The moment arrived yesterday when we saw last of On Field Sachin. All we are left with is memories. Memories of that exquisite Cover Drive with full opened face and absolute still head over the ball, that perfect straight drive when ball kisses the Non-striker’s stump and attains speed of light (nearly) simultaneously. Some umpires know about speed of ball very well (It was brutal but shows speed of the ball). Memories of an magnificent innovator who opened new in-field areas for scoring like the area behind slips through uppercut which sometimes sailed over keeper’s head(literally), areas behind the keeper in leg side through elegant paddle sweep which no one could imitate. It is for cricket historians to notice but I am speculating that these shots will be counted equivalent to Ranjit Singh Ji's Leg Glance through leg side which opened area behind square in legside for scoring for others to follow. Some players have taken Sachin’s innovations forward (DilSccop) to make them more effective (although less stylish) in limited over cricket already (they are still too risky for tests). Another innovation was helicopter shot (Yes it was him who played it first, watch it here) which Dhoni have adopted and made more popular since. It is only Sachin who could have made this shot of brute power look so graceful. My favorite memory is the pull shot in 2003 world cup against Andrew Cadick when he knew the next delivery is going to be short ball well before bowler began his runup. A perfectly positioned pull followed and Caddick got recorded in the memories of hundreds of millions of fans forever indelibly. This shot was special because ‘Pull’ had been resting in the arsenal form long due to back pain and been used very sparsely since. Second one is more talked about conventional uppercut over third man against so called Rawalpindi express. There are so many others but I can’t fail to mention that flick(look at 6:33) during ODI 200 from outside off stump which he played against best bowler of our time and made him appear as helpless as a school kid being bullied by someone 5 year senior to him.
Individual shots form incredible pointed memories. They reminds you short burst of incredible joy you felt at that point of time and Sachin is not just about short burst of joy. Beauty of Sachin as a phenomenon lies in the fact that he not only offers so many pointed moments of ecstasy but also sustained period of bliss across 24 years. Agreed that there were periods of disappointment in between but then suddenly he will play a gem of an innings which will leave an enduring mark over psyche of the nation. Being born in 1988, I was too young to take note of his Pakistan adventure in 1989 and the unbelievable feat of heavy scoring against every opposition I faintly remember “169” in Cape Town” in 1997 but that is more because of mind blowing catch taken by Adam Bacher (Another cricketer who will find mention only either in memories of a Sachin fan or in archives of cricinfo). In 1998 when I was 10, Desert Storm happened and I saw a storm on the batting pitch which ignited a hard to control passion for cricket (rather Sachin) in me. I have followed cricket (Sachin)* since. Those were the best consecutive 2 innings anybody will ever play. I distinctly remember “155” against Australia when Shane Warne was routed for once and all and “136” against Pakistan despite the back pain which almost won the match for us, both played in Chennai (I wonder what Chennaites have done to be so lucky to witness display of so much divinity from God). There are so many of them that I can’t mention them all here, be it “241” in Sydney or “175” in Hyderabad. But I will mention “146” against SA in Cape Town which happened to be his last Test century. This Inning marked greatest spell of bowling form one of most potent bowler of all time. He was forced to retreat after failing to dislodge the warrior with a bat (his best weapon) in his hand. During this innings Sachin was not the usual self, he wasn’t dominating, he wasn’t hitting the ball all around the park; those cover drives, straight drives and on drives were not flowing as freely as they normally did, those quick sprints across the wicket didn’t happened because there were lesser mortals to be protected from an assault which was rarely seen from the bowling side (If you don’t remember Google “Sachin vs steyn cape town 2011” and you will know what it was). In this inning he was not looking as an immortal teasing and bullying the lesser mortals, instead he looked like a human who is vulnerable, who needs to negotiate but who can stand and fight against adverse conditions.
Sachin will not be creating any more memories for us now but nobody can rob us from the already existing ones. Cricket will not be the same and will be watched more on Youtube than on ESPN or Star Sports. This Probably is a natural progression which earlier saw radio, Black and White DoorDarshan and Coloured StarSports with multiple cameras and analysis. Thank You Sachin. It has been a pleasure following you and being a fan of yours.
* Cricket and Sachin have remained synonyms for me till now. Don’t know what will happen in future.
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