Of late, I have allowed myself some indulgence by enjoying ‘seeing’ some creative and imaginative teams ‘play’, in my mind. Cricinfo has been dishing out All-time XIs - such as of the World, as well as of each country, including ours). Some lists are even more specific, like the All-time Poetry in Motion World XI or even an All-time XI of the best of the rest - the Excluded XI.
And so, while these are purely academic exercises, there is no harm in enjoying the romanticism of how great it would have been, to see all such players, playing together as a team.
And so, while these are purely academic exercises, there is no harm in enjoying the romanticism of how great it would have been, to see all such players, playing together as a team.
In continuation/relation with the above-mentioned theoretical pursuit, there is another such activity that has occupied the mindspace of many cricket enthusiasts – the evergreen debate about Sachin being the best-ever batsman to have played the game or not.
Anyone who has known me or discussed cricket with me, would vouch for my fan following towards Sachin. Therefore, to remove any bias in my judgement, I decided to test him on the most objective (and not subjective) parameters.
So even if I believe that no one ever could, or ever will achieve the balance in posture before, during and after playing a stroke the way only he does, I would not give him extra points for that (though he deserves them!).
Not even when he just no-more-than-pushes at the ball and it races to the boundary.
Not even when he is so compact in his defence that even lightning cannot sneak through, between his bat and pad.
Not even when he upper cuts fast bowlers to make it seem so ridiculously simple that you'd think even Geoffrey Boycott's mom would be able to mete out similar treatment to those balls.
Not even when he paddle-sweeps a spinner ferociously to the fine-leg fence.
And not even when he shapes up to play a sweep shot, and still has the time to easily switch to Plan B and execute a late cut, all with effortless ease and grace.
What I will judge him on, is how good he has been, in terms of the following parameters:
1) Longevity
To be able to represent your country for so long, to play with the kind of passion he has, and to still retain the joy, love and zest for the game even after more than two decades, is phenomenal, to say the least. Not to forget, he has been a backbone of the team all these years, right since 1989.
2) Consistent Match Winner
The number of Man of the Match awards he has won, and the number of times India has won when he has scored centuries, are all indisputable facts, for all to see.
His display in all formats of the game has not only been brilliant, but also consistently brilliant. It’s one thing to be good initially, in say, your first international season, but entirely another to retain it over the subsequent seasons. Ajantha Mendis would vouch for the same! And to be consistently great for so long, is possible for only a one-in-a-million.
3) Stats – Runs, 100s, Strike Rate, Average
Yes, they don't reveal everything, but stats don't hide everything either. In fact, they do tell a lot. And when it comes to Sachin's records, they just speak for themselves. Need I say more?!
4) Quality and Variety of Opposition Faced
From the previous point about Statistics, many believe that Sir Don with his famous 99.94 and the sheer frequency-of-centuries-per-matches-played makes for a greater bat than Sachin. However, with due respects to the Don, we must not forget that Sir Don played in an era where:
- He never played outside Australia and England
- He never faced vicious turners or hostile pacemen on their home turfs
- He played 52 Tests over a 20-year period with NO one-dayers (which meant enough time to recuperate and re-charge) as compared to 160+ Tests for Sachin over the same period (including playing in One Dayers too).
- He was never under anywhere close to the kind of pressure to perform each time he walked out to bat, that Sachin has almost forever gone through (and handled exceptionally)
- He never got video-analysed, and ‘sorted’ by the bowlers
- Without taking any credit away from his ability and talent, it must also be noted that the quality of bowling was hardly as high in the 1920s-1940s era, as it has been since the last two decades. Sir Don never played such a variety of pitches and bowling attacks as Sachin has.
With all the above facts, it shouldn’t be tough to ascertain who the greater immortal should be (and not the lesser mortal!).
5) Home Vs Away Performances
Sachin’s performances both at home and away are again, there for all to see. No wonder, he is the only cricketer in the only world about whom it is said that wherever he plays in the world, it is a home game for him – not just because he is loved everywhere, but also because he has scored against everyone, since these many decades against all sorts of bowlers, everywhere!
6) All Shots in the book
Not only does Sachin have all shots in the book, like his paddle sweep and upper cut, he has improvised to create many of his own, outside of the book too. No one else has had such complete mastery over virtually every shot played perfectly. Yes, there could still be/have been a few who might be/have been able to play all shots, but only Sachin can play all shots with same amount of perfection in each shot! Even the way he weaves out of the line of a bouncer with body and bat away from possible contact and eyes still on the ball, is a sight to behold.
Even after all this, what we might still not know is how much his body hurts at this age, and how he manages to motivate himself to raise the bar of excellence with his subsequent knocks.
Despite simulating how he’d feel like every time he walks onto the ground with thousands of lungs shouting (chanting) his name, we might still never realize just how much expectation and pressure he copes with and conquers, in every single innings of his.
We might still not know how his mere presence in the dressing room or on the field spurs other Indian cricketers to produce their best in front of him (and often, thanks to his tips and encouragement).
And we might still never know, how, in an India saddled with corrupt politicians, inept governance, average to below-average performers or non-performers in every sphere, and with general gloom and doom all around in a country that yearns for an avatar to feel good about, how he manages to give every cricket lover a reason to find life perfect, and how critical he is, to all of us.
Last, but certainly not the least, what is most lovable about this man is how he manages to retain his humility despite his super stardom and despite the world anointing him a Master Blaster/Little Master, he remains as much a student and humble, grateful servant of the game he has always genuinely loved, to this day.
Pray, tell me, how do we measure all this?! And if we can (as we should), how can there be any doubt whatsoever about who the greatest guy to have walked on this planet with a bat is?!!
To cut a long story short, Sachin is not just the world’s best Saurav da, he IS the world’s best-ever. Surely, the greatest Bharat Ratna that India is yet to have. Whenever he gets conferred with it (and hopefully he will be!), it would have been long overdue.
More power to you, Little Master..and may you keep thrilling us, even till ever after!
