Who is Sachin Tendulkar?
Batting has been Gods gift to
him.Candidly, Sir Donald Bradman ,a boy from Bowrel,had
not been as gifted as India's little young man.
This is truism,according to experts who
have had the oppurtunity to watch in action the two masters at
work. If Bradman got a century in every third innings,it was not
merely because of his prowess and skill,but because of his
unwavering application.If the Indian star develops the same
uncanny application that the great Don had,he will rewrite most
of the batting records.He is already eight years old in
international cricket at 24 but age is on his side for him to
achieve what no other cricketer has achieved.
He is short and compact.But in
his 'not so slim frame' he possesses nimble feet.There is a
spring in his legs.This helps him reach quite up to the pitch of
the ball without imbalancing himself or losing his rhythm.Even Mushtaq
Ali,a marvel of a batsman himself,envies him and his style
of batsmanship.
His strength is his eyesight.He
sights the ball much quicker than most accomplished specialist
international batsmen.He can even read the rotation of the
seam.His hawk-like eyes provide him ample scope in positioning
himself for any stroke.It is said that he,like Bradman,is always
in a position for two strokes on any ball bowled at him.
His stance is orthodox.But his
grip is unorthodox.His peculiar grip does not worry him.In this
particular respect,he belongs to the class of Vijay Hazare
whose unconventional grip did not prevent him from striking the
ball well and hard. He does not possess wrists of steel.But he
derives all his power in his strokes from well-poised and well
coordinated body position.He strokes the ball with perfect timing
with his unusually heavy bat for the ball to race to the boundary
before any fielder could have the time to intercept it.
His range of strokes is
varied.He does not believe in caressing the ball;he has faith in
punching the ball with systematic swing of his bat and
follow-through for the ball to sail serenely,leaving the fielders
stranded and on-lookers in raptures.
When the master is
demonstrating his workmanship with his implement called a bat,he
reduces the bowlers,quickies and spinners alike,to mere
pigmies.Runs flow from his bat and the score-board leaps instead
of merely moving.It is a shear joy to watch him make mincemeat of
the attack.
When the little boy was in
Pakistan in 1989 at the tender age of 16,he had the courage and
convivtion to mutate Abdul Qadir-Pakistan's leading
spinner to no more than a schoolboy.The harder Qadir tried to
twist or turn the ball,the more reassuringly he smashed it into
the galleries.3 sixes and a four came from that over - all from a
16 year old school boy playing his first match abroad! What a
controlled hitting it was! Pakistan's devastating bowler was
himself devasted in the process.To Qadir's credit,it should be
said that he was man enough to praise the talent of the
under-teen.
Since then,much of the sea-area
has been reclaimed for skyscrapers to come up and this young man
has gone from strength to strength.
The batsman we are talking
about is Sachin Tendulkar. He is as
good a human being as a batsman.During 1997,he lost much and
gained a little.In 1998,without the cares of captaincy,he has
already regained his form and potnetiality for which he is known
the world over.
When Tendulkar is at the
crease,bowlers shudder to bowl while fielders are virtually
non-existent.Such is the power of his bat.He is a batsman who is
dreaded the most by his opponents.
Here is a player who can let
the cricketing world know that he has in him to be a better
batsman than Gavaskar and more durable than Kapil Dev.In
Tendulkar's success lies India's renaissance...
Only 10 batsmen in the world
have made it to number one in the Coopers & Lybrand Ratings
since they were launched in 1987, and Sachin Tendulkar is one of
them. He went top on 5 December 1994 after his innings of 179 and
54 at Nagpur against the West Indies, after five years of steady
if not spectacular progress up the Ratings.