Sach is Life

There are somethings you cannot imagine will ever happen. 10 years ago, I doubt you could say that more people would want to stay in India than move to the US. At this time, 10 years ago, I doubt you would say that Amitabh Bachchan would be the biggest draw at the Indian box office. And, there's no way in hell you would imagine that Sachin Tendulkar would be booed in an Indian stadium. Not just any stadium, but his home, his backyard, his bastion. The Wankhede

The fact is that he is going through a bad patch in test cricket. The elbow injury was potentially career threatening and the theory is that he has not fully recovered. L'affaire Ganguly has shown that if he doesn't score heavily soon, he would be out of the Indian team soon. Which would be sad. I used to be a huuuuuggggggggggge fan of the man, so much so that I once told a friend that I was such a fan that if I had to choose between watching Tendulkar bat and attend my own wedding ceremony, I might prefer the cricket. I still think he has a lot to offer the Indian team especially in tests. So I would go for the following radical idea:

He should announce right here, right now that he will retire from one day internationals after the 2007 World Cup. That pretty much ensures that he will not be dropped from the ODI team at least till then, bad form or not. He has nothing to prove in ODIs and heck, the less he plays ODIs, the better he is for tests. It provides the Indian team a source of motivation. Heck, imagine what fun it would be India in the finals of the World Cup playing his favorite Aussies knowing fully well that this is his last game ever.

There's a few articles on the web, but this one probably puts the whole story in best perspective. Also puts my feelings in words. I was planning to write something on the same lines, but I got lazy and Mr. Shekhar kinda hit the nail anyway.

Hope the man comes out of this slump. I hear he is injured with a bum shoulder and will miss the ODIs against England. Somehow this test reminds me of the India-Pakistan test in Chennai (1999, was it?). 300 or thereabouts to get on the final day. An injured Tendulkar. An early wicket down.

How about one for the ages, Sach?

P.S. BTW, the friend that I said I would rather miss my wedding, ended up becoming my girlfriend. And, we ended up getting married on Boxing Day, India v. Australia. Luckily, I missed only one ball of the Man's innings.

SR Tendulkar c Gilchrist b Lee 0 (1st ball)