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Rajdeep Sardesai

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Rajdeep Sardesai

Rajdeep Sardesai comes with 20 years of journalistic experience during which he has covered the biggest political stories in India. Prior to setting up his own channels, he was the Managing Editor of both NDTV 24X7 and NDTV India and was responsible for overseeing the news policy for both the channels. He has also worked with The Times of India for over five years and was the city editor of its Mumbai edition at the age of 26. During the last 20 years, he has covered major national and international stories, specialising in national politics. He has won numerous other awards for journalistic excellence, including the prestigious Padma Shri for journalism in 2008, the International Broadcasters Award for coverage of the 2002 Gujarat riots and the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award for 2007. He has won the Asian Television Award for talk show presentation and has been News Anchor of the year at the Indian Television Academy for six of the last seven years. He is presently the President of the Editors Guild of India. He has done his Masters and LLB from Oxford University and has also played cricket for the Oxford University team.

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Czar of Cricket

Friday , November 13, 2009 at 01 : 21


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Where were you on November 15, 1989? I know where I was: glued to the television in my newspaper office watching a 16-year-old boy with curls and rosy cheeks take on Pakistan's fast bowlers. Twenty years later, the curly locks are showing a hint of grey but Sachin Tendulkar is still doing what he does best: score runs for India. Much has changed in the world around us in the last 20 years. One thing hasn't: the presence of Tendulkar on the cricket crease.

Remember 1989? It was the year that the Berlin Wall fell, symbolising the end of Communism. It was the year that Rajiv Gandhi was defeated in the General Elections, as VP Singh was transformed into a middle-class hero. It was the year that the militant's gun first echoed in the Kashmir valley while the bugle of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement was sounded in Ayodhya. In 1989, five hundred dollars remained your forex limit when travelling abroad, Dr Manmohan Singh was far from being the finance minister, there were no private television news channels and India was still struggling with the Hindu rate of growth. To many Indians of my generation, there is only one link between then and now: the batsmanship of Tendulkar.

Forget the mountain of runs and the gush of records. That is for historians and statisticians to archive for the future. For the genuine cricket fan, Tendulkar has always been much more than a run machine: he has played the game the way it was meant to be played, with passion, unbridled enthusiasm and, above all, dignity. It's true that the gay abandon with which he lit into an Abdul Qadir on his first tour to Pakistan has given way to a more methodical approach to batting. Yet, as he showed a few nights ago in Hyderabad, the core of his being is still in playing attacking cricket. Incredibly, even towards the end of his Hyderabad epic, he was running faster than his partners who were almost half his age.

It can't have been easy. Cricket's history is littered with stories of schoolboy prodigies who never quite made the transition from maidan cricket to the big league. Not only did Sachin make the great leap, but he did it in the span of less than two years. Lesser men would have simply buckled under when hit on the face as he was in the first series by a Waqar bouncer. But he didn't. In that one fleeting moment when he dusted himself up after the injury, a teenager became a man.

We all have our favourite Sachin moment: was it the sliced cut off Shoaib Akhtar for a six in a famous run chase over Pakistan in the 2003 World Cup? Maybe, it was the emotional century within a week of his father's death, a father who had been his role model? Or was it his demolition of Shane Warne in Chennai on a turning track? Or the Sharjah innings that remain his signature One-day knocks? Or a monumental double century in Sydney? Or the match-winning innings last year against England within weeks of the 26/11 terror attack that appeared to miraculously lift the gloom? When you've scored a staggering 87 international centuries, then picking a single cricketing achievement isn't easy.

But his real achievement is beyond the boundary. We live in an age of instant stardom and mini-celebrities, where fame is an intoxicant that can easily consume the best of us. In the crazy whirl of hype and glamour, there is every chance of an individual losing his way. Sachin, remarkably, has been almost untouched by the fact that he is contemporary India's biggest icon, arguably bigger than even an Amitabh Bachchan or a Shah Rukh Khan. As Khan revealed in an interview, at a party of cricketers and film stars there was a big noise when Amitabh entered. Then, Sachin entered the hall and Amitabh was leading the queue to grab hold of the cricket champion!

Through the many highs and a few lows, Sachin has been calm and focussed. He has consciously avoided controversy, remaining an intensely private individual while displaying his talent to millions. He may not have gone to college, but life has perhaps taught him more than he could have ever learnt in the classroom. He is fully aware of his commercial value but his badge of identity is that he is the Maharashtrian middle-class boy who has remained true to his roots. He may lack the gravitas of the original Little Master, Sunil Gavaskar, but on cricketing matters he can be just as articulate.

In a sense, the passing of the baton from Gavaskar to Tendulkar represents the coming of age of Indian cricket and a new India. Gavaskar was the architect, who built every innings with a clinical precision that perhaps was symbolic of a Nehruvian India when neither cricket nor the country could afford any form of extravagance. Tendulkar is the free-spirited artist who bats with the freedom of an India unshackled of its socialist baggage, where cricket is now part of a lucrative entertainment industry.

So, how much longer will Sachin continue? Sir Don Bradman, statistically the greatest-ever batsman, played for Australia for 20 years, interrupted by war and benefiting from the fact that cricket was then a seasonal sport. Sachin, whom the great Don likened to himself, has been playing virtually non-stop for two decades in the most high-pressure environment that modern sport can throw up. Maybe, the body is creaking a little, but the mind doesn't seem to have given up yet. Maybe, the goal of the 2011 World Cup is still the ultimate motivation. Of course, he will retire one day, but till he does, we must savour the magic. A banner in Sharjah once said it all, "I will see God when I die, but till then I will see Sachin!" Amen.

Total Comments: 59

CollapsePosted 2009-12-02 22:46:45 : By cajetancoelho

This is a terrific and compact article on our Sachin. Thanks Rajdeep. There is plenty of vintage cricket yet to come from his bat. Let's wish Sachin all the very best.





Dr. Cajetan Coelho ...Reply

CollapsePosted 2009-11-23 12:57:56 : By dheeraj290

sachin is tht gem of INDIA thz more precious thn even kohinoor.but the blind persons of shiv sena are not aware of that.i think they first need to make thmselves upto tht level so tht they could be able to think on commenting the PRIDE of INDIA. ...Reply

CollapsePosted 2009-11-22 11:18:19 : By satyaswarup1


Sachin Tendulkar is a sports genius and we all know this. You must critically analyse his success and failures instead of obsequeously singing paens for him. There are other achievers who desperetely need media attention and recognition. ...Reply

CollapsePosted 2009-11-21 16:15:48 : By SSandhan

Its really a good article and get to much knowledge and information. Sachin is really a rocking personality of India. And he shows that he is not bend his feet when there was heavy cloud on Indian team. Finally he show that he willnot led India to down the position. He is the first player who made 30000 score in his record and no one is in comparison related to him and i thought its difficult make top scores in life. he is really wonderful person . ...Reply

CollapsePosted 2009-11-21 16:15:12 : By akshima.tyg

well, i got all the information i need of sachin..he is the best..m proud of him, he always raises India's head high..he is just awesome...he really is cxar of indian cricket......... ...Reply

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