Sachin Tendulkar - prodigy personified!

In India, the sport of cricket runs in every Indian’s blood. In a nation where people follow more than a dozen religions and yet stay in harmony, there is one abstract religion that binds all of them together - Cricket. Though the game was first showcased to the world by the British, we Indians take pride in being its largest followers. Indian cricket team has produced many masters of the game, but there is one name that defines this sport in India; that name is Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar(SRT).

There are many cricket followers who believed that he would turn out to be a cricket prodigy even before he played cricket as a profession. In his school days he has broken records, made new records and he continues that trend till today at the age of 38. If a person tries compiling all the records he has made or broken till today, in a book, probably the book will run into pages equaling the entire Harry Potter collection. I am not his most ardent fan, perhaps I would not even be counted in the top 70% of his fans, but the respect I have for him is no lesser than any other Indian might have. And the reason is, if anybody truly deserves that respect as a sportsperson in India, it’s him.

Being from a middle class family, he always believed in his dreams and his perseverance got him where he is today. In the game of cricket, a batsman is judged by the centuries he/she makes. Harsha Bhogle once said - good batsmen make 10-12 centuries in their entire career, great batsmen score 20-30 centuries. Legends of the game make 40-50 centuries in their entire tenure as batsmen, but this “Little Master” (as he is renowned) has a whopping 100 centuries under his belt. A hundred hundreds! Any person having a decent knowledge of the game would be aware that he is an epitome of perfection in this game.

People who follow cricket as a religion in India consider him God. They truly believe it, without a speck of doubt. He is what Michael Jackson is for pop music or what Pele is for football. Bowlers all across the world feel privileged to have bowled to him and the ones who have taken his wicket in any international game consider it a feather in their cap. Even with such an extravagant track record, with fan following from every part of the world, and being the greatest pro the game has ever seen, he is as humble as a child. This virtue of humility and the urge to learn and enjoy the game even at the peak of his career is what led him to become the greatest maestro of this sport. I truly bow down to his dedication, his talent, his attitude towards the game, his incredible humility, and to himself. SRT, aap jaisa na koi tha, na koi hai, aur na hi koi hoga!(There wasn’t, isn’t and never will be any one like you!)