Sachin, redux

I know I said the previous post was my last on the topic for now — but this deserves marquee mention. Greatbong has a piece up on the achievement that sums up what Tendulkar has meant for so many of us for so long. And he does it with three delicate brush strokes:

The old Sachin radiated heat. The new Sachin gives light.

But he still remains the sun.

Perfect. And yet another example of what I keep talking about: the best cricket writing invariably comes not from the bylined ‘cricket correspondent’, for whom this is a profession, but from the fan for whom cricket is a passion.

Writing Sachin

Some time back, a more than usually prime example of hype and hyperbole prompted a blog post on the art and craft of cricket writing.

The flood of commentary in the wake of Sachin scaling one of the few peaks left to him turns the spotlight on another aspect of the problem: What can you say of a man about whom everything has been said before, a man who even before attaining maturity — in real terms, and in terms of his craft — had already exhausted every adjective?

Plenty, apparently. In no particular order of preference, a collection:

Samir Chopra writes about why, though there have been 10 +180 scores recorded in one day internationals thus far, only one man was really capable of breaching the 200 barrier:

It seemed to me that if 200 was to be made, it would be made by an opener, someone who would score quickly in the first 15, settle down in the mid-section, and then have enough nous and stamina to play through the inevitable acceleration to the end. And truth be told, it seemed like there was only person who could pull it off: Tendulkar.

For if there is one thing that seems to come easily to Tendulkar, it is the kind of innings I’ve just described. They are a dime-a-dozen for this man. He does it effortlessly, shifting gears when he wants, racking up runs, not letting his strike-rate drop. It always seemed like a matter of time before he would not lose his wicket in the final acceleration and simply go on to the logical next destination of the double-ton. 200 runs off 150 balls (a strike rate of 133.33) always seemed eminently doable for this master of the limited-overs game. No one else seemed to have the full package.

And on February 24th, he did it. Indeed, he seemed to have calculated it perfectly: 200 off 147 balls. The initial acceleration, the quick, expert farming of well-run singles and doubles, the final acceleration. It was a masterpiece of attack and accumulation (and the brilliance of shots was something to behold). And he did it against South Africa on an appropriate stage, a ground at home, in front of thousands of his ever-adoring fans.

The genius of this man is that such a singular feat should always have seemed so well within his reach, that his final breach of the barrier should come as no surprise.

It is not often that Time is moved to take note of cricket — but this is one of those moments when the scale of achievement captivates even those minds that are not tuned to the sport. Bobby Ghosh does the math to underline why breaking 200 is such a big deal. And then:

Wednesday’s achievement was the more remarkable because it came against South Africa, which has a powerful bowling lineup and superb fielders. Scoring big against the minnows of the sport — Bangladesh or Zimbabwe, for instance — is one thing; taking 200 from the South Africans is many leagues harder.

It was entirely appropriate that the record should fall to Tendulkar, 36, the greatest run scorer of all time, as he roars into the autumn of a storied career. Cricketers very rarely play into their 40s, and most are long past their record-breaking age at 35. But the Little Master, as his fans know him, is as bright at twilight as he was at noon: he’s ratcheted up a string of recent big scores in both the five-day “Test” and one-day versions of the sport, giving a new generation of bowlers the privilege of a Tendulkar thrashing.

If Sachin’s feat has been greeted with universal adulation, there is a reason — he is impossible to dislike. Vide Simon Briggs:

With his extraordinary performances over the past two decades, not to mention his exemplary conduct off the field, Sachin Tendulkar has proved that it is possible to be a sporting icon without turning into a monster.

In the light of the various indiscretions committed in recent weeks by Tiger Woods, John Terry and Ashley Cole, it would be easy to conclude that while power corrupts, sporting success corrupts absolutely.

Tendulkar is the ultimate counter-example. In his own way, he can compete with any of these men for eminence. The most famous Indian since Mahatma Gandhi, he has admitted resorting to wigs and fake spectacles just to get to the cinema undisturbed.

And yet, despite spending more than 20 years at the top of his sport,Tendulkar has never become tangled up with a Bollywood actress, or been accused of giving out pitch and weather information to an illegal bookmaker.

A cynic might add the rider, “as far as we know”. After all, that slippery PR fixer Max Clifford has repeatedly insisted that the only reason Tiger got caught was because he was badly advised.

