By Bhalchandra Chorghade

Every cricket lover in the country went ga ga over Sachin Tendulkar so much so that he was given the status of a ‘demi God’. Not only this, the Indian government conferred the prestigious ‘Bharat Ratna’ upon him. There is not a minutest doubt in my mind that the just retired master blaster is one of the best cricketers to have taken birth in this universe. But somehow my brain stops me from agreeing that he was a match winner. Ever since I started following the Gentleman’s Game seriously (its almost 25 years now which is just one short of 24 years for the time Sachin played the game), I don’t remember any match, except the semifinal and final at Sharjah Cricket Ground in 1996, where his willow has taken India beyond the required total. On April 4, 2014 when I was watching the ‘Mr Consistent’ Virat Kohli taking the responsibility of seeing the Team India through to the World T20 final, I felt that Sachin has taken re-birth as Virat in New Delhi, some 850-km away from Mumbai, where Sachin was born and brought up. And I am sure that even Kohli’s parents could not have thought that the name they gave to their son will become so ‘Virat’ (huge) in such a short span of time. Virat’s innings against Proteas in the ‘rain fearing’ semifinal clash was not only confidence personified, but also planned in a perfect way. His post-match comments that during his stay on the crease he always thought of seeing the team through in 19 overs, showed his maturity as a batting mainstay. His commitment towards the team can be seen every time he managed to put the ball across the boundary. This is not for the first time that he has given such wining moments to the team. He has been quietly doing it consistently for the past 4-5 years and many people think that the ‘Delhi Daredevil’ has not got his due. Even the media has been a somewhat silent while highlighting his achievements. But he seems to be unperturbed by all this and is carrying out his duties diligently. Not only in T20, but he has been taking the team through in ODIs and Tests as well. Now the people have started comparing him with Sachin and are saying that he is the right guy to break the records set by ‘Mumbai Maestro’. In my opinion, he is a combination of Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar. While on one hand he has the temperament and patience of ‘The Wall’, on the other he shows the signs of aggression which Sachin possessed. If he maintains the consistency, then the day is not far when the world will say that India has produced two Sachin Tendulkars, one in Mumbai and the other in Delhi.

(Born and brought up in the Orange City of Nagpur, Bhalchandra is a sports enthusiast. After spending 18 years in hardcore journalism in various capacities, he is currently carrying out the responsibility as Content Editor of www.cnctimes.com. CNCTimes is an engineering portal dedicated for sharing the knowledge and advancements in CNC technology among the practicing as well as future engineers.)

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