family, Music, good food and Friends.

Even though Sachin is a private person but he is not a hermit. He is frivolous and fun-loving when and where he wants to be. One more aspect is that sachin is very kind-hearted which is imprinted in him even today because of his upbringing and values given by his parents. His parents had always given their children liberty to do what they want and they made sure that this trust was never breached. Even when the decision of changing Sachin’s School came, sachin’s father spoke to him to know his feelings even at that young age.

• Sachin: The Patriot

As noticed by photographer Pradeep Mandhani retells that when Sachin had landed in Johannesburg in 1992-1993 for a tour to South Africa, the team had to visit the Tolstoy Farm, Mahatma Gandhi’s first Satyagrah Movement, founded in 1910. The Indian player showed little interested as they wanted to rest first, but that did not stop the young inquisitive Sachin to stop his questions from the guide about our Father of the Nation. Still a teenager and hungry for information about Mahatma Gandhi showed his pride for the Nation.

On his tour to Pakistan in the year 1997, Joseph Hoover, a journalist, suggested sachin about doing something for the underprivileged of the society. He immediately agreed and asked him his plans, and he had no plans as it was a casual remark. But within minutes he arranged for bats to be sent to Bangalore which the players would sign and later they will be auctioned.

Man of his word: Sachin became the first overseas player to be a part of Yorkshire. He had assured his presence for the benefit. The coordinators were scared that it would be a huge blow if he will not turn up. But when called, he unworriedly told him that when he gives his word, he honors it. Sachin kept his word.

Sachins standing and reputation is such that when he was wrongly accused of ball tampering the whole Nation rose protest the allegation. The sentiments of the masses were told by former BCCI president NKP Salve when he said that Sachin cannot cheat. He is to cricket what Gandhi Ji was to politics. It was clear discrimination in his opinion. The ICC (International Cricket Council) was enforced to explain that Sachin’s only mistake was to remove the grass of the ball without informing the umpire, which is not ball tampering.

Even after being born and brought uo in a Marathi family, Sachin has never protested or shown any prejudice against North Indians like the Shiv Sena (political party in Maharashtra) who have unleashed an anti-north Indian campaign.

Bal Thackeray ( party president) lasted his anger at Sachin, when he had quoted that Mumbai is a part of India and that how he sees it. He also said that he is a Maharashtraian and am extremely proud of that, but first he is an Indian.

These remarks by Sachin were of a true Indian who does not belong to one particular state but a country first. A true Patriot …..

• Inspirational:

Sachin had failed in exams in Boards. At that time, it was considered shameful to fail in school, but that did not stop his love and passion for cricket.

A persistent back problem flared up when Pakistan had come for a tour in India in 1999, and India lost a historic test series, despite a rough century by Sachin. Worse was to come when Sachin’s father, Prof. Ramesh Tendulkar passed away in the middle of 1999 Cricket World Cup.

Sachin led India tour to Australia after being named the new captain, where they lost the series by the new world champions. Sachin gave up his captaincy and Sourav Ganguly took over as captain in 2000.

Sachin had made 673 runs in 11 matches in the 2003 World Cup which led to India playing in final against the defending champions- Australia. While Australia reserved the trophy, sachin was awarded the Man of the Series.

Sachin made his mark in the drawn series of India tour to Australia in 2003-2004 in the last test series where he made a double century.

In 2004, eyebrows were raised again when Sachin injured his elbow, leaving him out of sight for almost a year, coming back only for a test series with Austalia in India. He did play his part in India’s win in the Mumbai Test but the series went to Austalia in 2004. After his tour to England in 2006, the news of his shoulder operation raised more question of his longevity in cricket.And today he is the worlds best, and the highest earning cricketer. His attitude towards life and the game is what should inspire us.

• Dedication:

In the year 1998-1999, Australian Cricket Team was scheduled to tour India for a Test Match and Tri Series. Although the Australian team had great players like Steve Waugh, Mark Taylor, Mark Waugh and Ian Harley, there was this one guy who had made ripples in the cricket world that was Shane Warne. Even though the Indian team were good against spinners but this guy had it in him to swindle the Indians in their home ground.

Preceding the test series the Australian Team was scheduled to play a warm up match with Mumbai Ranji Trophy Team in Mumbai. Sachin was also to feature in that game for Mumbai. Sachin was aware of the hazard which Shane Warne could pose and hence about one month before the Australian Team arrived in Mumbai, he had sent a SOS to Laxman Shivaramakrishnan (a former Indian Leg spinner). Sachin arranged for him to come to Mumbai so that he could practise against various leg spinners as Shivaram was a good exponent of the googly and flipper. Sachin practised along with him everyday for 5-6 hours in the heat for around 20 days before the Australian Team arrived in Mumbai.

They say “God helps those who help themselves” and “Patience is the key to Success”. And so it was in case of Sachin Tendulkar. In this warm up game, sachin smashed Shane Warne and the fellow Australians and scored a glorious 204 and the rest is history. Later on he played Shane Warne with no difficulty

Practise is the simplest thing which we should focus for instead we move around for other things which never guarantee success and even if it would have given success, it would be short term nature.

