The curse of being Sachin’s fans

He debuted in international cricket when he was just 16 years of age. Little did anyone expect by then that he would be custodian of most of the batting records in two decades’ time. An unprecedented tons of tons was completed by him, not long ago, taking into account the number of centuries he scored in Tests and ODI cricket, put together. The whole of India goes crazy when he enters the cricket field with English Willow in his hand.

That’s how this little man from Mumbai called Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar created a name for himself. He owns every batting record possible in cricket. No one in the world of Cricket, leave alone India, could prove to be a crowd puller like him. He has the largest fan following, as a sportsman, in India. The fans of cricket simply wanted him to create records after records. Even after playing for years together, he is still active as a player in all forms of the game. As much as the inner desire in him to score runs grows, so is the passion of his fans to see their hero amassing as much runs as possible, whenever he takes guard.

Now, as it stands, in both tests and ODI version, Sachin looks to be miles ahead of the rest of the cricketers in terms of statistics, not to mention much more ahead of his contemporaries as far as technique and ability. As this universally loved Mumbaikar is still not showing any signs of retiring, the gap between him and the rest as regards to the runs scored is going to widen further, leaving him untouchable in so many ways.

Though we cannot foresee any immediate threat which could obliterate Sachin’s present records, there is no guarantee of such a thing not happening in the later future. In fact clouds of such an imminent threat have started to gather slowly and look very much promising to overhaul the records of Cricket’s eternal master. In fact the threat I am referring to, looks more vibrant on many counts. Let me reveal the threat which looks exceedingly ominous to outclass Sachin’s exploits.

The person who I reckon would go on to break Sachin’s records, atleast in ODIs is Virat Kohli, the man who comes to bat at No.3 for India nowadays. Strictly speaking, it is not fair to call him a threat to Sachin or for that matter to anyone because, after all the former belongs to the Indian team. We must, on the other hand, be proud that only an Indian was able to break another Indian’s records, of course, if it happens.

But, on the contrary each and every die hard fan of Sachin think otherwise. They feel that Virat Kohli, every time as he hits a century in limited overs international, is inching closer to the great man which is not acceptable. In fact, Kohli has now made 13 centuries in just 86 ODIs which is the fastest by any other individual who has played this game. Besides, Kohli is just 23 years of age and could still play for another fifteen years, if he stays fit. And with the amount of one day cricket now being played, as compared to yesteryears, it looks not that much difficult for the Delhi Cricketer to surpass whatever Sachin sets as benchmark.

Now that puts Sachin fans in a big fix. Many fans of this great Indian batsman have already started feeling hard to digest whenever media tries to draw a parallel between him and Kohli, based on the runs the latter has scored till date and that too very consistently. Even some of the fans of the little master reacted widely in social networking sites when the comparisons were drawn between the two in terms of number of centuries and runs scored by both after 85 ODIs. They simply could not stand such talks. They do not want anyone, even if it is an Indian, to overtake Sachin.

This is what I feel is the curse being a Sachin fan. This attitude of the fans will attain drastic proportions when the great man retires. They may even want to see Kohli getting out early every match so that their hero’s records remain intact. Instead of eulogizing the efforts of the young Kohli, the fanaticism of the fans of Sachin will push them to root against the Delhi batsman. Of all, Kohli looks to be batting with a greater determination more than anyone in the Indian team. He is making use of his talent to the maximum extent possible on the cricket field and as a result he is able to score runs with ease. With every possibility of Sachin’s status as the top run getter in ODIs getting dismantled in fifteen years’ time, the crazy fans of the Mumbai batsman have started demeaning the achievements of Kohli till date, failing to give him his due which he thoroughly deserves till now.

Even one of my friends who is a Sachinist in every sense, was telling me Sachin’s records would not be outclassed by Virat because his fitness would not hold him long for so many years. I could understand by the way he talked it was not the fitness of Kohli which was bothering him but rather it was his wish that the young batsman should not continue playing for long. Sachin fans would look to sacrifice their country over an individual. If it goes on like this, they would stop supporting India to win matches in the end.

On one way, though we feel that such a fanaticism over an individual is preposterous, we have to analyse as to what made Indian fans so “Sachin Crazy”. Sachin has started as a kid in international cricket and saw many stalwarts in his team. Since he was so young, cricket fans loved him from day one. Now he has completed more than 23 years of international cricket. Within these 23 years, the fans of cricket would have experienced many highs and lows in their personal lives itself.

In more than two decades of his illustrious career, so many things would have happened. A new member would have been added in many of the families. Many marriages would have happened in many families. The Sons and Daughters in many families would have got seats to pursue Engineering or Medicine. A few would have seen their grandsons or granddaughters born to their children. May be a few families would have lost their near and dear ones within these 23 years. All such things would have happened in every family as two decades is so longer a time.

So, the cricket followers of those families, if they are the fans of Sachin, would associate more such happenings (either good or bad) with the little master, as they have been watching him growing up as a player from the time when he was jut 16. They may well say such and such things have happened in their personal lives when Sachin scored a century in “So and So” place. That is one of the ways to recall the past happenings whatever happened in these 23 years of time. Many Indian families have grown with Sachin in this manner and for most of them he is one of their family members.

Sachin has been such a big name in India and people love him unconditionally. This is the reason now many of his fans could not digest or accept someone going ahead of him. I remember one lady in Chennai of more than 80 years of age considers Sachin as her grandson and the master blaster paid a visit to her house as a mark of respect to get her blessing when an article on her was published in newspapers.

For such fans, even the country comes next only to Sachin. So, be it Kohli or any other young cricketer who aspires to become a great player, it would take nothing but more than a herculean task to get a place in anyone’s heart. It is simply not going to be an easy task for them. They have to find a way to do it or else the fans of Sachin will not accept any one else as their hero. They would probably pray clandestinely that the younger players retire soon or fair badly in all matches they play. They may not be enjoying the game in the end as they would continue to fear facing the situation of someone surpassing Sachin.

Now I am giving space to Cricket in my site. For any suggestions comment below.

Tell me what do you like, and I surve the stuff for you.

For contact email on ayazali322@gmail.com