A person whose name is synonymous with the game, the
one who is a symbol of sheer hard work and dedication, who is considered a
Demigod in His nation, now sees Himself at the pinnacle of all records. It
almost seems impossible for any living person in this universe to even reach
near to the landmark. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, for whom life has been nothing
but cricket, is now in that kind of a phase.
It’s obviously very tough to choose the best among
the best Tendulkar hundreds, that you have watched and in fact lived them
throughout your life. But there are some none the less that stand out and
define why He is called ‘The God’. The hundreds which he scored at Sharjah
definitely top the list. Virat Kohli confessed that those were the awe-inspiring
innings that influenced his career decision and he dreamt of repeating some
thing like that for the nation one day. It was famously described as ‘The
Sandstorm inning’.
Chennai has always been a favorite hunting ground
for the God. The night mares of 1998 are still fresh in the minds of Shane
Warne and that superlative knock on the last day against England after 26/11,
which He dedicated to NSG and Indian Army. Of course, who can forget that epic
inning of 136 against Pakistan in 1999, when India lost by 11 runs. Even God
could not control His emotions that day and the nation cried along with Him.
Emotions have always been an integral part of a Tendulkar hundred, but the
century against Kenya in 1999 World Cup had no comparison. He had to take that
hard decision between personal loss and national duty.
Apart from Chennai, Tendulkar has loved playing on
SCG. Some of the innings that stand out for their special aspect is the 241* at
Sydney where He controlled Himself from playing front foot drive which was
causing his dismissal most of the times during that period. The hundred in the
test match that included the so called monkey gate incident at the same venue 4
yrs later and His hundred in the CWB Tri series final on the same tour, were
again an epitome of class and genius. Cricket pundits have lauded His hundred
at Perth on tour to Australia in ’92 as a knock that unleashed the fighting
spirit in Him which the world was about to see in coming years.
Along with 1998, one more year that would define
Tendulkar’s career would be 2010. He was just phenomenal that year. It began
with two test hundreds against Bangladesh, two against South Africa, a double
against Sri Lanka, a double against Australia and ended with that coveted 50th
Test Hundred against South Africa at Centurion. But in between another landmark
happened. A double hundred in ODI. Undoubtedly it was an innings of a lifetime.
An interesting fact here can be observed –He had scored 4 double hundreds in
His career of 20 years long but scored 3 back to back in a single year. To add
to that the orange cap in IPL. Definitely age (38) was just another number for
Him in 2010.
Again one inning which I was amazed to see was of
175 against Australia at Hyderabad in 2009. Australia had set a daunting target
of 350 runs to chase and from the entire star studded Indian line up, it looked
like only Tendulkar had the belief that the target was achievable. If we look
at His career graph, we can see that some of His long innings have come in the
past few years. Just like an old wine, his taste with success has continued to
become richer with years. Even the two hundreds which He hit in 2011 World Cup
against England and South Africa were a delight to watch.
Its just amazes me how can a knock of hundred runs
capture entire Nation’s attraction and the kind of satisfying feeling which it gives
to everyone that day. The fact that in the entire year after the World Cup, the
100th hundred phenomena became the epicenter of any Indian match
just speaks about the adulation that this man gets. Such are the emotions of
people attached to each of His inning that Sachin equivalents to a century for
them and nothing else. Years down the line a Tendulkar hundred has achieved
such a stature that even the result of the match seems inconsequential (as
observed in the Asia Cup match and in many more previous instances). People are
just too satisfied with a Tendulkar hundred. It makes their day and gives them
a peaceful sleep. Although the God, Himself would hate that. It has always been
team first for Him.
After the golden moment was achieved by the Master
Blaster, Harsha Bhogle in his video blog asked all cricket fans to just sit
back, relax and repeat those words “One Hundred Hundreds” and experience the
goose bumps that every hardcore Indian cricket fan would feel. Indeed how true
is that.
Enjoy the God at work till He is on the field. Who
knows you may just won’t love the game any more after He retires.
OMKAR.D.JUVEKAR.
