Sachin Tendulkar@50: People who’ve known the maestro closely celebrate his remarkable innings

Every day has been a celebration of our similarities and differences. We have gone through different stages of our partnership, like every couple—courtship, marriage, becoming parents, and to now seeing our children become adults and carve out their own lives.

What is praiseworthy about Sachin is that despite all the fame and adulation, he still treats everyone equally. Irrespective of someone’s position in society, he treats everyone the same. Whoever comes to our home is our guest — and they will be treated with the same warmth. Money, power and success are immaterial; what comes foremost is that every person is a unique human being who deserves respect. Sachin and I feel very strongly about this, which we have tried to pass on to our children as well.

Many people have asked me what I have planned for Sachin’s 50th birthday. We have been very private people — so this birthday will be no different. It’ll be something with very close friends and family.

Vishwanathan Anand
With Sachin in the 1990s, there was something unique. Almost everyone in India would call him by his first name, and a deep affection was attached to it. He was like the son in every Indian household we identify with. He was the answer to every Indian problem in cricket and was always the boy next door. He wasn’t a superstar. He was one of our own.”

‘Our Saviour’
Boria Majumdar
My first encounter with Sachin Tendulkar was at the age of 11. The year: 1987. As a child grow ing up with cricket, it was inevitable that I’d be mourning Sunil Gavaskar leaving our cricketscape. Indian cricket, overnight, was in need of a saviour. Sure, Dilip Vengsarkar was in great form, Sanjay Manjrekar had his sound technique and Mohammad Azharuddin had magic wrists. But truth be told, none of them were in the league of the just retired Gavaskar. It was then in a Mumbai newspaper that I read about Tendulkar. A child prodigy, he was being touted as the next big thing in Indian cricket.

Then came his debut series in Pakistan. It was a terrifying thought to think how a 16-year-old boy would stand up to the likes of Imran Khan, Wasim Akram and the express debutant Waqar Younis. My worst fears came true when in the Sialkot Test he was hit on the nose by a Waqar scorcher. Navjot Singh Sidhu, batting at the other end, recounted later: “My immediate reaction was he has to be rushed to hospital. I was about to run to the other end when I saw Sachin raise his hand. In his squeaky voice, he said, ‘Mein khelega’. He had blood all over his face but never once did he think of leaving the field.” These two simple words, “Mein khelega”, best sum up Tendulkar, who has always worn his nationalism on his sleeve. Watching Sachin continue to bat and then cream a four off the very second ball through cover, I realised we were finally seeing our saviour in action.

The Greatest Defender of Fort and Faith
Indrajit Hazra
Cricket, for me, is a bowler’s game. The batter, at his or her best, defends the ramparts in front of which he or she stands, hoping to turn this defence of the fortress into a battle- winning counter-attack. In such a landscape, there is no greater defender of faith and fort than Sachin Tendulkar. Tendulkar’s ability to have not just played and dominated against the fiercest, cleverest attack, but to also have engaged willow to leather in such a way, with such consistency, with such beauty, is the mark of his genius. It isn’t kosher to compare apples with oranges, and certainly not two great practitioners and their practice of two different sports. But in one matter, Sachin Tendulkar and Lionel Messi share a common, rare-as-Kryptonite trait: their utter calmness, poise—for the lack of the perfect word, maturity—that has honed their skills to perfection. Without a doubt, this calmness of leela, even at his most blistering moments, marks Tendulkar out from the rest of the greats, making him, in my book, truly the greatest defender of the wicket—and cricketing faith.

Sania Mirza
Few, if any, would have had to endure the ruthless, microscopic dissection of every move the man made during the course of a glowing career spanning over 24 years. To have come out unscathed from this kind of relentless scrutiny on and off the field is a tribute, in itself, to the genius of Tendulkar.

Jhulan Goswami
Sachin sir came to our dressing room before the final of the 2017 World Cup at Lord’s. He was like a deity and his words had a very different meaning. For me personally, his presence in our dressing room was the ultimate thing to happen. It meant we had done something special and his words of praise still ring true in my ears.

