Are These Empty Praises?
In the West when we meet somebody we invariably shake hands and say hello. In addition there will also be a brief exchange of pleasantries (How is it going? Nice to see you, you look good today etc.). I always found it very strange why individuals who meet each other every day have to express these words to each other every time they meet. In most cases formal responses to these “queries” are not needed. You can always respond back with a “hello” as you shake hands. These are traditions that are part of the Western culture today and have to some extent lost their relevance in a world where people can stay in touch many different ways and much more frequently.
These thoughts came to my mind as I was watching people in India and the Indian media react to Sachin Tendulkar completing 20 years in International cricket. Right off the bat I would like to divulge that I am not a fan of Tendulkar. Tendulkar to me is similar to players like Mudassar Nasar, Anshuman Gaekward and Geoff Boycott but with more horsepower and style. They have impressive statistics and are sometimes hard to dismiss. But for the most part they are not match winners. They tend to fall apart and are much more comfortable inside the clubhouse and not on the field in critical situations. Tendulkar’s record as a captain (I think that he was too young to be the captain in the mid-nineties) and his reluctance to take on the captaincy again now tells me all I need to know about his mental makeup and leadership skills.
Irrespective of what people like me think of him playing international cricket for 20 years is a great achievement. However, none of the individuals or the media that are praising him are praising him for the right reasons. I follow baseball closely. An average baseball player plays over 150 games in a season (season is from April to first week of October every year). A baseball game typically is similar in duration to a 20/20 cricket match. There are many baseball players who have played the game for over 15 years (over 2250 matches). Playing in the league for 10 years is very common. I always wondered how they do it. This takes tremendous physical fitness, long hours away from the family, many hours spent on planes and trains, answering questions from the media and sleeping almost half the year in hotel rooms eating hotel food. I do not think that 20 years in cricket is as challenging as 20 years in baseball but it is still tough. Tendulkar definitely deserves kudos for this achievement. We also have to thank his family members for sacrificing so much so that the rest of us can enjoy watching him play.
Many of the praises heaped on him in the past week or so are empty praises (like “how are you doing?”. Do you really care how I am doing? The answer you expect from me is that “I am doing great”. What if I say “I am not doing well” then are you going to help me?). The best one was Javagal Srinath who said that “It was always great to play with Sachin. It is great to see him complete 20 years in international cricket. I don’t think any other sportsperson in Asia has ever achieved such a feat”. What!! (Before I write any further I would like to thank Javagal Srinath for giving up 18 runs in the opening over of the 2003 World Cup final match against Australia. No other sportsperson in Asia has done it either :)). But Srinath is not entirely correct. Javed Miandad’s one day career is a year longer than Sachin Tendulkar’s although Tendulkar has a longer test career (when there is a must win match who do you want to play for your team Tendulkar or Miandad?).
Have you heard of Hideki Matsui (an Asian sportsperson as Srinath mentioned)? He is a baseball player from Japan. He played in the Japanese baseball league for ten years (1,268 games played). After that he started playing for the New York Yankees where he played another 916 games. Two weeks ago he was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) as the Yankees defeated my home town Philadelphia Phillies and won the World Series. In all Matsui has won four championships.
The Hindu had a long article praising Tendulkar. The heading of the article was “Tendulkar has taken the game to a different level”. I read the article a few times and still could not figure out in which aspect has he taken the game to the next level (Is he the best player of spin or pace, Is he the best opening batsman, Is he the best batsman under pressure, Was he the best captain or teammate. So how did he take the game to a different level?). I hope I do not come off as a mean person. It is important to keep things in perspective. I think that in Sachin’s case longevity and meaningless statistics are getting confused with excellence. I would trade all the runs he scored in one day internationals for one World Cup.
It was nice writing about you Sachin!!
Related posts:
- The Dilemma Facing Sachin Tendulkar
- India Playing Cricket in Empty Stadiums
- Sir Donald Bradman is the Greatest Batsman?
- Award Winners Are Not Champions
- All Those Meaningless Runs Scored By Tendulkar & Company
Category: Sports & Entertainment