Sachin is a person who gives a lot of attention to values and things that matters to him, be it how small they are from others perspective. Like many sports personalities, Sachin also has his own superstitions and mementos which he holds a special place in his life.

As an example, Sachin was gifted with a pair of pads by his cricket hero Sunil Gavaskar when he was a school. And when he made his Test debut for India against Pakistan aged just 16-years old in 1989 wearing those very pads

• Lessons from his Journey:

Dedication and Commitment

His hard work at the nets is just an example of how dedicated Sachin Tendulkar is to the game of cricket. He has in the process not only mastered the techniques of shot making but also has invented shots which bear his signature. An aspiring speaker should also be dedicated to his art, he should spend long hours researching, preparing and rehearsing his speeches. He should become sound in his understanding of the art.

Passion and Drive to Excel

If he fails at batting, you’ll see him make up for it in the field. Either he’ll get some crucial wickets or take brilliant catches or make extra effort in preventing runs from being scored. If nothing of this happens, he’ll be there with a right piece of strategy for the captain. The bottom line is simple: He has a great passion for the game. And he pushes himself to excel each time he goes out to play. An aspiring speaker should show great passion for public speaking. He should be driven by the quest for excellence and never settle for mediocrity.

Enjoying the Game

As you watch Sachin Tendulkar play, you’ll never have a feel that he is at work. He is always at play, enjoying the game. That is perhaps the greatest secret of success. Enjoying what you do in life. Most speakers look at their given assignments with dread. This is a defeatist attitude. Instead, if the speaker can learn to enjoy his time on stage, he’ll come up with better performances. He’ll then engage the audience with some cherished moments of inspiring integration of words and action; thought and emotion, style and substance.

The Audience Factor

Sachin Tendulkar will be remembered not just for the volume of runs or the number of centuries he made. Instead he’ll be remembered most for the way in which he played the game. How he entertained, how he mesmerized, how he took the battle to the opposition often single-handedly, how he wrote poetry with his foot movements, balance, poise and delicate touches with the bat. In short, he entertained. Aspiring speakers can learn something from him in this regard. It is not just delivering some words committed to memory that counts, but how you can entertain the crowd. That is how lively and interesting your presentation was to the audience.

Planning and Pacing the Innings

None of Sachin’s great innings happened by chance. Instead it was careful planning and precise execution of it that helped him achieve success. Life too is an innings that we play. We need to learn how to pace our innings. There are times to go slow; there are times to accelerate. There are moments to be still and there are times to cut loose. An aspiring speaker should note that great speeches have a cadence of their own. There is music and rhythm in it. There is occasional rise and fall. Sometimes the delivery of the speech sounds like a hurricane; and at other times it soothes like still soft music. Effective is the man who has learned to keep his performance within his allotted time.

Raising the Level of the Game

Great champions need great opposition to bring out the best in them. Sachin Tendulkar is no exception. His ability to raise the level of his game during demanding situations has often been proved. When that happens there is a different quality to his game. There is something different, something that can’t be defined, and something that seems out of the ordinary in his game. Great speakers too raise their level of performance when the mood, the occasion and the content of their speech demand it of them. Like how Tendulkar makes his batting look so much easy because he hides his art in it. So also a speaker should lay hold of his art in such a way so as to make it look so easy. It is at such moments great art is witnessed and heard by the audience.

Consistency and Perseverance

Sachin Tendulkar has had his moments of failure. Those moments prove to us beyond doubt that he is an ordinary human being just like one of us. But what makes him different is his ability to be patient when his critics cry out for his blood. Instead of speaking he lets his bat do the talking. And his long and illustrious career has been one long string of achievements that has shut the mouths of his critics. His averages in both versions of the game are testimony to his consistency and perseverance. Speakers need to be consistent. They should earn a reputation by consistently delivering well. At the same time they should also learn to persevere when bad days come. The secret is to keep on doing what you’re good at and maintain the confident belief that if you had done well in the past you can do better in future.

• ACHIEVEMENTS:

Sachin is broadly regarded as one of the greatest batmen in the history of world cricket. He holds the world record for the most number of Man of the Match (MoM) and Man of the Series (MoS) awards in ODI matches.

Sachin Tendulkar is the most inexhaustible run scorer in one-day internationals with 17,598 runs. With a current aggregate of 13447 Test runs, he exceeded Brian Lara’s previous record count of 11,953 runs as the highest run scorer in the test matches in 2008 in Mohali, India. Sachin regarded this as one of his biggest achievements in the 19 years of career. He also holds the record of highest number of centuries in ODI cricket (46) as well as Test (48).

Sachin has scored over 1000 runs seven times in a calendar year in ODIs, and he scored 1894 runs in 1998, easily the highest record for the runs scored by any player in a single calendar year for one day internationals.

Sachin became the first player ever to reach 10,000-11,000-12,000-13,000-14,000-15,000, 16,000 and 17,000 ODI runs

• Official Awards

Arjuna Award, for achievements in Cricket in 1994.

Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1997

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna – India’s highest sporting honor 1997/1998

India’s fourth highest civilian award- Padma Shri in 1999

India’s second highest civilian award: Padma Vibhushan in 2008

Sachin has become a mentor for the youth with his dedication, love and passion for the game and his country. He is an inspiration to every individual in India and the world.