But everything about Tendulkar’s public persona backs up his squeaky-clean image. The man is modest in victory and gracious in defeat, while his post-match comments are invariably diplomatic. It is hard to remember him being drawn into a single controversy – at least, not one that stood up to scrutiny.

Harsha Bhogle, who did the first ever interview of Sachin Tendulkar, and who has since spent a little over two decades cudgeling his brains to come up with new ways to say the same things about the same person, manages to pull it off again:

And he has never forgotten why he started playing the game in the first place. The best have lofty ambitions when they begin but soon commerce, like a tenacious worm, gnaws into them. Fame surrounds them and prevents the fresh air of reason from breaking through. They acquire sycophants, that great curse of success. Playing the game becomes a means to a seemingly superior, but in reality hollower, end. Tendulkar has kept those demons at bay. He has made more money than anyone else in the game, acquired greater fame than is imaginable, but you could never guess that from the way he plays his cricket. He remains the servant, pursues the game with purity. Through the last decade India have been well-served by like-minded giants.

There’s more, in Cricinfo’s round up among other places. And then there is this: Virender Sehwag, the batsman considered most likely to smash this particular barrier, talks of the sheer inevitability of it all:

We have had chats about him scoring 200. He thought it was difficult, but I told him only he could do it. Last year in New Zealand, when he retired on 163 I told him he had missed the opportunity, but he said “Agar meri kismat mein hoga toh woh mil jayega [It will eventually happen if I am destined to do it].” He said the same when he got 175 against Australia last year. On Wednesday he said “Woh likha tha, toh mil gaya [I got what was destined]“.

And that completes the last post on Sachin Tendulkar on this blog. Until he does it again — which, given his recent form, could be as early as his next game.

The swing of things

Just to show that there can be — occasionally — compelling reading beyond Tendulkar, here is Aakash Chopra with the latest in his series on cricket from a player’s perspective. And fittingly in light of recent events, it is on the art of playing swing bowling. It is tempting to clip from it, but the piece deserves to be read in its entirety.

Can’t wait for this series to come out as a book, incidentally.

The unseen stats behind Sachin’s record

In the midst of the Sachin-scripted mayhem of yesterday, I spotted the following on my Twitter timeline:

From Asfaq: As of writing this tweet, Tendulkar’s Wikipedia entry has gone thru 24 edits in the last 45 minutes alone.

Gautam John: 3/10 trending topics on twitter are dedicted to Sachin! This is history! Not even obama could do it! Not even apple or google!

Twitter, in fact, is proving to be an invaluable adjunct to following any event live. Consider the following posts — a brief selection that measures the public pulse during those pulsating moments when we realized that we were witness to cricketing history in the making:

Lahar Appaiah: First time I’ve seen Dhoni getting booed for hitting 6s. What exquisite tension, the last few overs..

From Shane Warne, who flooded Twitter timelines during the run up to the record:

#come on Sachin my friend get your 200 !!!! world record to please ! you deserve it !!!!!!

#nervous for my good friend Sachin everything crossed for you mate !!!! ps glad I’m not bowling to him today!about 14 hours ago via TweetDeck

#yes yes yes !!!!!! well done Sachin my friend … congrats and well done !!!!! awesome …

From Anand Mahindra, head of the eponymous business house: On my way to ndtv Indian of the year awards.But wonder if any other indian matters tonight after sachin’s double ton…

From Ashu Mittal, whose creative space is photography and who is a self-confessed cricket atheist: Commit all your crimes when Sachin is batting, they will go unnoticed, because even the Lord is watching!

As for the innings itself — and the man who shattered yet another seemingly impregnable barrier — what can you say?

So many of us have spent a decade and more in anticipation, telling ourselves that if there was one man who could shatter the 200 mark in the one day format, it was Sachin. ‘If he bats through 50 overs just once…’, we kept telling ourselves. And each time he got out, we cursed the very exuberance of strokeplay that made him what he was.

‘Dammit, did he have to play that risky shot when, with a bit of caution…’

Typically, we wanted it both ways. We wanted the visceral thrill of watching Sachin script murder; simultaneously, we wanted the adrenalin to flow a tad less tumultuously, for caution to temper that unbridled aggression.

