"My life between 22 yards in the 24 years ... " a very emotional speech indeed, that filled most his fan's eyes with tears. Another master stroke by the little master!
24 years - a very well deserved innings. He perfected each and every shot in the book, played the likes of Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Saqlain Mushtaq, Muttiah Muralitharan, Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Curty Ambrose, Allan Donald and many more. These players along with great batsmen like Ricky Ponting, Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis and Adam Gilchrist defined an era of cricket, which is history as Sachin Tendulkar retired yesterday. Truly a genius!
With his retirement came the news of Bharat Ratna awarded to Sachin Tendulkar and CNR Rao, a chemist with 60 Honorary Doctorates from various Universities in the world and who is Head of Scientific Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India. Sachin Tendulkar being the youngest of the 43 Bharat Ratna awardees to date, did it again.Yeah, he eclipsed the chemist's achievements and his award to such an extent that his name was nowhere mentioned on the first page of any of the major newspapers in Mumbai.
What is astonishing is the timing of this award for Sachin - though he kind of deserved it - that should have come way later in Sachin Tendulkar's life as it has for most of the other recipients of the award.
Though the award is specifically for his work in cricket, it is definitely more than that. It is what the person is and his work taken together. He will have to live with that tag and his behavior in public should now reflect those magnanimous qualities consistently throughout the rest of his life. And that is a very big responsibility that he will have to bear! A big responsibility to keep country before self - which hasn't truly happened for him so far on numerous occasions - be it the request to waive import duty on his gifted Ferrari, his request for extra FSI for his bungalow in Bandra and his high-voltage behind-the-scene drama related to the declaration in Multan test by Rahul Dravid. These glitches and others, if any, can still be put behind - but to carry Bharat Ratna image from so early on in his life should be his priority.
Also, so to say, this timing was not good taking into consideration many elderly persons on the list who have done very well in their respective careers and have also served the nation well. I surely cannot name them all and in right order, but Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee - who took bold decisions in his stint and made India nuclear capable and Dhyan Chand - greatest of all the hockey players - could have been given the award before Sachin Tendulkar. They deserved it more than Sachin Tendulkar did.
This said - I do respect him for his achievements and do congratulate him for winning the award!
P.S.: List of recipients of Bharat Ratna
24 years - a very well deserved innings. He perfected each and every shot in the book, played the likes of Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Saqlain Mushtaq, Muttiah Muralitharan, Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Curty Ambrose, Allan Donald and many more. These players along with great batsmen like Ricky Ponting, Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis and Adam Gilchrist defined an era of cricket, which is history as Sachin Tendulkar retired yesterday. Truly a genius!
With his retirement came the news of Bharat Ratna awarded to Sachin Tendulkar and CNR Rao, a chemist with 60 Honorary Doctorates from various Universities in the world and who is Head of Scientific Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India. Sachin Tendulkar being the youngest of the 43 Bharat Ratna awardees to date, did it again.Yeah, he eclipsed the chemist's achievements and his award to such an extent that his name was nowhere mentioned on the first page of any of the major newspapers in Mumbai.What is astonishing is the timing of this award for Sachin - though he kind of deserved it - that should have come way later in Sachin Tendulkar's life as it has for most of the other recipients of the award.
Though the award is specifically for his work in cricket, it is definitely more than that. It is what the person is and his work taken together. He will have to live with that tag and his behavior in public should now reflect those magnanimous qualities consistently throughout the rest of his life. And that is a very big responsibility that he will have to bear! A big responsibility to keep country before self - which hasn't truly happened for him so far on numerous occasions - be it the request to waive import duty on his gifted Ferrari, his request for extra FSI for his bungalow in Bandra and his high-voltage behind-the-scene drama related to the declaration in Multan test by Rahul Dravid. These glitches and others, if any, can still be put behind - but to carry Bharat Ratna image from so early on in his life should be his priority.
Also, so to say, this timing was not good taking into consideration many elderly persons on the list who have done very well in their respective careers and have also served the nation well. I surely cannot name them all and in right order, but Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee - who took bold decisions in his stint and made India nuclear capable and Dhyan Chand - greatest of all the hockey players - could have been given the award before Sachin Tendulkar. They deserved it more than Sachin Tendulkar did.
This said - I do respect him for his achievements and do congratulate him for winning the award!
P.S.: List of recipients of Bharat Ratna