Pullela Gopichand
I may not have known Sachin well. In fact, the truth is at the time of growing up I hardly knew him at all. And yet he was there. Each time he stepped on the field against Australia and scored runs, it reinforced a kind of belief that all of us were after. That we in India can produce champions. That we can perform against the best in the world and win.

‘He’d Just Bat, Bat and Bat’
Sourav Ganguly
Sachin and I go back a real long way. The first time I met Sachin was at an under-14 camp conducted by Vasu Paranjpe in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. The first thing I noticed was the curlyhaired boy from Bombay just loved to bat. He was the first at the nets and just kept batting. Such was his passion and intensity that Vasu had to eventually pull him out on occasions. Sachin would just bat, bat and bat. It was apparent to us all that he was blessed with special talent. He would hold the bat lower than the norm, this would mean that he’d not feel the pressure of his heavy bat.

We again met during India’s tour to Australia in 1992. We were roommates during this tour and I remember him in Sydney, on the night before he went on to get his first century in Australia. India were down 0-2 and we needed to play well in Sydney to regain some confidence. Sachin just refused to sleep that night. I remember telling him that if he was to play next day he needed to sleep. He said he just couldn’t, and started telling me where he would hit Craig McDermott and the others! By midnight I was asleep, leaving him to his devices. The next day he told me he was starved of sleep and he’d nap on the dining table in the team dressing room at the SCG. He asked me to wake him up at the fall of the next wicket. Sachin was to bat at number six, and I woke up him when Mohammad Azharuddin got out. It was odd how he could sleep on a dining table! He played an amazing innings of 148 not out and I believe we should’ve won that Test. Suffice to say, he is the greatest cricketer I have ever seen. I haven’t seen Bradman, but he is as close to perfection as you can get.

Sudhir Gautam
I feel very happy whenever I visit his house on his birthday. He cuts a cake with his fans and it makes our day. For me Sachin Tendulkar is God and I want to wish him a Happy 50th Birthday. On behalf of all his fans, I wish him the best year ahead.

‘Epitome of Perfection’
Rohit Sharma
I t was ahead of the tour game against Australia in 2004-5 and I was practicing at the nets of the Cricket Club of India. That’s when I had my first close encounter with Paaji, who had come to the CCI and was standing behind our nets and was watching me train. I have to confess, I was nervous. Here was someone who was instrumental in me starting to play cricket. In our household cricket meant Sachin Tendulkar. The TV would be switched on and off depending on how Sachin Tendulkar batted. And when you have the same person standing behind you and watching you play, it’s a surreal feeling. You just want to impress him. To get recognition in his eyes was the ultimate yardstick.

Thereafter, we played the 2006 Ranji Trophy final together, which Mumbai won and I kept learning from seeing Paaji up close. Frankly, all you needed to do was observe, see how he would go about his drills, what he would do at the nets, for he was always the epitome of perfection. And that’s what I was trying to imbibe. Whatever little I could learn would do me good in my career.

‘He has been a Part of Me’
Farhan Akhtar
Sachin and I are almost the same age, and may I say, he has been a part of me for decades. In fact, I am not alone in saying so for he has been a part of millions of us in India. For one person to galvanise the country in the way he did is simply unthinkable. India is a huge country with many differences across regions. And to think that Sachin was able to bridge all these differences and could get us all together each time he was batting is no less than a fantasy film script. And yet it happened. Time and again. For months and years. That’s what makes the Sachin story so very different for each of us.

In a way I have imbibed many a thing from Sachin and must say they have helped in my own career. The first thing is to stay true to the sport. With the kind of adulation and fame, he could have easily had a chip on his shoulder. He is Sachin Tendulkar after all. But that’s where he is different. For him it was always about the hard work and about trying to learn. Always trying to get better at what he does. Staying a student of the game and keep on improving. I have tried to do so in my own profession and Sachin has been a constant source of inspiration. That’s what he has been to me. A beacon of light who has unknowingly helped me along the way.

Gulzar’s note to Sachin
Dear Sachin, We love you, adore you and respect you. You are our National Wealth. You will stand out for Centuries in hostry! A pride of India.

Edited extracts from Sachin@50: Celebrating a Maestro