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GAME THEORY Do we take him for granted? There was a picture in the newspapers some days ago. Of Mohammed Azharuddin being caught at slips in the Ranji Trophy final. The bowler is appealing, the catcher is running towards him, but it is another man at slip who catches your attention, who ensures the photograph never escapes memory. His face is tilted towards the sky, his arms at full extension as if he were reaching out to embrace God, and his face a study in bliss. It is the expression of a man who will bleed for victory; it is the look of a man who would be nowhere else but here on this cricket field. Sanjay Manjrekar once said of this man: "I think sometimes God has sent him down just to play cricket." We are of course talking about Sachin Tendulkar. I know a kid who wears underwear with his face on it; I know another who can recite his statistics better than any poem he was supposed to have learnt at school. I also went to a party on Saturday night where grown men were saying, and believing, he was involved in the match-fixing business. In a time of innuendo, rumour and allegation -- hard evidence doesn't mean much any more -- every man is guilty till proved innocent. It is a strange way to have a trial. If he's guilty, the boy with underwear, the boy with statistics, and a million more, will find their worlds collapsing. Everything we hold pure will be stained, for that is what Tendulkar means to us. But it is odd too that a man whose life has been devoted to Indian cricket is not even worthy of a benefit of the doubt. Hansie Cronje has ensured that we have become a cynical breed; and we are lesser for it. For a man whose character has been placed under scrutiny, whose answering machine is full of queries about bookies he may know, his cricket remains immaculate. Not just in helping Mumbai win the Ranji Trophy final, but also in the small things he did on the way.
To use an analogy from a different sport, the Soviet Union constantly produced gifted chess players, because their youngsters were weaned on playing Grandmasters all the time. I once met a Gujarati fast bowler who said bowling to Tendulkar was the ultimate learning experience; his first ever over to Sachin was a maiden; the next over went for more than 10. When eventually he got Tendulkar's wicket, he was so thrilled he was ready to contemplate retirement. Having agreed to play, Tendulkar then quietly refused the Mumbai captaincy, insisting that Sameer Dighe who had led till then, continue. If it speaks of a certain humility and generosity, what does it say of cricket's officials who were ready to strip Dighe of the mantle when surely he hadn't done too much wrong. When Tendulkar did play he was supreme. (And think about this briefly. We routinely expect him to perform in such matches, and of course he does, and then we say, well, big deal, it was expected. Really? How many other men do we know with Indian passports can do this, in any field, any sport, any level?). Take the semi finals. Every Mumbai batsman fumbled when chasing Tamil Nadu's 490. Not him. So the situation required his highest ever first class score, so he produced it (233 not out, 334 balls, 565 minutes, 21 fours, 5 sixes, don't ever forget it). So when the 8th Mumbai wicket fell at 449, and it looked over and done with, of course it wasn't. Abey Kuruvilla scored zero. S Saxena scored zero. So how did Mumbai get from 449/8 to 490 all out with a vital five run lead when their last two batsmen scored nothing? Oh, Tendulkar scored all the 41 runs during his partnerships with Saxena and Kuruvilla. It made his fifty and a century against Hyderabad in the final into a classic underachievement. But hey, his answering machine is still full of messages asking if he takes money to fix matches. Every day I tell myself he is an innocent man. Every day I hope I am right. When it comes to Tendulkar we are a wildly irrational nation. Our love is absolute. But will our forgiveness be? P.S. When India returned after its mauling in Australia, everyone agreed pitches in domestic cricket should be changed, that they should be more sporting. Then Hyderabad scored 711 in their semi final against Karnataka. VVS Laksman scored 353 himself. So much for sporting pitches.
(Rohit Brijnath is INDIA TODAY’s Sports Editor. Write to Rohit Brijnath) |
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He
first asked the BCCI to shift the dates of the semi-final so that he could
play; inadvertently sending out a signal that domestic cricket was meaningful.
That Anil Kumble and Rahul Dravid chose not to play the semis, citing
county engagements in England, was a sad commentary on two fine men who
should know better. For years domestic cricket has been hurt by the absence
of star players. Not only does the overall standard plummet, it deprives
the young, upcoming player a chance to see close-up what greatness is,
what level he must aspire to.