In my view, Oxford Dictionary should go ahead and officially alter the meaning of the word, Juggernaut. It should simply read - Juggernaut = Sachin Tendulkar. In the last couple of days, he has managed to scale the 14000 peak in test cricket, a feat that is unmatched and unparalleled. He scored his sixth double century and bagged the Man of the Match and the Man of the Series awards in an absolute humdinger of a test series that concluded today. It is therefore only apt that the master gets a special mention in the hysteria that surrounded the Border-Gavaskar trophy, where the Aussies got demolished royally and catapulted (backwards, that is) to where they rightfully belong, No. 5 in the ICC Test rankings!
I consider myself extremely fortunate as I got the chance to witness the first couple of days of this legendary Bangalore test live in the Chinnaswamy stadium. The moment I reached the stadium, the one thing that I was praying for, the entire Friday night unfolded in front of my eyes. Sachin was going through his routine batting practice right in front of the pavilion, where I was seated. Out came my camera followed by the zoom lens being adjusted to the maximum possible zoom and then my index finger did the talking at the rate of 100 clicks per minute! Sadly, Australia won the toss and decided to bat first but the reception that Sachin got when he walked out to the field had to be seen to be believed. The stadium was reverberating to the chant "Sachin, Sachin", the first long and earnest, the second more critical and stressful. Such was the penetration of those chants and cheers that even the most toughened soul would melt with the sheer intensity of the emotions.
After his breathtaking 98 at Mohali, this time when he came out to bat, the 14K mark was in the minds of one and all. Funnily, the date was 10/10/10, 10 being Sachin's favorite number. He got there in a flash, appreciated the cheers that followed, raised his bat and got back to business, after all the Aussies had made 478 and he had come out at 38/2 with our backs to the wall and Laxman missing from the team due to injury. It was the usual pressure situation for him that he has been sustaining for the last 21 years as only Raina, Pujara and Dhoni followed after him. He played some glorious shots to get to 93 but what transpired then was sheer masterclass. He smashed a six off Hauritz to get to 99 and then walloped another six off the same bowler in true Sehwag style in his very next over to get to his century. Not a bad way to get out of the nineties, eh! Vijay had the best seat in the ground as he watched it all from the other end and the inspiring presence of the master propelled him to his maiden century as well. Tendulkar had done the very same thing a couple of months back with Raina against SL guiding him to a century but this time Vijay was in luck. The Aussies looked in awe as the little master then got to his double. Helmet off, arms aloft, a gaze at the almighty, the celebration was the same but the importance of this innings was paramount.
The second innings saw him directing Pujara to a magnificent 72. After every over, Sachin walked up to Pujara, gave him words of advice and asked him to calm down. Pujara, having dented the Aussie hopes big time, got out to a snorter again but Sachin along with Dravid made sure that India got there in style. Fittingly, Sachin hit the winning runs and his reaction said it all. He raised his arms and ROARED, a rare celebration that was missing even when he reached his century and his double, clearly proving what an Indian victory means to him. It has been 21 years but something still drives him, still motivates him, a certain something which is impossible to fathom. At the age of 37, he has a bradmanesque average of 97.46 in tests this year, nothing short of a miracle. Virender Sehwag in one of his recent press conferences said that it is hard to differentiate between Raina or Sachin in terms of who's making his debut, such is his enthusiasm still. In a recent poll for the Sydney Morning Herald, 84% of the Aussies voted for Sachin being the greatest batsman ever! Sir Viv Richards, Sachin's childhood idol did not even think twice before calling him the greatest ever, stuff that dreams are made of. For all those who said that he's toned down a little or become more conservative in his approach or needs to stop now (I am referring to a certain Ian Chappell's 'Mirror, Mirror' article), you would do well to think before you churn out your gibberish the next time. A World Cup victory is the one thing that eludes him in his otherwise glittering career, hopefully the events in Feb/March'11 will change all of that. I can only pray that the juggernaut continues to roll as fans like me wake up every morning of a test or an ODI expecting blitzkrieg of sorts from Tendulkar. We rejoice when he does something special, expect more the next time if he falls short. Basically, it all boils down to one request - One more century Sachin, please?
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