General
How to felicitate Tendulkar
Through a seven-member governmental committee, that's how
09-Nov-2013
Not to be outdone by the felicitations for Tendulkar in Kolkata, which included the West Bengal chief minister Mamata Bannerjee handing him a painting she had made, the Maharashtra government has set up a seven-member committee to work out the details of the felicitation he will receive in Mumbai. The state's sports minister, Padmakar Valvi, will chair the committee, and it is reported that Tendulkar will be presented with a silver trophy with the names and signatures of the 40 members of the state cabinet engraved on it.
In the Mint, Rohit Brijnath writes of the role Tendulkar played in educating him as a writer.
The envy I feel for Sports Illustrated writers is sharp for they are surrounded by athletic richness in America. But, for us, most of this excellence was foreign and far and Michael Jordan, Pete Sampras, Mike Tyson is a world almost no Indian is allowed within interviewing distance of. We cannot stroll into their hotel rooms, play table tennis with them, stand back with a dying cigarette and just enjoy their daily polish of talent. But with Tendulkar I could. He was here, right before us, long before a time of entourages and minders, his phone number in our diaries. It was like calling Jordan and it was an unsurpassable gift: he was greatness available.
Mother Tendulkar
A proposal for what Sachin should do after retirement
Scott Oliver
08-Nov-2013
August 14, 1990. I was 17 years and 95 days old. A levels were on the horizon, cricket on the telly. Among the twinkling pixellated forms, a cherubic little boy with insect reflexes had me transfixed. While I was half-forgetting what I'd half-learned that summer - Hamlet, for instance: "To sweep or not to sweep, that is the question" - Sachin, 18 days my senior, was scoring a maiden Test hundred with not a trace of the Dane's fabled vacillation. Showing no little percipience as a talent-spotter, I told the lads at the cricket club that there were the makings of a half-decent player there, a view I feel has probably been vindicated.
He has been, quite simply, a saintly presence over not only Indian but global cricket: ageless as Peter Pan, although occasionally moved to wear a fake beard - and not, presumably, to facilitate access to nightclubs - he has maintained an undiminished joy for the game, and beatific serenity and irreproachable scruples amidst unapproachable pressure.
He has made some runs, of course, cementing his bond with the tiny smattering of cricket lovers on the subcontinent. Then he made some more runs. And after that, some more, on and on into a fourth decade playing international cricket, his every entrance into an India cricket arena like an Alka-Seltzer in a glass of water. (Heaven knows Mumbai will have a hangover come November 19).
Full postSachin the epic warrior
Who's doing what to immortalise Tendulkar?
08-Nov-2013
No one wants to be left behind in commemorating Sachin Tendulkar as he retires. The MIG Cricket Club in Mumbai plans to name its pavilion after him, and paint a large portrait of him on its front wall. "We spoke to him around six to eight months back and he acknowledged it," MIG Cricket Club secretary Ashish Patankar said, as reported in the Business Standard. "We are expecting the painting to be completed by November 10. I will request him to come and see the painting before the Mumbai Test."
But who can outdo, Sanatan Dinda, a Kolkata-based artist, who has painted Tendulkar to resemble Arjuna, a mythological warrior from the Mahabharata. "Suddenly a thought came into my mind and I started painting impulsively," Dinda said. "If Sachin wants this, I won't say no to him. But I want to keep this with me in a personal museum which I will curate in the future."
There was plenty of grumbling about the doubtful dismissal of Tendulkar in the first innings in Kolkata. Replays suggested that the doosra from Shane Shillingford hit Tendulkar quite high on the back leg.
Full postYou talkin' to me?
How to deal with an irate Aussie
07-Nov-2013
If young cricketers want a lesson in how to deal with sledging, this photo ought to do the trick better than a thousand words on the subject.
In the Mumbai Test in 2001, Rahul Dravid pulled Damien Fleming to square leg, where Michael Slater dived to take what looked like a spectacular catch. But the third umpire gave Dravid not out after replays suggested the ball appeared to come off the turf. Slater, upset at umpire S Venkatraghavan for not taking his word on the catch, argued with the official and then with Dravid and Tendulkar.
However, if you review the footage of the incident, you can see that, Slater swears at Dravid as he walks away. The batsman, it seems, responds with "You too".
Full postThe Hero Cup hero
Tendulkar's bowling on day one at Eden Gardens took us back to that famous over he bowled at the same venue in 1993
07-Nov-2013
In the frenzy of Tendulkar's final two Tests, every action of his on the field has been celebrated, from walking out to play to saving a boundary. On day one at Eden Gardens, he gave his fans something more to cheer about when he trapped Shane Shillingford leg before with one that held its line (having bowled a legbreak and a googly before that). It was his 46th Test wicket. His short spell reminded many of the more famous over he bowled 20 years ago at the same venue: in the Hero Cup semi-final against South Africa. India captain Mohammad Azharuddin gave Tendulkar the last over when South Africa needed six runs. Fanie de Villiers was run out off the first ball when he was going for the second run; Tendulkar then bowled three dot balls; Allan Donald scampered a single off the fifth, which meant Brian McMillan had to hit a four to win the game. He swung at the ball but didn't connect cleanly and could only manage a single. India went on to beat West Indies by 102 runs in the final, where Tendulkar dismissed Brian Lara.
In this video a fan who was at the game and was planning to leave the stadium before the last over, and a photographer who has covered Tendulkar since his schoolboy years, recall that day.
