Oh to have a Roebuck for Sachin’s Swansong!
-Bernard Fernandes
13th November 2013
As Sachin Tendulkar approaches his swansong, and I were to
wish upon a star, it would be to have a Peter Roebuck come alive to describe
the final moments of a great career. The
late legendary writer will be sorely missed on this momentous occasion. Sachin would produce the fireworks and weave a
spell with his magic wand, the cricket bat; the connoisseur in Peter Roebuck was quick to
provide us the complementary masterstrokes with his pen. Their fans were never disappointed. After
every cricket match, an Indian win – and a Sachin ton – I for one, would wait
in eager anticipation for the following day’s newspaper to lap up every word
that escaped from Roebuck’s prodigious pen. His marvellous cricketing insights
and witty, yet sublime prose were a reader’s delight.
It is said that Roebuck witnessed all the 11 centuries that
the little master plundered against the Australians. He had the greatest
respect and the highest praise for the little giant Sachin. He never tired of singing paeans of
Tendulkar. He wrote, ‘Tendulkar has the charisma. To my mind he's the most
exciting batsman of his time because he finds the right balance between reason
and passion, technique and power, nerve and judgment. He appeals to all tastes.’
Sample
Roebuck describing the man Sachin: ‘And yet, even this, the runs, the majesty,
the thrills, does not capture his achievement. Reflect upon his circumstances
and then marvel at his feat. Here is a man obliged to put on disguises so that
he can move around the streets, a fellow able to drive his cars only in the
dead of night for fear or creating a commotion, a father forced to take his
family to Iceland on holiday, a person whose entire adult life has been lived
in the eye of a storm. Throughout he has been public property, India's proudest
possession, a young man and yet also a source of joy for millions, a sportsman
and yet, too, an expression of a vast and ever-changing nation. Somehow he has
managed to keep the world in its rightful place. Somehow he has raised children
who relish his company and tease him about his batting. Whenever he loses his
wicket in the 90s, a not uncommon occurrence, his boy asks why he does not
"hit a sixer". ‘
Sachin’s
exploits were for real in Roebuck’s commentary: ‘Among modern batsmen, Sachin
Tendulkar is the master of the single. In some respects, it is not much of a
claim. It's a bit like saying Roger Federer has the best ball toss around.
Tendulkar has many other more colourful qualities, a blistering straight drive,
a cart that is liable to land in the fifth row, a square cut that singes the
turf, a fine sweep and a defensive stroke played with a sculptured left elbow.
Comparatively speaking, the single tucked to mid-wicket seems innocuous.’
Reporting on a sterling performance by
Tendulkar, Peter wrote: ‘Most outstanding batsmen could play three shots
especially well - the square cut, the drive straight of mid-on and the tuck
past square leg. Tendulkar produced all of these shots and lots of others
besides - shots played with his head down and still, in a dazzling array which
included several back-foot glides through areas patrolled by point.’
Roebuck, through a not so uncommon
sight in India – at Sachin’s prime- pays
Sachin a rare tribute: "On a
train from Shimla to Delhi, there was a halt at one of the stations. The train
stopped by for few minutes as usual. Sachin was nearing a 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!"
Indeed, time will stop for India as Sachin Tendulkar takes
guard for one last time in a cricket Test match for his country. He may get a blob, or return with a ton, or a
prized scalp. No one can deny him a place in history. Says Peter Roebuck, “He
will take into retirement a mighty record and the knowledge that he has given
enormous pleasure to followers of the game wherever it is played.”
