Sachin Tendulkar and India's top 2 difficult questions.
I think the top 2 difficult questions, India is facing at the moment are
1. Should Sachin retire from cricket?
2. Should we give him a Bharat ratna (the highest civilian honour in the country) award?
My answer to both the are 'NO'
Why should we bother about when Sachin should retire? As per BCCI policy, there is no retirement age for cricketers. Let him play as long as he wants. Let him contribute where ever he can.
But, the Indian captain should be able to decide whether he fits in the playing 11. And the selectors should decide whether he is good enough to be in the team. That is the reason why we have these guys around and paying them so much for this job.
The yard stick applied for all in the team should be the same, as long as ICCI amends some of the playing rules for Sachin. For eg:-
Sachin cannot be given out in 90's.
If Sachin scores a century, the team gets a bonus 10 runs etc..
Regarding Bharat Ratna, I would say that It can be given to Sachin if the criteria is "the most diplomatic person with best personal achievements". Sachin fans don’t shoot me. This is my honest opinion as a normal person who likes cricket and loves my nation. For me Sachin's only contribution to our country is that, most of the records for batting are currently in an Indian's name.
There is no question that Sachin is a great cricketer and a soft spoken, politically correct person (a great human being as most people take it). As an average cricket fan, it is rare that his contributions made me proud. In fact, Dhoni has made me more proud by leading 2 world cup wins. The ‘83 world cup win used to give me goose bumps as a kid.
I remember Sachin for his last over in Hero cup against South Africa and the way he used to irritate in his 90's score.
It is time for responsible people to their job, ignoring the 'thrusted greatness'. It will give us more time to think about our future than Sachin's.
You have a point there my dear friend......There is no doubt about Sachin's contributions to cricket and I guess there is'nt anything left for him to prove to the world. But like any other human being he would have his own goals in life (I would be over the moon if I could achieve 1% of what Sachin did and with the way he has done it in cricket, in my line of work - but hey that is a topic for another day).
ReplyDeleteOne cannot rest on past laurels. Past laurels are just milestones in one's journey to the goals in life. Holding one's own among one's peers on a given day is only on current peformance (form - in the cricketing context). Cricket today, has become professional. Among professionals there is'nt much room for sentiments as performance is the sole criteria of the measure of a professional on a given day. So peform or perish. The BCCI is nothing but a bunch of greedy money bags trying to make more money and I dont have the slightest belief that they will do the right thing.....
It is but nature's law - "You shall clear out the old to make way for the new" and that is what will be.
So when the writing appears on the wall, one should be the first to read it, digest it and bow out of the stage with grace....... Sachin has surely earned the right to go out on his terms. But if the form does'nt hold up, it would make a very sad sight to see the master in decline.
I do not understand why there is so much noise about the "Bharat Ratna" for Sachin. Sachin has many years left in him to contribute in different roles (player, cricket administrator, philanthropist etc). His time will come.......
Thanks buddy, for the comment. I completely agree with you... He needs to understand the feeling of bowing out gracefully.. than shown the door.
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