The life and legend of Tendulkar

By M H Ahssan

For a reluctant public speaker, Sachin Tendulkar's measure of words and timing of delivery today would be only a whit lower in impact than when he plays one of his exquisite straight drives.

I remember him as a man with monosyllabic responses to queries, but today he is a seasoned raconteur, with a sharp memory and more importantly a sense of humour.

Tendulkar's formal education was truncated just after finishing school, but he appears to have learnt well from the 'university of life'. At the release of Shadows Across the Playing Fields (a book on 60 years of India-Pakistan cricket co-authored by Shashi Tharoor andShaharyar Khan) the other night, he had the audience in thrall with memories of his introduction to international cricket. Hesent me 20hurtling years back in time.

I was on that eventful tour of Pakistan in 1989, and remember the callow 16-year-old being the focus of attention of everybody -- not the least Pakistan's dreaded pace attack led by Imran Khan and including Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis. Though a raw youngster, for psychological reasons, he was the obvious target for the Pakistan team.

Ten months earlier Tendulkar had not been chosen for the tour of the West Indies despite scoring centuries in his first Ranji, Duleep and Irani Trophy matches because the selectors feared he might be hit by pace bowlers and lose confidence permanently. But in many ways -- some of which have been examined by Tharoor and Shaharyar in the book -- a tour of Pakistan was even more daunting.

Tendulkar recalled how jittery he was before his first innings, but I can vouch his teammates were perhaps even more nervous. Concern over Tendulkar reached a crescendo on the eve of the final Test at Sialkot when it was discovered that the young player would not just talk, but often also walk in his sleep.

Manager Borde, whose room would often become the hub for hacks in the evenings to sniff out stories, was most distraught. "Ab kya hoga?'' he asked the clueless press corps. As a precaution, I suspect he moved into the room adjoining Tendulkar's and kept vigil.

Tendulkar had enjoyed a modest tour till then, and then faced a trial by fire in the last Test when he was felled by a vicious bouncer from Waqar Younis. There was blood on the pitch as he swooned briefly from the blow, but got only muted commiserations from Imran Khan who saw this as a decisive psychological moment to win the series.

But Tendulkar was unfazed, and after some quick-fix remedy by the physio, was back into his stance. The next delivery from Waqar was sent scorching through the covers for a boundary. Imran's moment to put India on the mat had come and gone in a flash. Tendulkar had sealed his brilliant script with destiny forever.

It's almost 20 years since that day, and the marvel about Tendulkar is now not so much about his record-breaking feats as his longevity. Heck, twenty years transcends a couple of generations at least. There have been 15 cricketers who have played 20 years or more and in the early 20th century, England's Wilfred Rhodes's career stretched to a whopping 30 years and 315 days, but nobody has had the workload as Tendulkar who has played 159 Tests and 425 one day internationals.

This makes for arguably the most extraordinary story in Indian sport, and while every fact is well known, is still only half told. The other half should come from the man himself. For the sake of posterity, I insist, Tendulkar must start living his life again, as it were.