The sun dawned in a splash of colours as a sleepy Gwalior woke up to another day of its sultry life. There, among the thousands, an ageing gladiator wielded his blade to fight a battle.
What Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar did later that day in the Roop Singh Stadium will remain engraved on the very stones and walls of the city for another hundred years.
Starting off his innings like any other one, he pulled, cut,glanced, drove, hooked and lofted his way down a shot-studded boulevard of runs as a few more records came crashing down. The combined South African attack of Charl Langeveldt, Wayne Parnell, Paul Harris and Jacques Kallis, spearheaded by the fearful Dale Steyn stood almost insignificantly among Sachin's monumental runstorm.
Runs breezed past as nought turned to two, then three figures. Even as the run decades went past and records loomed into view, the Maestro batted as if nothing ever happened. Even in the tense 180s, he hit sixes with elan. His stamina might have fallen but his resolve strengthened every minute.
He peppered his towering sixes with quick ones and twos to construct a titanic twin-ton: one-day cricket's first ever. If there was anyone who deserved this honour, it was him.
Twenty Nights Later
14th June 2010
On retrospection, one can find a few charming lessons that this historic innings hides within itself.
Calmness in the face of a storm was what sparkled in Sachin's countenance. Even with runs showering endlessly from his willow, the master's eyes were set and face silent as ever.
While Sachin stalked his double hundred, M.S. Dhoni was ruthlessly pillaging the Protean bowling( at such a raging pace that he went from 33* to 68* in the time Sachin went from 198* to 200*). Seeing this, Sachin calmly gave the strike to his captain. Even though a billion curses fell on the latter, the duo clearly had the team's interests in mind than their own. When the twin ton peak was scaled, Sachin strode forward, lifting his hands to salute his father in the heavens- no pomp and show- while the entire world erupted in awe and jubiliation. This act of humble gratitude was, is and will remain one of teh most beautiful pinpoints of the master blaster's cricket and personality.
He's been around for about two decades but not even once has he faltered never to rise again. After every injury or adversity, he has returned stronger and deadlier. Even in this so called sunset of his cricketing career, Sachin remains not even slightly unlike the young marauder who conjured the 'desert storm' in Sharjah against the Aussies in 1997-98. His timeless grace is an everlasting benchmark of consistency and vitality. Let us learn from him and inculcate such qualities in our daily manoeuvres.
- Published in Drishtikon 2010, IIST's Annual Magazine
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