24th April 1998, venue Sharjah, Opponents were Australia. Sachin Tendulkar took on the might of the ausie attack by the horns and scripted one of India’s finest wins. Back to back centuries at the dessert venue went a long way in him officially becoming the best batsman in the world later that year. That was the time when he looked at his level best and invincible. Seven ODI centuries that year and over 1700 runs was a proof that he meant business.

Ten years on and as he turns 35, I present before you an in-depth view of the cricketer, who knew that there were no short cuts to success.

Born in a middle class family of Mumbai, Sachin learned the traits of the sport from childhood. He went from strength to strength and his talent came to the fore in the form of centuries on debut in the Ranji, Irani and the Dulip Troppy. Partnering his childhood friend and formal team mate, Vinod Kambli, they amassed 664 runs stand in the Vijay Merchant Trophy, which was still recently a world record for any wicket in any form of the sport.

But these are just records, the fact that he had to fight for every inch and that he toiled day in and day out is a facet of his life that not many people are aware of. he used to go to the ground frequently around 4am in the morning for practice as well as in the evening he used to toil till late night hitting the ball. There were days when he went to the ground with the same shirt on as the resources were limited but he never missed the practice. His coach and mentor; Ramakanth Achrekar saw the raw talent in the genius and helped greatly in him becoming one of the best.

A couple of incidents symbolizes the determination, dedication and discipline that he has at that tender age to become one of the greatest.

During his early days, the coach used to put a one rupee coin besides the stumps and whoever gets Sachin out, used to get the coin but if the little master plays out the day, he gets to keep the same. He has accumulated 12 coins just like that, which he still marvels as his finest jewels. This shows his dedication towards the sport, I would say to which he was and is immensely in love.

Another scenario that comes to mind was during his first tour abroad to Pakistan. With the host looking for blood, Sachin, all of 16 years went on to the pot boiling Karanchi pitch with India in tatters. What happened afterwards will be stamped in the memory of all those who witnessed it.

A Waqar Younis (also making his debut) bouncer soared like a spitting cobra and took the nose of the maestro, it was broken and blood swamped out like a river as Navjoth Singh Sidhu at the non striking end cried out for help. But Sachin had other ideas, he tore the sleeve of the shirt and tied it on the nose while saying just two words “Main khelega”.

Imagine you being 16 years of age and being smashed by a cricket boll on the nose.It was extremely painful but yet he managed to gather all his energy to not only face up to fastest bowler of the time. But to have the audacity to smash him down the ground the very next ball. That symbolizes the courage, a sort of unrelenting determination, a discipline and a sense of belief that he belong to the international stage.

From there it was no looking back as he scripted one master piece after another to solidify his position as one of the world greatest batsman of all time.

Some of the gretest knocks that come to mind include that breath taking 114 at Perth(for me the best test knock of his), after which Merve Hughes, the fast bowler pointed out to his captain Allan Border, that the Indian would one day score more runs than him.148 at Sydney in the same series becoming the youngest player to make test century in the australi.122 in a loosing cause at Edgebaston in 1996 on a dodgy pitch which seemed and swung with variable bounce. He was the only Indian to come to grips with the conditions. That epic 136 at Chennai in one of the best Indo Pak test where he went beyond the limits for the nation to ignore severe back spasms and dehydration only to leave India a step short of the victory. He cried his heart out that day and did not come out for the presentation. Last but not the least, his knock off 194 not out helping India register perhaps the sweetest test win, first against Pakistan in Pakistan.

Test career apart, he even better in the shorter version of the sport. Started his career as a middle order batsman sachin showed his class in the short duration he stayed at the wicket. Playing under the shadow of the likes of Azhar, Vengsarkar, Manjarekar and Kapil the Mumbaikar use to come at five or six in the batting order. He scored number of half century before one incident changed not only his fortune but the fortune of India as a cricket nation.

On the tour of NZL in 1994, as Sidhu fell ill and in the absence of another genuine opener sachin went up to the then captain of India Mohammed Azharrudin to let him open the batting as they were playing at Eden Park, one of the smallest test venue in the world. Azhar gave the knot and what followed was an hour of scintillating stroke play from the master blaster which elevated him to be regarded at that time as one of the finds of cricket. He smashed 82 of 48 balls and was on the verge of producing the fastest century in ODIs when he got out softly.

I saw the innings and (I regard it as perhaps his best sub hundred knock) from there it was no looking back as he started scoring centuries from September 1994 and which continues till now.

