My tryst with the cricketing GOD.

What could have been an occasion to celebrate on November 15th? Well, nothing as i can remember. But November 15th, 2009 is indeed an occasion to celebrate for the cricketing fraternity, at least. That day when one of the nation's favorite son would have played 20 years of cricket at the highest level one being as dominant as always. 20 years and still counting. At 35, he stands tall and imperious forming the pillar of Indian cricket, scoring humongous amount of runs, making the cricketing world smile with his batting prowess and still being humble as ever. If Google is a habit for many, so is Sachin for the cricketing world. Cricketers in India are like demigods but Sachin stands apart GOD like.

Barring his young flamboyant batting style which has considerably mellowed down, nothing much has changed in the 20 years. People expect the best from Sachin whenever he enters the field; the crowd chants his name when he bowls his arm over and still cheers when the ball goes to him where ever he fields. When Sachin enters the field, he represents every soul in the country. There was a sense of connect when he took his guard, scored his runs, scalped the opposition and executed run outs. As Peter Roebuck rightly said "Sachin is public property and India's proudest possession".

His innings have formed an imprint of sorts in our minds. Whether its his amazing knock as an opener against New Zealand when he changed the perception of opening batting forever, the 1996 world cup innings, the emotional knock when he scored a century and looked up to the heaven's for a while against Kenya immediately after his father's demise in the middle of the world cup, the magnificent 98 against Pakistan in the 2003 world cup, the hero cup win when he bowled the final over in front of the 90,000 crowd at Kolkata, his googly to Moin Khan which changed the course of the match, the back to back centuries at Sharjah in 1998, his match winning knock against England in Chennai after the 26/11 terror attacks or the recent 175 at Hyderabad against Australia. The list goes on. Some of my best Sachin innings were during the India-Australia test series in 1998 when the whole Sachin-Warne dual began followed by a match winning knock in the finals at Sharjah when he hit the straight six off Michael Kasperowicz and another one dancing down the track off Shane Warne straight over the top and the 60 odd runs against Australia at Mumbai in 2001 in the first innings. Personally, my favourite Sachin knock would be the 136 that he scored against Pakistan with excruciating back spasm. India lost the match, Sachin was in tears and so was the entire nation i would believe. I was for sure.



Like most sports fanatics I’ve idolized cricketers and alike and have dreamt of rubbing shoulders with the best in the business. Sachin Tendulkar was obviously on top of my list. Having followed him closely for as long as i can remember, my liking towards the game grew twofold when i saw more of him. One of my best moments was during the opening ceremony at the inaugural season of IPL 2008. All the captains from the eight franchises were called upon to sign the spirit of cricket agreement. As the captain of Mumbai Indians, Sachin was the last to be called upon to sign. The 30,000 crowd at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore went berserk, standing in unison, chanting Sachin's name for over two minutes. The atmosphere was magical; I had goose-pimples all over as i stood up in awe and respect for the greatest cricketer to have ever played.

My first encounter with the great man was during the Indian team’s conditioning camp in 2003-04 in Bangalore. Desperately wanting to be part of the camp in any capacity, despite me knowing there wasn't any chance, I'd bunk college and take off to Chinnaswamy stadium to take a glimpse of all the stars, get their autographs, get a picture in their company and if lucky manage to grab some stardust! It was during one of these loitering days at the stadium did i stumble upon the local manager and decided to vent out my desire to be part of the camp. I remember pleading him and promised him that i wasn't like most people who just came for a photograph and that i really wanted to learn something. I think he saw that passion in me and asked me to come over the next day in cricket whites. My joy knew no bounds as i spent the entire night dreaming about myself standing alongside the legends of the game, asking them questions on the game and so on. I had reasons to feel delighted for these are unfulfilled desires for many. And the rest as they say is history as i spent the next three weeks with the Indian cricket team assisting as a wicket-keeper keeping wickets to the Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Sachin Tendulkar and many others.

