The GOD at 43...

Most skills this world appear to be something that one can learn, practice, master and perfect, even. But, once in a while, there comes a human being, who seems to be born with the mastery of a skill. I use the term human being quite loosely...these are more demi-gods who take their craft to a different league altogether. Idolized by millions, they consistently deliver superlative results over their entire careers. Records are just a bland summary of the dominance they exert on their chosen areas. This is seen across fields and walks of life, but never so dramatically as in sport. Superlatives in sport are often short-lived snuffed out by competition, injury, luck, politics, personalities, what-have-you. So when a genuine champion comes along, the world sits up, lauds them, burdens them with expectations.These gods, as it were, go beyond just their sport, to become messiahs of hope to a nation burdened with conflicts and troubles.
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, is one such champion, probably the only one of his kind, for whom a nation unites. Recently, he scored his 41st Test Century - the max by any cricketer ever, this is a record alongside the most runs in test cricket, the most runs in one-day cricket, the most centuries in one day internationals, the most fifties in both forms...basically, every batting record around that's worth having! Yet, this man, rather this god, slew a demon then, a complicated one at that- "winning a match for India in the 4th innings, by scoring a hundred and a four for the winning run". Why was this even a demon?? Well...a nation of a billion cricketing brains decided that Sachin hadn't conquered all yet...he needed to slay this one too for the nation to finally lay rest to all the cribs and criticisms - "Sachin never wins a match for us!".
I remember the years from `89 - possibly `00 as dark times for Indian cricket, when we used to pray for Sachin to bat from overs 1-50 and hopefully not run out of partners. Then it got that he had to turn his arm over at crucial times and win wickets as well. Opposition teams exulted, then as now, when they got Sachin. The difference now is, they have a Yuvraj, Rohit Sharma, Dhoni, Suresh Raina etc etc, not to mention an occasional Harbhajan or even Zaheer, to follow. This makes them stop and take stock rather than premature champagne celebrations.To put it in perspective - he has scored 31 of his 43 hundreds in matches India won. Those amazing innings have come at an average of 57!
Its an indication of the standards others set for him, that when he topscored for us in NZ, a sublime innings at that, people were disappointed that he didnt go on to score the 200!!! Others were harping on the fact that he hadn't scored a ODI hundred in NZ till now! This is after an innings of 163, where he went from 100 to 163 in 32 balls!!!
After his 41st Test hundred, he said "Bhagwan Bharose"! For us in India, hoping the 2011 World Cup will be IT, its "Sachin Bharose" all the way!