Why we love Sachin Tendulkar so much?

Few people would understand why we love Sachin Tendulkar so much, sometimes to the point of incredulity and insensitivity. Many Aussies, Pakistanis, English, or any other person who follows cricket, consider him just a good batsman, and not a demigod which we revere every now and then. Peruse the Indian dailies and Cricinfo, and you will see series of digital space rolled out on him after his completion of 20 years in international cricket. There are all sorts of praise and perspectives given by some great luminaries of the media and the game. And not that this frenzy is happening for the first time.

Quite ironically, that frenzy remains the biggest aspect which pulls me too to him. India as a nation is quite enigmatic which for, even natives like me is difficult to fathom. He arrived in that India which was unsure of and diffident about its place in the world. He fought alone against that psyche. When India was just satisfied with drawn Tests and a few memorable one-day wins, he actually showed the urge to be dominant. Not that he succeeded fully, as you can see the team’s records in 90’s. But he showed us how to fight, and he fought for all of us. I could never understand why I grew wide-eyed with mist in my eyes whenever I saw him bat in those days. India lost many matches in spite of him, because of the rest 10 men, but there was a utopian ‘me and India’ playing out there. We just wanted him to excel, more for us than anybody else.

Things have changed dramatically since then. India as a nation has moved on considerably. That dream is getting changed into reality, even though there are lots of setbacks too encountered in between. The recent one-day series loss against Australia was one of those throwbacks to the old dark days. But believe me, there is a lot of hope about everything. It would be tough to comprehend for people who have been born in developed countries or those who have only seen their countries go down, what this hope means. Tendulkar remains one of those who gave us this frenzy of hope, the feeling that we too can succeed. That remains probably the single most reason why we love him more than the actual Gods which we have only read about.

Best Quotes on Sachin:-

• "On a train from Shimla to Delhi, there was a halt in one of the stations. The train stopped by for few minutes as usual. Sachin was nearing century, batting on 98. The passengers, railway officials, everyone on the train waited for Sachin to complete the century. This Genius can stop time in India!!" - Peter Roebuck
  
  
• I saw him playing on television and was struck by his technique, so I asked my wife to come look at him. Now I never saw myself play, but I feel that this player is playing much the same as I used to play, and she looked at him on Television and said yes, there is a similarity between the two...hi compactness, technique, stroke production... it all seemed to gel! - Sir Donald Bradman
  
  
• Beneath the helmet, under that unruly curly hair, inside the cranium, there is something we don't know, something beyond scientific measure. Something that allows him to soar, to roam a territory of sport that, forget us, even those who are gifted enough to play alongside him cannot even fathom. When he goes out to bat, people switch on their television sets and switch off their lives. - BBC Sports
  
  
• When Tendulkar goes out to bat, it is beyond chaos- it is a frantic appeal by a nation to one man - Matthew Hayden
  
  
• When Tendulkar bats well, India sleeps well - Harsh Bhogle
  
  
• Everyone wants Tendulkar's story to be a fairytale story, but if ever there can be a fairytale story, it would be of Tendulkar's only - Me :)