I was at VCA cricket stadium in Nagpur. It was a second match which I watched on the VCA cricket stadium at Jamtha. First international match was between India and Sri Lanka and it was a worst match to watch as India lost this match. Only sixer that any of the Indian players hit came from Ashish Nehra.
So you can guess what kind of feeling it gives when you go for watching T20 match and end up watching only sixer of the match that too by the bowler. So like millions of Indians I was upset and eager to watch another cricket match. Lottery of the life came in the news that there would be a test match in the Nagpur and Sachin is going to bat at Jamtha.
Dhoni elected to field first. So it was nice chance to watch Indian players. When pacers were bowling, Sachin was fielding at mid-on so we were unable to view him closely. After some time Dhoni introduced spin. To our surprise we saw Sachin coming on the boundary line. There was no limit for our joy. We danced like small boys.
The concentration of Sachin was fully on the batsman. However, whenever ball was bowled he used to come closer to the boundary and used to please crowd. This was the time when his greatness was seen by us. He knew that people do come here only to watch him. He is their hero and he has to respond. So without any attitude he was taking crowd's wishes and was wawing his hand in the response.
Someone from the crowd was shouting "Long live Bharatratna Sachin". He heard it but his humble behavior showed that he was not overheated by it.
There has been a lot talked about Sachin Tendulkar. Now he is retiring after a series with West Indies. From the Last 20 years he has entertained India.
Sachin's contribution to Indian cricket is immense. For nearly 20 years youngsters targeted only 10 Indian seats as they knew that 11th seat was reserved for god. For the most part of twenty years he was only dependable soul of Indian cricket.
When the name Sachin comes in our mind we remember Sharajah series when he just outplayed mighty Australians. The fear which Shane Warne showed was real and unavoidable. We also remember the previous day press conference when Andy Caddick said that Sachin performs only against the weaker countries. I bet Caddick will never forget the next day pull shot six to his ball. And who will forget that 200 run great inning with South-Africa. At that time all the main bowlers of Africa were present in the match and Sachin just showed them different parts of the ground.
Whenever he will retire, lot of people will cry. The love of Indian people with Sachin will never going to vanish. He has given them courage when their heart was weakest. They will going to give him courage when his heart will be weakest.