Speaking for myself, I’d given up that dream. While I still enjoyed the spectacle of watching Sachin bat at any venue, against any opposition, in any form of the game, I no longer believed he had it in him to match aggression with endurance. As age caught up with him, as he shifted from hunter to circumspect gatherer, I signed over that unfulfilled promise, and looked to others — a Virender Sehwag, say — to plant a flag on the peak I had so hopefully earmarked for him.

And then, without warning, it was in the words of the Carpenters’ song, yesterday once more. Initially, Sachin’s innings was a make-weight for Sehwag’s early dismissal. Then it began to transform into a thing of beauty in its own right. He crossed the century, and we ticked off another one. He got into the 140s, and I began anticipating the moment when he would trip over his own exuberance and play that one shot too many [while a very small part of me dreaded the possibility that he might slow down due to sheer fatigue, and thus inadvertently check the team's headlong progression]. The 150 came up; his score progressed in increments of 10, and yet — a function of having oscillated between anticipation and disappointment too often in the past — I dared not believe.

I think it was when he got to 180 that there was the first realization that this was it. Time was on his side. He was hitting them clean, but more to the point he was running his singles with no sign of the cramps that have cruelly curtailed him when in full flow, in the past.

So, finally, the peak — and the fulfillment of a covenant Sachin made with his fans on the day he played his first ODI innings.

There are moments that go beyond the power of words to encapsulate; moments where silence is the most fitting tribute.

This is one such.

Perhaps the comment that best summed up the collective mood came from a colleague and friend who, on Twitter, goes by the handle Sumantics:

“If I had a salwar suit in our tri-colour, I would have worn it to work tomorrow.”

IPL/Lalit Modi update

Spotted the following comments on Lalit Modi’s Twitter stream: [My comments in paranthesis]

LalitKModi
3:51pm, Feb 24 from UberTwitter

I have been sent messages thru various quarters to entertain Fica Preisdent Tim May. Unfortunately we do not recognise Fica or any agents.

[Tell us why? What in the rule book proscribes the IPL from "recognizing" agents and/or associations of players, other than your innate unwillingness to be questioned?]

LalitKModi
3:54pm, Feb 24 from UberTwitter

Been told Ricky Ponting pressuring players not to come. Maybe its due to the fact he was dropped from KKR.

[What's with the ad hominem riff? Been told by who? I've been told all sorts of things about the monetary considerations involved in the granting of franchises -- but that doesn't mean I can say what I please, about LKM or anyone else, unless I have some proof I can put on the table. "I've been told", and three rupees, will buy you a cutting chai, dude.]

LalitKModi
3:49pm, Feb 24 from UberTwitter

We will allow replacement for those who decide not to show up. They risk being in future IPL. The call will be there’s.

[Right. Typical -- there is plenty more in the sea, if you don't come we will look at the B grade players, and if they don't come there is always Grade C... -- anything, rather than actually sit down and address legitimate concerns].

LalitKModi

3:50pm, Feb 24 from UberTwitter

We will not be dictated by players associations where to play. DLF IPL will be played in India.

[Good for you. Then again, no players' association has till date attempted to "dictate" where the IPL should be held. What they have said is, we have some security concerns, we would like to be heard, please could you brief us on arrangements?]

LalitKModi
3:55pm, Feb 24 from UberTwitter

Chances Champions League will be in India – will teams say they will not come ??? Doubt it.

[If the atmosphere at the time is vitiated by terrorist threats, foreign teams at that time will ask for reassurance. What's wrong with that? When we went to Pakistan, we actually sent our own security people there to independently check out the arrangements, rather than accept the Islamabad government's assurances. Sauce for the goose. Incidentally, look what happened when one team decided to go by governmental "assurances" -- remember Sri Lanka?]

LalitKModi
3:56pm, Feb 24 from UberTwitter

Australia tour to india in oct – will australian players association dictate them not coming then ? Doubt it.

[The Australian Cricket Association -- Cricket Australia -- will then do what the CA has done in the past. It will discuss the security arrangements with the BCCI; it will send its people to inspect the arrangements, and then CA will give an all clear to the players if they are satisfied. What is being forgotten here is, a bilateral tour is between the two boards. The IPL however is a different kettle of fish -- the boards have nothing to do with it, players appear in their individual capacities. Therefore neither CA nor any other board can, or will, get into the security question -- that is left to the players and/or their representatives, whom of course you do not recognize].