In the Hindustan Times writer Dilip D'Souza, who lives opposite Tendulkar's house, ruefully writes that he has no exciting tales of Sachin sightings to narrate when his acquaintances ask him. Well, almost none.
Full postHysteria in Kolkata
We round up of the buzz from Kolkata, where it's Sachin, Sachin and more Sachin
06-Nov-2013
"Passions are running riot in India," writes Tanya Aldred in the Telegraph:
Tendulkar, a notoriously private man, if serenely patient, is said to be unamused by all the fuss. But all this is nothing compared to the plans for the match itself - surely dreamt up by an official emerging from a hallucinogenic afternoon.
The Times of India lists the events that the Cricket Association of Bengal has lined up over the next five days:
Full post'The supreme right-hander on the planet'
We round up the best of the web on Tendulkar - the batsman and bowler
05-Nov-2013
When South Africa were readmitted to international cricket in 1991, their first engagement was against India in Kolkata, now the venue of Sachin Tendulkar's penultimate Test. Allan Donald, then 25, took 5 for 29 on debut, including the wicket of Tendulkar for 62. In 2002, after playing his last Test, Donald recalled that match and his other famous battles with Tendulkar. He told ESPNcricinfo:
Cricketers always talk about his amazing balance, even the Aussies. I've seen tapes of Sunil Gavaskar and if you split the screen between him and Tendulkar, they look virtually identical. I have never seen a man with such immaculate balance - it is freakish…
… Your margin for error against him really is marginal. If you get him on a flat track, when he is, say, 50 not out off 24 balls, then you know that you have a very long day ahead and the situation can be very, very demoralising. The best knock I can remember him playing was at Newlands in 1997, when he was just unstoppable. We only got him thanks to a blinding catch by Adam Bacher off a hook shot, otherwise he would have gone on and on.
Full postDriving on the green
04-Nov-2013
Those who have seen him during downtime on tours will tell you that Sachin Tendulkar loves to play table tennis and is generally exceptionally good at any sport requiring hand-eye coordination. In February this year, Tendulkar spent a day at the Kensville Golf and Country Club outside Ahmedabad, driving and putting with some professional golfers. Reports suggest he took to the sport with ease, striking balls past 200 and 300 yards.
"I have been to many golf courses and even had an occasional attempt at the driving range, but visiting a golf course, while a tournament is in progress was a new experience," Tendulkar said. "I enjoy racket sports and have not been able to play golf. My focus has been cricket, maybe golf will come sometime in the future."
When asked what he loved about golf, the batsman who is never too far away from screaming cricket fans said: "The silence".
Full postIdol worship
A selection of pieces about Tendulkar's farewell series from around the web
03-Nov-2013
Bordering on the ridiculous
How much of an overkill is there in the preparations for Tendulkar's farewell series? An editorial in the Business Standard argues that the Cricket Association of Bengal's over-the-top plans, like showering him with rose petals, using a coin with his face stamped on it for the toss, giving all the spectators Tendulkar face masks, are the opposite of the values Tendulkar has epitomised all his career.
How much of an overkill is there in the preparations for Tendulkar's farewell series? An editorial in the Business Standard argues that the Cricket Association of Bengal's over-the-top plans, like showering him with rose petals, using a coin with his face stamped on it for the toss, giving all the spectators Tendulkar face masks, are the opposite of the values Tendulkar has epitomised all his career.
A player of such significance cannot of course be expected to retire quietly. But, on the other hand, it need not be an occasion for the wide-eyed idolatry that comes too easily to Indians, either. But that is unfortunately precisely what it seems to be becoming.
10 out of 10
Travel well, Sachin, and may all your old images be in Technicolour, just as our memories are, writes Ted Corbett in Sportstar:
Full postTravel well, Sachin, and may all your old images be in Technicolour, just as our memories are, writes Ted Corbett in Sportstar:
The Tendulkar ticket
Billboards, cakes, tickets - Tendulkar is the theme for everything you do
02-Nov-2013
Kolkata gets ready
If you live in Kolkata and aren't a Tendulkar fan, you might want to take a trip right about now. The Cricket Association of Bengal is planning to put up billboards across the city displaying quotes on Tendulkar by former players like Barry Richards, Kapil Dev and Viv Richards. But if you can't skip town, you could always register your protest by hacking into the five-pound cake that a famous sweet shop in the city has created in Tendulkar's honour. The cake, made of the traditional Bengali sweet sandesh, has a picture of Tendulkar holding a bat.
If you live in Kolkata and aren't a Tendulkar fan, you might want to take a trip right about now. The Cricket Association of Bengal is planning to put up billboards across the city displaying quotes on Tendulkar by former players like Barry Richards, Kapil Dev and Viv Richards. But if you can't skip town, you could always register your protest by hacking into the five-pound cake that a famous sweet shop in the city has created in Tendulkar's honour. The cake, made of the traditional Bengali sweet sandesh, has a picture of Tendulkar holding a bat.
Tendulkar's injury history
To have a long and successful career in sports you need to look after your body very carefully. In the Hindu John Gloster, the former India physio, talks about how Tendulkar bounced back from major injury setbacks because he was very committed to his rehab.
To have a long and successful career in sports you need to look after your body very carefully. In the Hindu John Gloster, the former India physio, talks about how Tendulkar bounced back from major injury setbacks because he was very committed to his rehab.
"Sachin just knuckled down and took on board every little thing the physio and the doctor told him. He was very committed to his rehab. He always saw the big picture."