Dil Se

As the little master bid a teary adieu to cricket on his home ground, 25,000 people in the stadium wept along.  Meenakshi Rao , who witnessed the event at Wankhede Stadium, explores why Sachin Tendulkar is a phenomenon so fiercely loved and respected by fans and rivals alike We have been the one-in-a-thousand generation to have witnessed a one-in-a-thousand event — the change of a millennium. That was the biggest transition for Planet Earth. Today, we are on to a day that will witness a just as big if not bigger change of guard — this time on Planet Cricket — the slide from a ‘With Sachin’ to an ‘After Sachin’ black hole. Like the millennium, this is a momentous occasion unlikely to see a repeat with any other face at any other time. Imagine a world where Sachin is not walking in at No 4, looking into the sky, rotating his arm, adjusting his crotch guard, surveying the field placements, flexing his knees and taking guard. Imagine Team India without him guiding youngsters or a...

  Manjrekar and player-BCCI spat, not Sachin, drove copy, senior journalist Gautam Bhattacharya who covered that series tells  Meenakshi Rao Strange it may sound, but the inaugural 1989 series of Sachin Tendulkar was, back then, hardly known for the little master’s presence. It was more the romance around rising star Sanjay Manjrekar than the impending genius of Tendulkar which drove dinner discussions among journalists, he insists. Sunil Gavaskar had even sung a salutary Calypso song for Manjrekar in an informal Sunday  baithak  with journalists which were then a means of off-the-record interaction between players and covering scribes, says Gautam Bhattacharya, one of the six Indian journalists who covered that series. Rest of the time, reportage was more focussed on the ugly ongoing spat between then BCCI president VN Dutt and the players. Just prior to the series, a group of players, including Kapil Dev, had opted to go on a US tour despite a Board rider aga...

WANKHEDE STADIUM:   In a fitting finale to what has been a glorious career, batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar was awarded the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honour on Saturday. This makes Sachin the first sportsperson to be bestowed with the honour. Tendulkar joins the list of 41 eminent personalities to get the award given in recognition of exceptional service of the highest order since it was instituted in 1954. Tendulkar, a former India Captain, was chosen for the prestigious award, as he bid adieu to international cricket after his farewell Test against the West Indies ended in Mumbai. The announcement was made by Rashtrapati Bhavan within hours of Tendulkar playing his 200th Test. An official statement said Tendulkar has been a true Ambassador of India in the world of sports and his achievements in cricket are unparalleled, the records set by him unmatched, and the spirit of sportsmanship displayed by him exemplary. “That he has been honoured with several awar...

Sachin, Sachin will reverberate in my ears till I stop breathing, says Tendulkar during an emotional farewell speech on his last day of international cricket. Here is the full text All my friends. Settle down let me talk, I will get more and more emotional (crowd gets louder and louder as he composes himself). My life, between 22 yards for 24 years, it is hard to believe that that wonderful journey has come to an end, but I would like to take this opportunity to thank people who have played an important role in my life. Also, for the first time in my life I am carrying this list, to remember all the names in case I forget someone. I hope you understand. It's getting a little bit difficult to talk but I will manage. The most important person in my life, and I have missed him a lot since 1999 when he passed away, my father. Without his guidance, I don't think I would have been standing here in front of you. He gave me freedom at the age of 11, and told me that [I should] ch...

In what was a fitting send off gift to the legendary Sachin Tendulkar, India beat West Indies by an innings and 126 runs in the master-blaster’s emotionally-charged farewell Test at the Wankhede stadium here in Mumbai on Saturday. The Test lasted an hour less than two and a half days a hapless West Indies were blown away like a pack of cards for a 2-0 whitewash in one of the most lopsided contests in recent history. The visitors started the day 43 for three, and were all out for 187 in their second innings as Man of the Match Pragyan Ojha completed a match-haul of 10 wickets taking his second five-for. Only seven sessions of play was possible in a Test match in which one of the most respected and celebrated cricketers in the history bid goodbye to the game in front of his home crowd and his family. Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni played his part in the emotion by introducing Tendulkar to roll his arms in the day to the deafening cheers from a full-house. Moment after the final W...

Wankhede Stadium:  Day 2, Mumbai is on leave and Twitter buzzing with queries on spare tickets. All roads leading to Wankhede (read Sachin Tendulkar) are blocked, and all leading away from him (read Wankhede) are deserted. Marine Drive is having a population explosion, much before 8.30 am. Everyone wants to be in before Sachin walks in to extend his score from Day 1’s 38. In the stands, they are talking about small targets — a 50 by the master being the first one. It’s over number 34.5 when Tendulkar faces the first ball of his Day 2 innings. The crowd roar hasn’t subsided for the past five minutes of his walking down the pavilion stairs and it’s Tino Best trying to rile the master with pace and length. Tendulkar defends, with one single. Over No 35. There’s an eruption. Tendulkar sends the ball packing to the boundary twice in a row, reaches 47 from last evening’s 38, and then sweeps his way to 48 — all against Shane Shillingford, his Kolkata tormentor. He is in a hurry, cau...

