What a six! What a six! Waaaayyyyy in to the stands! Sachhhhin Tendulkaaaar! Whadaplayya!Whadaplayya! What a wonderful player! I could hear Tony Greig shouting in the microphone now! 18 loooong years after the day that happened.
As a little boy of 12, sitting there in front of the TV, those words defined cricket for me. For a generation of young Indians, it was that day that defined cricket.
India was down and out. Needed a miracle from somebody to enter the finals. And, there was only one man then, capable of any miracle. It was the God of cricket himself. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar!
They were dancing in the aisles of Sharjah, said Tony and we sure were dancing at home. Me and my little younger brother. Every single run was cheered. Every stroke was copied. Every small movement of this body was noted down. It was an aspiring cricket generation taking notes from the Master himself. For the next week and the month and for years after that, that inning was played and replayed again and again and again. Of course in the Idiot box! More so, in our hearts.
The Previous generation was built upon the 1983 world cup win! The next generation had that Dhoni world cup winning inning. But for us, the starved of victory generation, that was the day! That day, I decided I will play cricket. All my life. Every day.
Sachin went berserk that day. In my mind still the greatest inning ever played. The straight six over the head of Kasprovicks, is still for the me, the best cricketing shot ever played. The generation which thinks that Kohli and Dhoni redefines running between the wickets, should have seen Sachin run on that day. Oh! he was something else.
If cricket was the religion for my generation and Sachin its God, that day was Christmas - when the God reincarnated in human form.
Thank you Sachin for that vivid memory. For that day. And for that Inning. For making our small cricketing Journeys. For whatever it was worth, all started that day.
As a little boy of 12, sitting there in front of the TV, those words defined cricket for me. For a generation of young Indians, it was that day that defined cricket.
India was down and out. Needed a miracle from somebody to enter the finals. And, there was only one man then, capable of any miracle. It was the God of cricket himself. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar!
They were dancing in the aisles of Sharjah, said Tony and we sure were dancing at home. Me and my little younger brother. Every single run was cheered. Every stroke was copied. Every small movement of this body was noted down. It was an aspiring cricket generation taking notes from the Master himself. For the next week and the month and for years after that, that inning was played and replayed again and again and again. Of course in the Idiot box! More so, in our hearts.
The Previous generation was built upon the 1983 world cup win! The next generation had that Dhoni world cup winning inning. But for us, the starved of victory generation, that was the day! That day, I decided I will play cricket. All my life. Every day.
Sachin went berserk that day. In my mind still the greatest inning ever played. The straight six over the head of Kasprovicks, is still for the me, the best cricketing shot ever played. The generation which thinks that Kohli and Dhoni redefines running between the wickets, should have seen Sachin run on that day. Oh! he was something else.
If cricket was the religion for my generation and Sachin its God, that day was Christmas - when the God reincarnated in human form.
Thank you Sachin for that vivid memory. For that day. And for that Inning. For making our small cricketing Journeys. For whatever it was worth, all started that day.
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