LalitKModi
3:58pm, Feb 24 from UberTwitter

South african players – touring india as we speak – securtity is fine for them now as provided by the Governement. All happy now.

[See above. The ongoing tour is bilateral. Security was discussed between the BCCI and the UCBSA, which are the two stakeholders organizing the tour. And the government is guaranteeing security. Isn't that all that the players' associations are asking for? So what is your problem again?]

LalitKModi
3:58pm, Feb 24 from UberTwitter

How will that situation change in two weeks – so what’s the motivation about these issues being raised now is the question one needs to ask.

[That situation changes in two weeks because, while the UCBSA is green-lighting this tour, played under the ICC's aegis, the UCBSA is not in a position to tell individual players to go play in the IPL, because that tournament does not fall under the ICC framework, and is therefore outside of the boards' purview. Sorry to repeat myself, but...]

And finally:

LalitKModi
4:05pm, Feb 24 from UberTwitter

We allow only 4 intl players per team. Few miss – no issues. We have great talent in each team. More oppertunity for replacement to others.

[Awesome! Tum nahin tho aur koi sahi -- and we thought feudalism was on the wane in this country.]

Grant the man this — he is value for the time you spend following him. Here — do it yourself.

In related, Dileep Premachandran on why the IPL should stay in India.

I agree, entirely. Neither Lalit Modi, nor the government of India, nor the franchises, should be seen as bowing to terrorist blackmail and shift the IPL out of India. [Again -- lack of adequate security or rather, the GoI's concern that it could not provide adequate security, was why it was moved to SA last year -- a fact conveniently forgotten in the current hoopla].

But does it then follow that neither Modi, nor the GoI, should be prepared to discuss with players and their representatives any concerns they might have?

What security? Which concern?

I’d like to see the IPL being staged — and successfully — in India.

To paraphrase one of Virender Sehwag’s memorable quotes during the last edition in South Africa, this is the Indian Premier League, not the International Premier League. Besides, India needs to stage the IPL here to underline the point that terrorists from across the border cannot hold this country to hostage, that lunatic elements both internal and external do not get to dictate our lives.

That said, just stumbled on this WTF quote from the commissioner himself:

“We are going to have the tournament in India. I can’t see any reason why we should move it at this point in time. The media is reacting to every fringe group saying security is a problem,” Modi told BBC Sport in reaction to the concerns.

The media is reacting? The media didn’t sponsor this threat assessment — various countries did. The media didn’t put forward a list of security-related demands. And the media is certainly not the author of this quote:

“The guys were nervous before the game but we need to trust the process we have always used with CSA and the South African Cricketers’ Association (SACA),” Smith toldSupersport. “We would prefer to play in a more peaceful environment but that’s the nature of the world we live in at the moment.

“Players remain concerned about the security issues for IPL. This is a big event with lots of different players, stadia, hotels and travel arrangements. The help and assistance we get for this event from our players association will be very important to us. Everyone is monitoring the situation very closely at the moment.”

Tony Irish, the SACA chief executive, said, “The Jaipur threat was investigated by CSA’s security consultants, Nicholls Steyn and Associates. We will rely on their advice as to its legitimacy, what level of risk it presents to the team and what security measures are necessary.”

He also agreed that the IPL represented a very different set of circumstances to a national tour where security was more easily controlled. “The IPL is an Indian domestic tournament and the players go there as individuals playing for eight different franchise teams,” Irish said. “The boards of the different countries can’t really be expected to review the security plans so it falls to the players associations in each country to do this for players. We take that responsibility very seriously. I can’t think of anything more important than player safety and we won’t compromise in any way on that.”

None of this is to suggest that the IPL panic, and shift base. Ignoring threats, or passing them off as media concoctions, could however be short-sighted, and the blowback if something does happen could be fatal to the future of the IPL. A far better option would be for Modi to take the various stakeholders’ concerns seriously, to work with the respective associations and the Federal Home Ministry to ensure immaculate security.

Or he can continue to play blind, deaf and dumb — especially dumb. And hope like hell hubris doesn’t bite him in the butt.

Meanwhile, we have a game on today. Thoughts, if any, on Twitter — and back on here tomorrow.