I’ve always wondered why Sachin Tendulkar is called the God of cricket. Sure, he is a legend, but he himself admits that Viv Richards and Don Bradman were better than him.
I love Sachin Tendulkar, and so want to find the justification for his Godliness. According to SIRI, “God is the supernatural being conceived as the perfect and omnipotent and omniscient originator and ruler of the universe; the object of worship in monotheistic religions”. And yes, I do use SIRI.
Generally, I’m an atheist, but this is one God I believe in. And I will justify my beliefs to you over the next few hundred words.For your information, this article doesn’t only exist because Sachin’s birthday is around the corner (that is the major reason though).
Let’s get started; Sachin was so brilliant that he got selected to play for India when he was just 16, being the youngest ever Indian cricketer. The coaches must have seen something in him which startled them, which got them thinking. Also did you know that the first time Sachin got on the international field, it was for Pakistan as a substitute fielder!
The first and pre-eminent reason, he just bats so elegantly! And in all formats of the game, with Test Cricket being the most alluring. Even in T20 where no one cares about elegance. He used to score runs at great speed but with such class that even Barack Obama became a fan.
Barack Obama said, “I don’t know about cricket but still I watch cricket to see Sachin play. Not because I love his play, it’s because I want to know the reason why my country’s production goes down by 5 percent when he’s batting.”
Sachin’s fan-following is so huge that it practically beats any huge number in the universe (I couldn’t think of anyone’s fan following to compare it with, and I even thought of God!).
There are so many theories to justify Sachin being the God of cricket, although according to me it’s just the sheer simplicity and intelligence about the way he bats that catches the eye of even the busiest person in world. I have one more theory; maybe it’s not his batting or cricket. Maybe it’s because of the fact that after being a brilliant cricketer, he remains a humble (cough, cough) and good man. He has no arrogance, although he loves doing ads and loves his BMWs and isn’t the most charitable man in the world, yet he is a good human being. So maybe God is allowed to have his flaws?
Okay, so does Sachin qualify for being a God by SIRI’s definition? Let’s see;
Supernatural being? His batting is quite exceptional and out of the ordinary, so yes.
Omnipotent? Not really, but hey, God can have his flaws right?
Omniscient? From a 3 year old boy to a 70 year old woman (including my Nani!), everyone loves him!
Ruler of the universe? Not all of the universe, but the world of cricket, yes!
The object of worship in monotheistic religions? Cricket is a religion and Sachin is the God.
And finally I want to leave you with a few quotes about him:
1. “I want my son to become Sachin Tendulkar.” - Brian Lara
2. ‘’We did not lose to a team called India, we lost to a man called Sachin’’ - Mark Taylor
3. ‘Nothing bad can happen to us if we were on a plane in India with Sachin Tendulkar on it’’ -Hashim Amla
4. ‘’He can play that leg glance with a walking stick also” - Waqar Younis
5. ‘’There are 2 kinds of batsmen in the world; 1, Sachin Tendulkar and 2, all the others”-Andy Flower
6. “I have seen God. He bats at No 4 for India in tests” - Matthew Hayden
7. “I see myself when I see Sachin batting” - Don Bradman
8. “Do your crime when Sachin is batting, because even God is busy watching his batting”-Australian Fan
-Vidur Bahl (If you are Sachin then I’m an Off-break Bowler, if you are interested!)
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