Little

Muster

South Arican cricketer \ayne Parnell kneels on the ground as Indian cricketer Sachin
1endulkar ,let, walks past him ater scoring a world record breaking double century ,200 runs,
during the second One Day International ,ODI, cricket match at the Captain Roop Singh Stadium
in Gwalior on lebruary 24. India played South Arica and inished with 401 runs or the loss o
three wickets.
achin 1endulkar`s story is the story o modern India, the India that 60 years ater
independence is emerging as a major power and producing iconic igures or which the tag Indian is
no longer a burden but an adertisement. It is not without signiicance that, when 1endulkar became
the irst man to score a double 100 in a 50-oer match last week, he dedicated his achieements to
India. le did the same when, just oer a year ago, his century in the Chennai 1est helped to deeat
Lngland. 1he 1est had come just weeks ater the terrorist attacks in Mumbai. lor some time it was
not certain whether the Lngland team would trael to India. 1endulkar had not only ashioned an
unlikely Indian ictory but he also saw his innings as proiding some balm to the terrible wounds
suered by his home town. It was the clearest sign o how much he identiied with his country and
his country with him. 1he gesture he makes ater achieing a landmark score always sees him raising
his ace to the skies. le has been doing that eer since the \orld Cup o 1999 when he lost his
ather and is meant to acknowledge his homage. 1his combination o ilial piety and patriotism
makes him so appealing to the Indians. A sporting igure has not symbolized a country in this way
since Australia beore the war with Donald Bradman.

Appropriately, shortly beore his death, the Don, still considered the greatest batsman in the game,
anointed 1endulkar as his successor. In a country where public igures are held in little regard, and
almost always considered enal and corrupt, 1endulkar has a god-like status. Not een the most
cynical Indian, a breed o which there are many, questions his integrity and probity. 1he most
remarkable proo o this came at the height o the cricket corruption crisis at the turn o the century
when many leading Indian cricketers were suspected o haing been in collusion with bookies to ix
matches. I was talking to Raj Singh, then head o Indian cricket, who had gien 1endulkar his irst
break in the international game at the tender age o 16.

lis words could not hae been more emphatic: \ou know why I beliee nobody can ix a cricket
match Because there is only one man good enough to inluence a match on his own. 1hat man is
Sachin and he would neer een consider doing it. No other cricketer is quite as good and no other
cricketer quite as honest.` Indeed, such is 1endulkar`s status in India that, on the two occasions that
his probity has been questioned, India has been ready to oreit a 1est series. 1he irst was on a tour
o South Arica in the winter o 2001 when he was punished or cleaning the ball without an
umpire`s superision. India exploded with such wrath that it became the subject o debate in the
Indian parliament, the burden o the MPs` argument being i a man as spotless as 1endulkar could
be doubted, then India`s honor had been stained. lor a time it seemed that India would not only
abandon the tour but also seer its ties with world cricket. 1hen, early in 2008 on a tour o Australia,
the Indian o -spinner larbhajan Singh was accused o calling the Australian cricketer Andrew
Symonds a monkey`. 1endulkar, who was batting with Singh at the time, testiied he had not heard
Singh utter such words. lor the Indians that was the end o the argument. 1endulkar had spoken, so
Singh must be innocent. 1hey were so indignant that the Australians would not take 1endulkar`s
word that, ater Singh was punished, the Indians threatened to pull the plug on the tour. 1his
identiication with the country has been assisted by the act that 1endulkar`s emergence on the
world stage has coincided with wider changes in Indian society. In 1991, two years ater he made his
debut against Pakistan at the age o 16, India, under pressure rom the International Monetary lund,
was orced to open up its economy, proiding the launch pad or the country`s growth. I that
meant India broke ree rom its historically sluggish growth rate, then 1endulkar, barely 19 at the
time, had also become a mould breaker. 1992 was the year he broke through a historic barrier in
Lnglish cricket by becoming the irst nonwhite eer to play or \orkshire. 1hat season in Lngland
he displayed to the ull the adult that was emerging.

Lnglish cricket correspondents were astonished to ind how polite and deerential young 1endulkar
was, always addressing older cricketers such as Georey Boycott as Mr`. \hen Boycott, showing
him round his beloed \orkshire, suggested he chat up the young secretaries by taking them out or
curry meals, 1endulkar just smiled. But, later in the season while I was writing a eature on him, I
was struck by the act that he would not let my photographer take pictures o his bat which did not
hae any endorsements.
le was eager to publicize cricket gear which carried sponsor logos, showing that een at 18 he knew
the alue o sponsorship. Since then, India has emerged as the economic powerhouse o cricket
proiding more than 80 o all world cricket`s income. 1endulkar has become one o the highest-
paid sportsmen in the world, with an income reputed to be >15mn a year. In India, a 1endulkar
endorsement o a product is almost certain to make it a success, and nobody who isits the country
can miss the huge billboards displaying his image. \et during all this time 1endulkar, while
accumulating runs and riches, has remained a sot-spoken, ery correct public man who has neer
courted scandal. le is happily married with two kids and, unlike many o his contemporaries, has
neer allowed his public image to distract him rom his job o making runs. 1here could neer
remotely be a John 1erry scandal with 1endulkar. I this suggests remarkable dedication, then that
was instilled ery early on in his lie. lis parents decided to send him to a school in Mumbai some
distance rom his home. But, gien how impossible the traic congestion is in that city and aware
that trael time could eat into his desire to play cricket during the school week, he lied with his
uncle near the school, coming home only at weekends. 1he dedication soon bore ruit and
1endulkar was only 14 when he made 326 not out, as it happens against my old Mumbai school, in
the process setting a then world record o a third-wicket stand o 664. 1endulkar, despite being
brought up in the Mumbai School o batting where you deend beore you attack, has been more
entertaining, his style inluenced by Viian Richards, rather than his ellow Maharashtrian, Sunil
Gaaskar. Cricket-loers may endlessly debate whether 1endulkar is the greatest o all batsmen, as
the Australian leg spinner Shane \arne beliees. But what is undoubtedly true is his ability to adapt
his batting in a manner which almost none o his contemporaries hae displayed. In 2004, struggling
on a tour o Australia and inding his aorite coer drie producing not runs but catches to ielders,
he went into the last 1est determined not to coer drie and ended up with a ery un-1endulkar
double 100. 1he innings nearly led to an Indian ictory and showed his extraordinary will to conquer
adersity. A ew years ago it seemed 1endulkar was ready to bow out. le was not part o the
ictorious Indian \orld 1wenty20 team o 200. But in the past two years he appears to hae
rediscoered his appetite or 1est and one-day cricket and there are still clearly peaks or him to
climb. le could become the irst man to score a total o 100 centuries in international cricket, he
currently has 93. And he has yet to score a triple-century in a 1est innings, Virender Sehwag, his
protg, being the only Indian to break the 300-barrier. In the process 1endulkar has become the
ather igure in the Indian dressing room, an ex-captain happily guiding a new and younger
generation o leaders. 1hat is rare in Indian lie, let alone cricket. 1his, combined with his ability to
cope with the pressures his countrymen impose and still set records, marks his true greatness.

- 1be vaeevaevt