The Pain of 2011

My most distant memory of a cricket match is of the '91 World Series match between India and West Indies where Tendulkar bowled the last over of the low scoring tense game to ensure that India reached the finals. As a 6 year old I still remember my dad telling me that Tendulkar needed to bat well for us to have any chance of defeating the Aussies. My dreams were crushed by Allan Border and Dean Jones in both the finals. I still remember my elder cousin telling me before the India Pakistan '92 World Cup tie that Wasim Akram and Imran Khan bowl at 200 kmph and only Tendulkar can save India from defeat. Tendulkar didn't disappoint and hit the shit out of the Pakistani attack inspiring a memorable win. I still remember the disappointment after the loss to Australia by one run in the same WC. I still remember the Hero Cup semi final when the man, sorry boy took the responsibility of bowling the last over to Brian McMillan when SA needed just 6 to win of the final over (even veteran Kapil Dev disagreed to Azharuddin's request to bowl the last over).

When people say to me that the man cannot play under pressure I ask myself these questions. Can the sehwag's, or raina's or dhoni's ever take so much pressure even at this age (he handled it at 17). Can Sehwag bowl to Michael Hussey with Australia needing six of the last over and win the match for the country? How high is the probability of a 17 year old Dravid, Laxman or Sehwag scoring a 100 at the WACA Perth with your side reeling at 52 for 7 and the opposition having bowlers like Merv Huges and Craig Mcdermott.

Its been a journey of 19 years since I started watching cricket but one man has always been there at the helm of all my expectations and possibly I am so much used to it that I just can't imagine Indian cricket without the "Boy" who is now "The God". 2011 in all possibility would be Tendulkar's last year as an Indian cricketer. I still wonder how will I ever be able to imagine Indian cricket without him.