Dear Sachin,
This letter is just a show of gratitude for everything you’ve done for Indian cricket and its fans.
They say you get so used to seeing a person that their absence leaves you feeling uncomfortable. This is exactly what we all felt the day you stepped out of the Wankhede in 2013, bidding goodbye to a game you had single-handedly made a borderline religion. The most telling aspect of you, I mean, apart from the elegant, classy batting and occasional sprinkle of magical spin bowling; is your longevity.
24 years in the middle is no mean feat. You’ve managed to enthrall at least three generations of cricket fans while putting up with constant jibes on your fitness or even a small blip in form. To do all that with a smile and with such nonchalance speaks volumes of your character.
Obviously, it isn’t easy, but you did it with such ease that it raised your level to God.
Recently, there’s been a lot of buzz for your new movie – Sachin: A Billion Dreams, and why not? I’d skip school to watch you on a television for your talent; I’d pay to watch you on a bigger screen as a human. Thankfully, we were able to catch nearly two and a half decades of your indomitable spirit on the pitch for free.
Sports fans know that ultimate masters of their art do not get there alone and without making a few hard decisions. I’m looking forward to seeing the rawer side of you – the side of you we always assumed but never really know: Sachin the person.
The records speak for themselves: you’ve encompassed such a larger than life ethos that some people have managed a career from your name – Dedicated fan pages, advertisers, young cricketers and die-hard fans themselves, who take the effort of painting themselves in the tricolor and etching your name on their bodies.
To constantly update yourself, work on newer techniques and change with the times in the highest level is what differentiates the best from the rest, in your case it separated you from the best – for 24 years.
Facing bowlers like Marshall, Ambrose, Akram, Akhtar, McGrath, Warne, Muralitharan, Allan Donald, Steyn – all in their prime and rising above their already elevated levels is something only a special player can do, and you’ve done it with such ease, it’s almost implausible.
I’m sure you miss the chants of “Sachin, Sachin!!” more than us, but you can be assured of this sort of love and adulation till the day you die. For now, I’m hoping you’re enjoying your retirement to the fullest (Looks like you’ve put on a little weight, that’s good) and doing the things you always wanted to do.
Thank you for playing the game with the right attitude, always. Thank you for showing us that a person does not have to change on the field and most importantly thank you for inspiring a billion dreams.
We will always love and miss you,
One in a billion.
