I remember the World Cup in 1999 like it was yesterday. It was the
night before our game against Zimbabwe when I got a call from Ajit
Tendulkar that their father had passed away. Anjali was also travelling
with us but she had gone out with friends, and Ajit told me to be with
Sachin till Anjali broke the news to him.
Sachin broke down, but he didn't go into depression. I did whatever I
could to console him, but then how can you console someone who had lost
not just his father, but his guide, mentor?
Sachin left for home the following morning, and even at that stage, I
felt he would return to rejoin the team's campaign, so it came as no
great surprise when I heard that he would come back. I wanted him to
return at the earliest so that he could take his mind off the tragedy,
if that was possible, and use cricket as a distraction.
Sachin arrived in time for the match against Kenya. He was deeply
disturbed, you could make out from his demeanour. He was very quiet.
Everyone around him gave him the space he needed, but Sachin also knew
that his cricketing family was with him in his hour of distress.
Once it was time to start playing, Sachin was a transformed man. When
he walked out to bat, it was as if he was on a mission, that he wanted
to do something for someone so special to him. His innings that day was
one of the finest I have seen ever, even in isolation, but made even
more spectacular given the circumstances under which it was composed.
Kenya had a reasonably decent attack but Sachin made them look like a
club side. Sachin has produced several masterpieces, of course, but in
my book, his unbeaten 140 off 101 was as sensational an innings as I
have seen.
Hiding the pain It was during that game that I saw Sachin wearing
sunglasses on the field for the first time. Sachin was never a fan of
sunglasses but that day he obviously wanted to hide his pain.
Watching him that day brought a lump to my throat. Sachin hasn't just
been a champion cricketer, he has remained a champion human being and a
champion team man. That is a very rare combination, and that's why
Sachin is what Sachin is.
0 comments:
Post a Comment