A game of memories: We’ll always have Sachin

I visited an Indian broadcaster last year — they wanted feedback on what they were putting out on their sports channels. During the conversation, they revealed that they had also been conducting internal surveys as part of an exercise to find out what the current generation wanted to watch and who are the sports heroes that appeal to them the most.

And then, almost casually, they mentioned that this generation of ‘10-18-year-olds’ doesn’t recognise Sachin Tendulkar. To this generation, the stars are Virat Kohli, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah.

My first reaction was one of disbelief…how could this even be possible? He had done enough to stay relevant for at least a decade without even doing anything, right?

Tendulkar, one of India’s greatest icons, had retired from ODIs in 2012 and from Test cricket in 2013. He had scored a 100 international centuries and the most runs in international cricket. Most importantly, he had allowed India to take a modicum of pride in the game when little of that quality was freely available.

But were six years enough to make the younger generation move on? Are our attention spans so short now? Is this what we call a lasting legacy?

Eventually, I made my peace with it. I remembered reading an article a few years earlier about how many young NBA players had only seen Michael Jordan in grainy videos and remember him only because their dads couldn’t stop talking about him. For inspiration, they turned to Kobe Bryant or LeBron James. Jordan’s era, as one might say, was over.

Jordan’s unreal statistics mean whatever we want them to mean and are great for winning arguments but to those who play, inspiration tends to be more current. Someone they can see every day, someone they can copy, someone they can watch live. Out of sight, one may argue, is out of mind.

It seemed plausible. Certainly, not impossible given the times we live in. We remember every game, every movie from the 90s and even the early 2000s. But given that there is so much to watch these days, icons fade from memory that little bit faster.

Last roll of the dice

I had watched Tendulkar’s last Test – at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai – from the stands. For that match and that match alone, I just wanted to be a fan. Not a journalist. The entire match was one massive nostalgia trip. Strangers were discussing their memories of the master batsman. The cover drive, the straight drive, the walk to the wicket, the stance and so much more. It was a chance to watch him live one last time. It was a chance to let him astound us for the last time in India’s whites. No one would astonish us in quite the same way again.

As the match ended, Tendulkar read out an emotional speech that left almost everyone in the stadium teary-eyed. Almost everyone because sitting just in front of me was a 10-year-old whose head was buried in his mobile phone. To him, the IPL mattered, Tendulkar...not so much. That 10-year-old would have been 16 in 2019.

Of course, not every 10-year-old would have had the same reaction. Some would have cried with us. But change is a constant. Sport isn’t consumed in the same way now. So many youngsters seem to care more about their IPL team than they do for India. So many want IPL jerseys more than the India jersey. Maybe, because the IPL circus would visit them every year without fail. The Indian team, on the other hand, would be a once in a year affair if you were lucky.

In a way, one would imagine, Kohli has kept Tendulkar relevant for this generation. Almost every record he breaks seems to have belonged to the master batsman from Mumbai. From time to time, as Kohli breaks or nears another record, social media will see old-timers and younger fans debate who is greater: Tendulkar or Kohli?

The wiser ones will tell us there are no winners in this argument. Don’t compare players across eras. But, at the same time, these debates make some younger fans go back in time and look at the grainy footage available, so to speak, so that they can judge for themselves.

The spark

The great athletes make us young again. Watching them takes us back to the time when they so effortlessly captured our imagination. Tendulkar does that for so many.

From time to time, even now, his powers of observation give us a glimpse of his genius. Last year, during the Ashes, he broke down Steve Smith’s batting technique making points that should have seemed so obvious to everyone.

When Kohli had trouble in England during the 2014 tour, he had turned to Tendulkar for advice. So many other cricketers still do that. His experience is invaluable. But for those who haven’t played the charm is less evident.

Tendulkar has an academy and an app but he isn’t doing cricket commentary or any other media work regularly. He isn’t in the public eye as much as say Sourav Ganguly (BCCI president) or Rahul Dravid (NCA’s head of cricket) or VVS Laxman (an expert with Star Sports) or Virender Sehwag (Twitter guru and expert at large) and when that happens, even the biggest stars tend to fade away. It seemed to be happening to the now 46-year-old too.

Then, came the bushfire relief matches in Australia. Tendulkar had a shoulder injury, so he offered to coach one of the teams. But, against his doctor’s advice, he decided to play one over from Ellyse Perry. And that was enough to send the fans into raptures.

He hit the first ball he faced for four but, much to the disappointment of his many fans, firmly ruled out a comeback.

Less than a month later, he took to the field once again for India Legends in the Road Safety World Series. This time, the fans were ready. They made their way to the Wankhede in hordes. The Ranji matches were being played to empty stadiums but a team made up of retired Indian legends had attracted a full house. Dare say, it wouldn’t have happened without Tendulkar.

Yes, fans love Sehwag and Zaheer and Yuvraj but they don’t quite have the same connection that Tendulkar has. To hear the ‘Sachin, Saaachin’ chants at the Wankhede again was a special feeling. It was unreal yet, it was – for many old-timers – expected. The conversation once again shifted to his upper cut, his straight drive, his uncanny sense of balance and the magical timing. It felt like he had never been away.

From the time he made his debut as a 16-year-old to the time he retired as a 40-year-old, Tendulkar was a constant for so many of us. For 24 years, through thick and thin, he was always there. A part of our lives. And even though he has retired, to his fans he still is. In a way, no matter what some market research says, they’ll always have Sachin and Sachin will always have them.

And if you wanted proof, you just had to watch the Road Safety World Series. For that was love; love that money could never buy.