Master at work

Sachin Tendulkar once again proved in the recently concluded tri-series in Australia that he still has a lot of cricket left in him. In his 18-year long career, he has achieved what any other cricketer can only dream of.

Eighteen years in international career is a pretty long period, especially with the intense cricket that takes place each year. His determination, fascination for the game and hunger for runs is still keeping him among the best in business.

A lot of critics and cricket pundits wrote and spoke about the master in the early part of the tri-series when Sachin was not getting runs, that probably it is time for Sachin to retire in One-Day format of the game but three important knocks in three most important matches, once again proved his greatness, determination and genius.

Having had the honour of playing against him in one of the most important games in Indian domestic cricket i.e. the Ranji Trophy final (Mumbai vs Punjab, 1994-95), I had the opportunity to watch the genius of the master from very close quarters. Sachin got a hundred in that game but it was the ease with which he batted that was exceptional.

He for one, is surely a batsman who has that extra time to read the delivery and get into position to execute his shot. This is the hallmark of a great batsman. This difference and the ability to see the ball a fraction of a second early separates a great and good batsman.

I also remember vividly that when the little master first arrived at the crease to bat in that final, our skipper Navjot Singh Sidhu told Sandeep Sharma (a promising young fast bowler that time) who was quite nippy, to greet Sachin with a bouncer. This is exactly what Sandeep did but Sachin dispatched the ball to the roof top of Wankhede Stadium with a remarkable hook shot. This was the class of Sachin. Any other batsman facing his first delivery would have left alone the bouncer but Sachin had other intentions.

In the calender year 2007, Sachin got out seven times in the nineties. Out of these seven times, India won on five occasions. Thus, winning is more important for Sachin than centuries and this was also the comment he made when he got out in the nineties in the second final against Australia.

The year 2008 has been a good one for Sachin so far and the whole country and all his fans world over hope that the 'master blaster' will continue the great work and bring more glory to our country.