By RFE RL –With the “Little Master” Sachin Tendulkar retiring from
cricket after an unprecedented 200th international test match,
tributes have been pouring in from all over the globe.
Such is the diminutive, record-breaking Indian batsman’s standing in
the game that he is something of a transcendent figure, who is
universally loved even by fans of India’s bitterest foes.
In fact, some of the warmest plaudits came from archrival Pakistan,
despite the fact that it perhaps suffered more than most as a result
of his batting prowess.
Pakistan’s leading English-language newspapers devoted lots of column
inches to the record-breaking batsman.
In an editorial titled “Unbeatable Tendulkar,” the English-language
“Dawn” newspaper praised the cricketer’s conduct off the field:
His 100 international centuries and over 15,000 Test runs are records
that are unlikely to be surpassed for many years. Tendulkar, now 40,
enjoys the status of a demigod in India. It is to his credit that he
never allowed success to go to his head at any point during his
illustrious career, staying away from needless controversies.
“The News” daily also published an editorial on the cricketer, giving
us “A Billion Reasons Why Tendulkar Lives On”:
Athletes come, athletes go. But Sachin Tendulkar will live on. Not on
the cricket pitch. That part of his life, and ours, is ending. But in
a billion-plus hearts and minds. In 24 years since he first wielded
his bat for India, the “Little Master,” a giant of 5-foot-5, has been
one of the finest ambassadors for the world’s second most populous
nation, their fortunes inextricably linked.
As India tested nuclear weapons in the 1990s, Tendulkar stamped his
mark on world cricket with his bold, confident strokes. Tormenting
bowlers far bigger than him, from nations far wealthier and better
resourced than his own, on all kinds of grounds and in all conditions,
Tendulkar seemed to embody the more assertive and ambitious country
that India was becoming.
As the Indian economy took off — expanding more than five-fold in the
three decades that Tendulkar has been completing his hostile takeover
of cricket’s record books — he earned fabulous wealth, becoming one of
the highest-paid athletes in any sport.
“The Express Tribune” is another publication that was full of
admiration for Tendulkar:
Over a glittering 24-year career, Tendulkar captured the imagination
of the global cricketing audience like no other player, right from the
very first Test he played as a 16-year-old in 1989, against Pakistan.
A teenaged Tendulkar successfully faced a barrage of hostile
short-pitched bowling from the likes of Imran Khan, Waqar Younis and
Wasim Akram, making it quite clear to those who witnessed the battle,
that here was a great in the making.
Tendulkar is rightly considered the most complete batsman of his age,
possessing every shot in the book and having the ability to both, tear
apart bowling attacks and to control his natural aggression to suit
the needs of his team. A quick glance at the statistics he compiled
over his career make for mindboggling reading: over 34,000
international runs, the only player to score 100 international
centuries, as well as being the leading Test and ODI run-scorer.
Adversity seemed to bring out the best in the Little Master, with some
of his most memorable knocks coming when India were in dire straits or
when he was trying to get back into form after a string of poor
scores.
Many of Pakistan’s Urdu-language newspapers also heaped praise on the
retiring sportsman:
He is widely loved and respected. His fans must be sad as cricket
without him will surely be poorer. – “Insaaf”
He was a deity of cricket. – “Dunya“
“Jang” spoke to a retired international about Tendulkar’s exalted
status in cricket:
Shoaib Akhthar, a former Pakistani pacer remembers the day when he
faced Tendulkar for the first time in 1999 in the Indian city of
Calcutta. He said that the Pakistani captain Wasim Akram told him to
get rid of Tendulkar as soon as possible. Akhthar says that he threw a
yorker at Tendulkar, which send him back to the pavilion. “The crowd’s
reaction showed me that he was revered and was seen as an institution
and not as an individual player.”
Many other Pakistan cricket players also queued up to pay tribute to
the man who often tormented them at the crease.
Legendary off-spin bowler Saqlain Mushtaq, who famously pioneered the
“doosra,” took more than 200 test wickets in his career. But there is
one, in particular, that he will always relish nabbing.
“There is going to be a big void because I don’t think we will ever
see a champion batsman like him again in cricket. There is only one
Tendulkar, I don’t see anyone surpassing his feats. I can say for me
taking his wicket in the Chennai Test in 1999 remains my most prized
wicket even today.”
Former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq joined many others in praising
Tendulkar for the manner in which he dealt with his massive
popularity:
“What has impressed me the most about Tendulkar all these years is his
humble and simple nature. I never saw him ever let the fame and
adulation he enjoys get to his head. Whenever we played India we
always knew Tendulkar was the key wicket for us it would always be a
psychological blow for the Indians. His greatness is depicted in his
outstanding statistics. I think it was largely due to the confidence
and poise he brought to the Indian team that it had produced some many
top batsmen in the modern era.”
Wicketkeeper Rashid Latif recalled Tendulkar’s clinical efficiency in
front of the stumps:
“I had heard a lot about him when I first played against him but what
struck me was his simple nature. I don’t recall a match in which I saw
him being over-aggressive, brash or sledge someone. That is what makes
him such a great cricketer. He uses aggression to his own benefit.”
Some older players, such as batting legend Javed Miandad, remembered
the immediate impact Tendulkar made when he made his international
debut against Pakistan in 1989 at the tender age of 16:
“We had a fearsome pace attack in Imran [Khan], Wasim [Akram], Waqar
[Younis] and Saleem Jaffer but what is still etched in memory is the
way he played his first ball in test cricket. It was a very pacy
delivery from Waqar and this young fellow came on the front foot to
drive the ball. It was confidence personified. We all knew we would be
hearing a lot about this youngster in years to come.
“He loves cricket and with his hard work, focus and commitment he has
truly become an outstanding ambassador for the sport at a time when
commercialism is so rampant.”
Former leg-spinner Abdul Qadir described his feelings when he was
famously hit for three sixes by a callow Tendulkar in his debut
series:
“That was a time when I was at my best and even the best batsmen had
second thoughts coming out to hit me. I remember I kept on goading him
to hit me and he took the challenge and came down to strike me
cleanly. It was amazing. I knew instantly this was someone special.”
Many ordinary Pakistani cricket fans were also quick to express their
sadness at Tendulkar’s retirement.
“It’s a shock to cricket that a batsman like Tendulkar is retiring. He
accomplished marvelous feats during his 15-20-year career.”” Shehbaz
Khan, a cricket academy coach based in Lahore, told the “Times of
India.”
“Sachin should not have retired from cricket so early,” said Mohammad
Adeel, a cricket fan on the streets of Karachi. “He played very well.
Obviously, he has a right to decide about himself, However, we are
happy that we saw him playing in our time,”
– Coilin O’Connor and Abubakar Siddique – Eurasia Review
