Saturday 17 March 2012

Sachin Tendulkar- A Hero to Billions

Sachin Tendulkar has finally scored his 100th international hundred. After an year he got to 3 figures against Bangladesh at Mirpur. The great man honestly admitted that it was probably the toughest one for him to get. All the pressure that the fans and the media had put on him did weigh on his mind. And now when he has got the hundred, he is relaxed and feels now he can focus on his game. Well the hundred hundreds do not matter as Tendulkar was and will always be regarded as cricket's greatest batsman. But what makes Tendulkar so special?

In all sports there have been legends who have inspired millions of people. Pele and Maradona in football, Bjorn Borg, MCenroe or Federer in Tennis, Schumacher in F1, Armstrong in cycling and so on but still Tendulkar carries a different aura around him. I feel Tendulkar on a whole epitomizes every Indian's dream life. Everyone wants to be Tendulkar. He has everything that an average Indian would want in his life.

Tendulkar burst on the scene at a time when India was slowly opening up to the world. Indian economy  was opening up and slowly India was becoming prominent on the world map. A legend called Tendulkar forced the cricketing world to notice him, notice Indian cricket at large at around the same time. Tendulkar started creating ripples across the cricketing world. Every Indian rested his hopes on Tendulkar's shoulders. And Tendulkar carried it single handedly for almost a decade. Tendulkar gave joy even when the rest of the Indian batsmen failed. Tendulkar taught them how one man could tame eleven men and rise above all.

Soon Tendulkar had become the youth icon. Fame and money were pouring from all sides. Advertisers lined up with big bucks. Tendulkar drove swanky cars, lived in mansions but had his feet firmly on the ground. And that was what made everyone love Tendulkar. Every man dreams of professional success, fame, money and respect and Tendulkar had it all. But he remained a people's man. He was never seen hurling abuses or showing unnecessary aggression on the field. Even when the opposition players sledged him, he smiled and answered them with the bat. That kind of behavior left an indelible impression on everyone who watched him. Despite all the batting records he remained humble. Add to that the fact that he was serving the nation. It all summed up to make Tendulkar an ideal human for Indians. Tendulkar had fame, money, respect but he was humble, rooted to the ground, was far from superstar tantrums and knew how to handle fame. Many sportsmen get carried away by all the fame and adulation they get but Tendulkar was different. He was beyond all these things. He was a hero for every young Indian child. He became an inspiration for every individual in not only cricket but all spheres of life.

The legend named Tendulkar is now not only a cricketer. He is an idol and an icon for billions of people. Critics might debate whether he indeed is the greatest batsman but one thing is certain, no other cricketer would ever be able to inspire a nation the way Tendulkar did.


1 comment:

  1. of course that Sachin Tendulkar is a hero to billions and not only in India, but worldwide, he is a phenomenal player

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