Goodbye Sachin Tendulkar

Image Courtesy : www.thankyousachin.com

In the world of cricket and a country full of cricket lovers, Sachin Tendulkar is not only a name, but a living legend and an inspiration to many. Yesterday was a day when this celebrated cricketer took his departure from all the formats of the game (Since cricket has many formats, One-Day, Test Cricket, and now 20-20 Cricket). I was expecting that the newspapers, social media websites like facebook, twitter will all be unanimously, singing the chorus 'Saaachinnn...Sachin'. And I was not at all disappointed. But I am sure many people across the nation will be disappointed and will be left in tears when this demi-god retired from the game which has it's monopoly in India.

Was I disappointed hearing this news?

Maybe, at first. I liked cricket, played it till high school, but lately fell in love with other sports more than what I had for cricket. That gave me the opportunity to look at cricket in a different perspective and light. I have no current liking or affability towards Cricket. I find that, the format of the game requires the least physical fitness and with only a bunch of nation participating in world tournaments, there is no real competition as compared to other sports like soccer, tennis, or basketball. So reading the reactions of the people of India, on social media like twitter or facebook, under hashtag ThankYouSachin, #ThankYouSachin, I became a little more optimistic. Some people wrote that the game (Cricket) would never be the same without you (Sachin), some said "Life se ek question to khatam hua, Sachin ne kitne banaye." (There is one question that will never be asked again "How much runs did Sachin score).

Reading so much today in newspapers or on social media, one thing is clear that the popularity of this game is no longer going to be the same as it was from 1989 till yesterday. Many people are not going to follow this game as ardently as they were before. There is no one at present moment as big as Sachin Tendulkar, so our younger generation will have more options, in terms of following someone. I will say that; this day in the history of sports will be coined as the day when cricket gave way for other sports to flourish in India. So I #ThankYouSachin and hope in next 4-5 years we qualify in Soccer World Cup, and get more and more gold medals in Olympics.