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As the maestro walks into sunset, new stars sparkle Mumbai, November 15
Tendulkar didn’t always answer the prayers; but the day is dripping with emotion, and a more sober assessment of the brilliant man must follow at a later date. Tendulkar was incredible on November 15 1989 when he debuted for India; he was incredible today when he played his final innings for India. He was a boy then, unshackled by the burden of the fans’ and his own expectations; he’s 40 now, and has lived two decades under the weight of hopes. The weight was multiplied manifold now.
Hope was intense, but there was the fear of failure too… the fear that the master would be hesitant, unsure, humiliated. Tendulkar shook off the weight; he seemed to exist in an impenetrable bubble of serenity. He was imbued with calmness; he was again the fearless boy who smashed Kapil Dev and Abdul Qadir at age 16.Tendulkar batted with the freedom and the abandon of his boyhood. Tendulkar made 74 runs today in the first innings of the second Test against the West Indies. Tendulkar’s final innings brought to the mind’s eye his greatest strokes — the perfect straight drive, the delightful backfoot punch through covers, the drive through midwicket. Cheteshwar Pujara and Rohit Sharma added centuries, India stacked up 495 runs. Then West Indies lost three wickets for 43 and still trail by 270 runs. The Test is likely to end by tea tomorrow. The final West Indian batsmen must do something extraordinary to make India bat again -- this bunch seems incapable of doing that. Like Kolkata, Tendulkar is extremely unlikely to get another innings. But today, 24 years to the day he made his debut in Karachi, Tendulkar put up a dazzling show, an unforgettable masterclass before taking his final bow.
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The brickbats that have been hurled at him, and the bouquets that have been tossed, must abate. That dreaded moment is upon us. We’re going to know what the absence of Tendulkar is. A habit of twenty-four years must die. We must prepare for life without Tendulkar. We must forego the comfort of the knowledge that a little man called Tendulkar is going to be in at No. 4, and all is going to be well with the Indian team.
His mother was at the ground yesterday and today, for the first time ever; his wife was there, a rare occurrence. His brother, the man who sculpted his game and mind, was at a stadium in India for the first time in 20 years. The stadium was packed, raising a din that made it impossible to concentrate. Fans had flown from the US for two, three days just to see him play.