WANKHEDE STADIUM: When skipper MS Dhoni announced at the pre-match Press conference that he had something special planned for Sachin Tendulkar in his farewell match, he did not give a hint of the action in store – first a scintillating knock of 74 by a vintage little master himself, then a keenly accumulated century by Cheteshwar Pujara, followed up by an unbeaten and spicy 111 in 117 balls by Rohit Sharma and finally three quick Windies scalps at the end of the day. And, this is just the second day of this very happening SRT200 occasion with not just the crowd getting to see the brilliance of their hero but also returning in the cushion of a possible match and series win by India — perhaps, in three days flat. In most sense, it was a Raymond match, comprehensive and complete — but for those 26 runs that Tendulkar fell short of, paying heavily for a momentary lapse in concentration. Just that much more, and he would have crafted the hugest century of his career, more romantic and...

MUMBAI: An absolutely breathless Mumbai, and one believes the rest of the nation too, took a long lingering sigh of sadness when Sachin Tendulkar, at 10.48 am, was declared out, perhaps for the last time in his illustrious 24-year career. Henceforth, it will be an India without another Sachin knock, another Tendulkar 100. Henceforth, cricket will lose some of its romance and a lot of its heartbeat. Henceforth, very few cherries would be played so deftly that they seduce fielders into a chase only to race across the ropes to unattainability. And that’s the reason why Sachin’s 74 runs in his farewell match would always be remembered with a surge of pride but also a tinge of despair. Just one last time, one last century, just 26 runs short, it could have been — that would be the longest ranging national regret. That does not take away the vintage Sachin flare that marked this knock. Crafted with old-time wizardry, variety and flourish, it can well be India’s new 100, especially when...

WANKHEDE STADIUM (MUMBAI) : 3.33 pm. India's biggest goose pimple moment — and perhaps, Sachin Tendulkar's too. The departing legend walked down the staircase of the Indian pavilion, looking up, looking back and then, looking forward — this time to perhaps a swan song knock, the last win over pressure, the ultimate response to undying, unreasonable and uncontrollable public expectation. The West Indians gave him a guard of honour as he rotated his arm, walked through the adulation and reached the pitch to — for the first time ever in his long career —  bend down, pick up some soil and streak his forehead in obeisance. In ovation, the entire Wankhede was up o n its feet, the cheers could never have been louder or the moment greater. For the entire 82 minutes that Tendulkar dug into the crease, not a single person in the stand sat down, the tautness could've not let them anyways. Even Tendulkar was pacing up and down the crease as the West Indians, in the vain hope of t...

WANKHEDE STADIUM (MUMBAI): For the ungracious, it was a Mad Sachin Disease. For the gracious, however, it was always about forming the Great SRT Forever Wave. But from both sides of the spectrum, it was Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar (SRT) who was the ultimate currency in and around an exploding Wankhede Stadium on Thursday. And, though the story is always around his fans, it was a larger than life moment for Sachin Tendulkar too. Not because it was his farewell Test but because, for the first time in his 24-year long career, his mother, Rajni, agreed to come to the stadium to watch him play live. Always nervous about her son’s performance, she would prefer to watch the highlights on TV long after her son had scripted a masterpiece in the middle from all corners of the globe. But for SRT 200, she made an exception. Sachin’s half-brother Nitin, wife Anjali, son and daughter accompanied his mother, along with his first coach Achrekar, who were whisked away by attending MCA staff to the ...

CENT PER CENT SACHIN The MCA is going all out to give a befitting farewell to their local wonder boy Sachin Tendulkar, and quite tastefully at that. For one, the circular stands are capped with a picture of Sachin celebrating each of his 51 Test centuries. The pictures are from the archives in which Sachin is either being felicitated or is holding a trophy in the respective ground to commemorate his achievement. Century No 1 is from England, two from Sydney and No 3 from Perth. A young Sachin beaming after scoring, mind you, in away series and going on to show his muscle all over the world. It is a befitting tribute to the legend – and perhaps a peep into the future, considering that every milestone put up by MCA is flanked by Virat Kohli staring everyone down from a hoarding of a fairness cream! KOHLI OVERSHADOWS And herein lies a somewhat embarrassing moment for the MCA too, as Virat Kohli’s picture and advert surrounding the rooftop perimeter of the stadium overshadows Tendu...