Sachin and 200th Test: What's all this hoopla about?
Bengaluru: Having played 198 Test matches over a period of 23 years, Sachin Tendulkar by now is nothing less than an institution in the world of cricket. The hunger and intensity that the Little Master has shown over the years is nothing less than a feat by itself. He is just two Test matches away from making history and becoming the first man on the face of this planet to play 200 Test matches, a record which can be termed as a synonym for impossible.
The superman from India has entertained all of us for more than two decades and most of us have not seen a team without Sachin Tendulkar for most part of our lives. Such is his impact that it will create a black void in the world of cricket once he calls it a day, which we can ponder on some other day.
While there is a lot of hue and cry over his 200th Test match and two state associations grappling with each other to host the Test match, it will just be apt to celebrate such a moment by giving Tendulkar the choice of where he wants play this landmark Test match. If anybody in the history of the game who deserves to get this opportunity, it is Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, just for making us glued to our television sets for more than two decades.
Such is his charisma that once Peter Roebuck recounting those moments said, "On a train from Shimla to Delhi, there was a halt in one of the stations. The train stopped by for few minutes as usual. Sachin was nearing 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!!"
Sachin Tendulkar choosing the venue to play his 200th Test match would mean that few rules needs to be played with or rather tweaked with. But this is like brushing your teeth everyday for the BCCI and atleast this one would be for a good cause, for a man who unites a nation which is going down to the bonkers every passing day.
Having followed Sachin for more than two decades and knowing the kind the person he is, it would not be much of a surprise to all of us if he declines such an offer citing the entire country as his home the reason and that is as close as we can get to the truth as you will find a Tendulkar fan in the crowded narrow streets of Park street in Kolkata to marine drive in Mumbai.
Not long ago while answering a question from one of the journalists about how proud he is to be a Maharashtrian, he quickly rebutted by saying he is first an Indian and then a Maharashtrian. It speaks volumes of the kind of man he is as the whole country waits to celebrate this glorious moment.
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