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SACHINISM INSIDE OUT- E MAGAZINE - AUGUST EDITION
Bringing Back Memories – An Old Article On Master Blaster
August 15,
2009
Belief in himself, the will to win, the fear and respect of the rivals--he has it all. India's star batsman is
sheer genius. What makes him a living legend?
By Rohit Brijnath and Peter Roebuck.
I don't think anything is impossible. Of course, I'm not always right.
-- Sachin Tendulkar, after scoring 143 against Australia
This is the first thing about genius. Self-belief. Inside the stomach of some men smoulders a defiance that is
abnormal, a will so powerful that no ordinary barometer can register it. We dream, Tendulkar does. On that day when
the sandstorm blew in to stop play -- it was God announcing he had taken his seat -- Tendulkar told coach Anshuman
Gaekwad in the dressing room: "Don't worry I'll be there in the end." Don't worry! With four of the topline batsmen
out and 94 runs to get in 87 balls; Vinoo Mammen of MRF telling his wife, "Let's go to the hotel and cry", and hope
generally abandoned by all. Except by one man. Later, a spectator says, "It's sad one billion people in India have to
rely on one man."
This is the second thing about genius. Desire. They could
have turned off the lights in Sharjah, Tendulkar's shots
would have illuminated the city, such is the sunlight of his
batting. India has qualified for the final, but he paces the
dressing room hissing, "I was not out." It was the rage of
a man who believes he has no limits. He was not there to
help India qualify, he was there to win the match. We
dream small, Tendulkar lives bigger. Says Allan Border,
Australian coach, a day later: "Hell, if he stayed, even at
11 an over he would have got it."
This is the third thing about genius. Fear. From the Aussie
dressing room bustling with hard men, all sorts of stories
emerge. One strategy is "get the bugger to the other
end"; another says, "We bowled short, on the off stump,
nothing worked." Michael Kasprowicz is sort of
speechless. In the first match, he hits Tendulkar on the
pads, smirks, gets hit for two successive fours. This
match it's two successive sixes. Now he swears, "Shit, I'm
sick of this *$#%."
This is the final thing about genius and that innings. Respect. Next day, by the pool side of the Princeton Hotel,
WorldTel boss Mark Mascarenhas throws a party for Tendulkar. Friday, final day, is his birthday and it strikes you
starkly that as he turns 25, he has more centuries (14 in one dayers, 16 in Tests) than he has years in front of his
name. Meanwhile, in a corner the conversation goes something like this:
Border: It's scary, where the hell do we bowl to him.
Ian Chappell: Yeah mate, but that's with all great players.
Border: Well yes, but imagine what he'll be like when he's 28. Contd.
Harsha Bhogle released a book on Sachin on his 35th birthday. The 300-page hardbound
book,"Tendulkar" contains several rare photographs of the master blaster, including those
from his childhood days.
SACHINISM : More Than A Religion
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