While i had a lot of moments that I can cherish, the one i can vividly remember was when Sachin Tendulkar asked me to keep wickets off his bowling after recovering from a shoulder injury. That was when the great man caught me on the wrong foot when i misread a googly for a leg spin delivery. In short, the ball went one way while I went the other way! Sachin offered me a tricksy smile indicative of his mastery over the game which I wholeheartedly accepted. It was just great. As any young cricketer would wish I would handle Sachin's bats when he walked in to the field from the dressing room and vice-versa. Holding those bats had made me quite popular as the crowd gathered inside the stadium would try and get a picture with me! I also remember giving him throw downs as he knocked relentlessly. His work ethic was remarkable as I watched him from close quarters. Few days passed by and little did I know I would be getting Sachin's batting gloves signed "Best Wishes". It was a gift from GOD. The next day I would present him an audio cassette comprising of the best Kishore Kumar collection and I remember him putting it inside his handbag. It wouldn't have mattered to him probably, but it was a small token of appreciation from me - a one among the billions of fans who idolized him.

Many talk about Sachin's elephantine like memory. For he remembers every moment, every knock of his and I can recall an incident which I was part off which was quite embarrassing. Two years later when the Australian team was in India for a five match ODI series. I would manage to sneak through the gates in my cricketing whites to assist the Australian team if I got lucky. I did get lucky as I kept wickets at their practice session. It was then when i bumped into Sachin. I met Javagal Srinath, whom i also knew as a friend in the dressing room. I was greedy to get more of Sachin. I asked Srinath if I could get a bat from Sachin if possible. Sachin would tell Srinath later - "isko mein pichle baar mera gloves diya tha" (meaning I had given him my gloves last time). I was shocked!! That he had remembered giving his gloves to me when we met two years back was beyond my imagination. Trust me its no exaggeration.





No doubt even the greatest of sportsmen haven't been spared of criticisms. Sachin is no exception. Despite the obstacles, shouldering over billions of expectations, trying to give his best every time is in itself a remarkable feat. Yet, as he exceeds all expectations, the world over has an insatiable appetite when it comes to Sachin Tendulkar. Everyone wants more of the little master. His work ethic is something which stands out even to this day making him what he is. For me, it couldn't have been any better as I thoroughly enjoyed watching and spending every moment I could with a man whom the whole world adored.

Wishing him the very best and hope he continues to enthrall and create magic time and again, for one never gets tired of him. A true legend, indeed.

Thank you, Sachin Tendulkar!

The Dressing Room

Cricketers in India are demi-gods. We worship them when they do well on the field and burn effigies when they fail to perform. For the world outside the perception about our cricketers is different – that cricketers are stars and sometimes arrogant. At times it seems justified for very few are privy to their lives inside the dressing room or their behavior outside the field.

I've been a sports fan and more so a cricket fanatic for long. Having grown up idolizing these stars it was a dream to meet them at some point in time. I've been lucky to have witnessed the cricketers, few of them and observe their personalities to an extent. It was in September 2004 when I had a first hand experience in terms of the effort each player instills in his game. The Indian team had their conditioning camp at the K.S.C.A, Bangalore where I had the privilege to assist the team as a wicket-keeper.

Keeping wickets to Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh and few others was phenomenal. John Wright the coach then watched the players from behind the nets along with keeper Parthiv Patel beside him. Sairaj Bahatule, the Mumbai leg spinner bowled one down the leg and I had collected the ball well when I heard John Wright saying “good job” mate and explaining my movement down the leg side to Parthiv Patel. The next couple of deliveries I had goosebumps literally. I remember Sachin Tendulkar having recovered from a shoulder injury and tried his hand at bowling. During one of his deliveries Sachin had bowled a googly which I failed to read and went the wrong way while the ball went in the other direction and Sachin gestured with a smile indicating how I was foxed. The 3 weeks I spent with the players was remarkable.

Almost four years later I had an opportunity to experience something similar. This time around it wasn't with my white dress and keeping gloves, but trying to learn the nuances of my new job or part of it I must say, sitting in the dressing room alongside the players. It was a Duleep trophy game between South and Central zone having great players and prospects like Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, L.Balaji, Badrinath, Piyush Chawla, Kaif, Dinesh Karthik to name a few. To be sitting in there and not get distracted by their presence is impossible. Looking at them speak, conduct themselves, prepare for the game, their food during breaks was fantastic. The starry nature of theirs isn't visible for they are completely natural in the dressing room atmosphere in comparison to facing thousands of autograph seekers outside.

