33-Gun Salute Wasim Akram

On Monday, Sachin Tendulkar will be all of 33 years. Most cricketers can have nine lives and still wouldn’t go beyond the foothills of his achievements. Yet, there is a call for his head. The Gulliver of our times is being held down by the Lilliputs. Liberate him and you would still enjoy the genius of this man who has been one of the greatest cricketers ever to walk on this earth.

I have no time for all these tales coming out of India ? Sachin is finished; he can’t face short-pitched bowling; he is being “carried” in the team; he should choose between two forms of the game; his injured frame is somehow being held together and horror of horrors, the time has come to look beyond him. From being the toast of the nation for a decade and a half, it now appears as if he stands between the team and the golden future. Shame on all!

I sometimes wonder if all this affects Sachin. Beyond the profile of equanimity in public, he is after all a human, and it must hurt.

Sachin has clearly been one of the three best batsmen I have ever seen on a cricket field. I would rate him alongwith Viv Richards and Sunil Gavaskar as the “unbowlable” batsmen of my era.

I remember there was a time when I would put my ability to question only because Gavaskar was still not in my bag. I finally had him in Hyderabad ? caught in the second slip! The memory of it is still so refreshing. With Sachin too we always went to the field thinking if we get him, we would be through. And so it was most of the times!

I would even rate Sachin as better than Brian Lara. The world can swoon over the records and the mercurial ability of the West Indian, but for me Sachin brings infinite value to the dressing room. You judge a man by the respect he gets within his own set of men. Sachin is beyond reproach on this issue; Lara would only set the tongues wagging.

Sachin is not old. I mean he is only 33, which is not autumn for a top class batsman, and he certainly has more years of cricket left in him. He doesn’t have to choose between one-day or Test cricket: if Inzamam-ul Haq can do so at the age of 36, Sachin ? who is fitter and more agile ? can surely do no worse.

Sachin’s passion on the field is so palpable: it’s not the sight of a cricketer who is on his last legs. It is also utter nonsense to suggest he is no longer up to the short-pitched bowling. Piece of cake, that is what it is to him.

Sachin is out of touch, his footwork may not be the best at the moment, but it doesn’t bring to question his ability. He is just one innings away from good form. I have sensed so in all those little knocks he has played in the recent season.

Still, I would advise him to go out and enjoy his one-day cricket. He has imposed too many shackles on himself. At the moment, if I have to choose between Virender Sehwag, Shahid Afridi and Sachin as my set of openers, I would go for the first two names.

Sachin appears too concerned with the proper shot and staying till the end rather than flow with the mood and the spirit of limited overs cricket.

In a way, this is the time he should do it. There is no dearth of daredevils in the Indian team and the pressure is off him. He no longer needs to get weighed down by the burden of his team.