But it has not been all rosy and hunky dory for the champion. In 1999 he suffered from his first major injury of the back which made him sit out for a considerable period. Add to that the sad demise of his father in the middle of the much anticipated world cup in the same year, and many thought it will take a reasonable time for him to get over it. But two days after the funeral Sachin returned to his pungent best to script the most emotional century of his career. Time went by and it looked like age was catching up on him. The next couple of years saw a little dip in his performance which ha his critics running for his head. But as they say, the real character of a person is shown when his back is to the wall.
During the tour of England in 2002 Sachin smashed his 29th test century to equal Sir Don Bradman’s record. That was the year when wisden rated him second only to the Don in the list of contemporary batsmen of all time. That showed the intensity and hunger of a cricketer who until then had achieved a lot in the sport. In 2003 Tendulkar showed why he is regarded as one of the greatest. Match after match he produced innings of great importance as well as skill during the world cup to take India to the final. Who can forget his manacing 98 off 75 deliveries against the arch rivals Pakistan in a highly charged up encounter. The six over third man of Shoaib Akhtar is printed deep in every cricket lover’s heart. He was the player of the series and that silenced his critics once again. But in 2004 he suffered from the tennis elbow injury, which I must say has taken a lot out of him. He was out for months and when he strolled back to the field, looked all at sea against the Ausies.
That prompted even his closest admirers (including me) to believe that the sun is setting on the genius. But as he has been doing all his life, the maestro who has the distinction of being man of the match the most number of times, scored two magnificent test tons, one at Sydney (241*) the other one as mentioned at Multan (194*). The next couple of years saw Tendulkar change his style and approach towards batting. That produced average results for him. But over the past couple of seasons he has been at his best once again. Just like an old whine Tendulkar is maturing into a run machine hard to stop. After scoring heavily against Aus and Pak at home, Sachin went on to plunder the English attack on his fourth and probably the final tour of the British isle.
Following all this came the ultimate masterpiece. The most rigid critics of Sachin believes he never carries himself from start to finish to lead India to a win. All this changed in the second final of the VB Series in Australia early this year. Tendulkar scored an unbeaten century to take his team to one of the greatest triumphs of all time.

Today, after scoring 81 international centuries and over 27000 international runs, Tendulkar has achieved that many cricketers can only dream of. Still he is one of the most simple and friendly person off the field.

With his 19th season in international cricket, I believe he has inspired a whole generation in many ways than one to go for ones dreams and give it his best shot. No matter what he does from here, Sachin will be regarded as one of the legends to have played the sport.

May 29th 1999, Headingley, Leeds, in a crucial world cup encounter Pakistan took on hot favorites Australia. The enthralling battle took everyone’s breath away as the pendulum swung from one end to another as the Wasim Akram lead side beat the men from down under by just eleven runs. So what was so significant about that? Well, for those who don’t follow the records much, that was the last time the team from down under have lost in a one day international at the world cup.
Time went on and the team. First lead by Steven Waugh and then by Ricky Ponting has perhaps won everything that the game has to offer. The talent and camaraderie that the team has shown, has been exceptional, and one that is hard to mach by any side till date. There is invincibility about the way they approach the game and how clinically they take the oppositions to the cleaners. Australia have proven time and again that in terms of temperament and skill, there is hardly any side that can mach them. Be it winning sixteen tests in a row twice, or winning three straight one day world cup events. Australia are streets ahead of others when it comes to big match cricket excellence.
Over the years teams, especially from the subcontinent, have toured down under and felt let down on many a fronts. Apart from there performance, teams have with a silent mouth spoken of the kind of dubious umpiring calls that they have received. Its like in places like Australia, the umpires get intimidated by the manner in which the players from the host nation try to get the decisions in their favor. The matter has gone to such a point where people are talking about the art of appealing when it comes to the players from Australia.
All this had lead to the ICC bringing in the ruling of making neutral umpires stand in test matches. But has that made things easier? I guess not. Rewind to the cricket world cup of 1992 and the first mach of South Africa in the world cup after apartheid. The first ball saw a big nick of the Ausie opener caught by Dave Richardson of Donald, given not out. There were no snickometers or third umpire for that matter. Cut to Jan 2008, sixteen years down the line, the face of technology as well as cricket has changed 360 degrees, but has the decisions? Andrew Symonds was out not once but thrice, but was given not out at the SCG, we had the third umpire as well as all the technology that a sport like cricket requires, still on one occasion the third umpire Bruce Oximford, went on a joy ride and gave Troy not out even when the TV replays showed he was gone. So what is there in Australia that makes it the place of a nightmare for tourists. I guess its time to have a serious thought about the state of events that take place in Australia whenever a team tours.
I guess may be it’s the aura that Australia has which makes the athaurities sulk under pressure, otherwise how can one explain the fact that Ricky Ponting, the current Ausie captain goes Scot free even after abusing Harbhajan on field and mentioning it in a newspaper daily in India. Not even one person from the Ausie media or the ICC fraternity is mulling a sniff at what had conspired in the last one dayer at Adelaide.
From the time of Allan Border or Mark Taylor in the 90s, to the so called invincibles of Sreven Waugh and Ricky Ponting, the behaviour of this much vaunted world champion side has taken a beating. They call it mental disintegration, probably a sophisticated word of taking a sport to the level of war. And today the side of Ricky Ponting poses a real threat to a sport which has been for long and widely regarded as one of the cleanest and gentleman like in the world. What conspired during the test in Sydney was definitely unprecedented but an incident which was waiting to happen. The Australia Cricket team is one of the best winners but perhaps the worse losers. We saw it time and again during that historic test series with India in 2001 as well as the 2003/04 Border Gavaskar Trophy. When the tide starts to turn against them, the men from down under not only lose their cool but their temper as well. Be it humiliating Rahul Dravid at Mumbai in 2001 or taking a plunge at Haarbhajan at their will, the world champion side wants to win at all costs. Avery popular and reputed writer from Australia, Peter Roebuck was categorical in pointing out the kind of harsh treatment India have got on the current tour.

Its not that the teams from the Asian subcontinent, which has been put to the sword, who can forget that memorable run chase by WI to run down 418 in the test, where Glenn McGrath spared no words for Sarwan as if he was a dreaded criminal. There have been numerous incidents of such magnitude . But no major action is taken on behalf of the governing body.
Its time the ICC look into the matter of so called mental disintegration, as called by John Buchanan which is eating into a sport which has already been tarnished by allegations of mach fixing and drugs.