As I sat with my colleague trying to learn some new stuff, right next to us was Venkatesh Prasad speaking about banks and a whole lot of things happening around before he departed. Rahul Dravid who failed to create any impact was alone, not much of interaction, laying his hands at almost every newspaper and discussing a murder case that appeared on the first page with Robin Uthappa. Chief selector and Sehwag of the 80's Krish Srikanth was in his own inimitable style talking aloud and smoking. South Zone were struggling at 81/5 when Dinesh Karthik went out to bat. In the current scenario even a double century by Karthik would be hard to earn him a recall to the test and ODI side and moreso since Dhoni is at his peak. As he walked down to the field, Srikanth shouted at him in tamil saying " dai machaa... Jolly aa valaaadu" (meaning enjoy your game).

The best of the lot of was VVS Laxman. That Laxman is humble, friendly and liked by everyone was a testimonial to what I observed. Laxman, Kumble and Srikanth spoke a bit of every language (tamil, telugu, hindi,english). Srikanth mentioned that the role of a selector was a thankless job along with wicket-keeping and umpiring. He went on to say that the selector could only pick any one of the 3 best contenders for any slot and dropping the other 2 was a sin. The aftermath, the “gaaliyan”(abuse) that a selector receives on dropping players was the worst part.

Dravid eventually joined the three and burst into a laughter when Srikanth mentioned that his “expert analyst” role with one of the news channel was the best as he would sit in his lawn with his “dhoti” and answer few questions from the studio. They spoke about the Satyam scam, recession, stock exchange losses, investments and real estate. On the field Dinesh Karthik did just what Srikanth told him, to enjoy the game, as he resurrected the south zone innings with a fine 152 of 112 deliveries. The whole team stood up and applauded as he showed his bat towards the dressing room. Laxman on hearing the noise sat beside coming fresh from a nap and ordered some tea enquiring about Karthik's knock.

John Wright in his book “Indian summers” mentions Laxman was pivotal in forming a bridge between the old and the younger lot. He was spot on. The way he carries himself is wonderful. Simple, no nonsense, approachable and most importantly liked by all. The general chat revolved around Laxman as he chatted in with Dinesh Karthik, enquiring Balaji about his home in Chennai, Badrinath and few others. Piyush Chawla later came in saying “Laxman bhai I couldn't bowl well as i lacked practice with the Kookabura ball” as part of the new experiment. Post match, Laxman would get Sreeshanth to analyse his bowling and the plan for Day 2 relishing with a plate of Rava Idly.

Personally having had an opportunity to watch these greats from close quarters was fascinating and a day well spent, I'd say.

Reverse Swing

Australia v India, 2nd Test, Sydney, Day 5, India chasing a target of 333 runs were in a comfortable position until the dreaded finger of Steve Buckner went up, saw India's formidable batting line-up collapse. Rahul Dravid, who battled to 38, was sturdy when he pushed his pad forward to Symonds and hid his bat and gloves behind his front leg. The Australians yelled and India's comfortable position of 3 for 115 was soon to be 6 for 137. Gilchrist no doubt has been one of the game's greatest ambassador and his attitude nothing short of exemplary. For someone who volunteered to walk without waiting for the umpire's decision, the voiceforous appeal coming from Gilchrist was quite surprising. India eventually lost the match they deserved to win considering the nature of events that unfolded over the five days of the Sydney test.

Cricketers for long have been successful in making a transition to the media as writers and commentators. But given the spate of autobiographies cropping up, they might as well be successful marketing executives. John Wright's Indian Summers gave an insight into the Indian dressing room and more recently Marcus Trescothick's revelations about the use of mint to shine the ball during Ashes 2005. Adam Gilchrist's comments questioning the game's most revered player over the monkey gate incident in his autobiography "True Colors" is possibly headed in the same direction as the rest.

All Gilchrist has done is create curiosity in people's mind by raking up an issue that was amicably thought to be resolved between the two sides. The hype is a great marketing strategy and will help keep the cash registers ringing. If Tendulkar's statements have been contradicting as stated by Gilchrist then Michael Clarke's presence as witness in the hearing doesn't even stand a chance. Having edged the ball to Rahul Dravid at first slip, Clarke stood his ground as if nothing had happened while the Indian's celebrated his dismissal. In one of the matches in the same series the Australian players were found not appreciating the little master's century, very unlike Australian. So much for playing the game in the right spirit.

At a time when the Aussies are struggling to cope with the reverse swing on Indian soil, this one by Gilly might just go down the legside.