From the Archives: Celebrating Tendulkar, Man United & Ryan Giggs

Seems like today is a Celebrate Sachin day. I’ll do my bit too.

I wrote this piece on the very day India beat England in the Test match in Chennai not so long ago. It’s a piece that in a way compares two of the greatest sportspersons that I’ve ever witnessed – Sachin Tendulkar and Ryan Giggs – champions beyond doubt in their own respective fields. Just thought, it was a small tribute from someone who not just salutes their careers and glories, but also respects their individuality and qualities that are somewhere to be emulated.

Here’s the post in toto:

The Guardian’s Mike Selvey calls it Karma. I choose to call it destiny. India’s 6-wicket win over England in Chennai was inevitable, or to simply put it – was meant to be. At this juncture, let me also bring in the Champions League final between Manchester United and Chelsea in May 2008. Just as John Terry was destined to miss his chance from the spot, another United great, who embodies everything the club stands for, Ryan Giggs, was meant to score the winner. Bring that scenario into what happened on Monday, the 15th of December where it was Sachin Tendulkar, whom the British junta refer to as the “Mumbai Man”, who took his team past the line in chasing 387. Perhaps those two examples put sport into perspective.

People may ask me why I choose to relate these two events, of different sport – simply because they stand for something significant. Manchester United, simply had to win the Champions League after having to put up with a disaster of their own, the one in Munich in 1958, where the club lost 8 players and 3 members of the staff. If that was tragedy enough, Mumbai and indeed, India had to bear something worse. Incommensurable in numbers, it was a blatant disregard for humanity, life and pretty much the law of the land when terrorists held the city on gunpoint. And where does the ten percent of the healing touch come from ? I guess, sport. It was a telling moment when Sir Bobby Charlton, a survivor of the Munich crash walked up on behalf of Manchester United, to collect the medal at Moscow as it was when Sachin Tendulkar, scored perhaps his most significant hundred and that leap of joy – did mean something for someone from the city, sitting through the chills of London.

Of course, as much as we continue to romanticize the Tendulkar innings, three others were played in the background while the soundtrack hit the higher notes. Virender Sehwag who, in consensus, gave India the chance to make their own destiny and shape up a special end to the contest. At his usual, cold-blooded and no-nonsense best, Sehwag is quite literally the best batsman in the world. And, on Sunday – that was the case. He nullified two of England’s potential fifth-day threats with absolute disregard for them and that played out perfectly, come Monday. If not for Sehwag, as Dhoni rightly pointed out, India would have been defending the game, something they’ve not known to be successful at. So, to bring in Manchester United again, this was something like the header Ronaldo scored to put them ahead in Moscow. An important moment, a massive platform as indeed a curtain-raiser for something special at the finale. Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh, recent graduates into Test cricket played two knocks which, given the occasion might just slip into the background, but were no less invaluable than the ones played by Tendulkar and Sehwag. In context, they played their part too.

Tendulkar’s innings on Day 5 was special in many regards. Andrew Flintoff was steaming in with the intensity last seen in the Ashes 2005 and Tendulkar’s initial moments were indeed human, with barely any feet movement and some loose plays and misses. But once the square drive came out of the Tendulkar shot factory and not to forget that intentional upper-cut off Anderson, everything suddenly seemed so normal. Indeed, the ghosts of the venue – almost 10 years ago would have popped up in his mind during the course of the innings, but he seemed determined to bury to tag of “the best hundred ever seen in a losing cause for India” and write a new chapter into his love-affair with the MAC Stadium in Chennai. There was a method to his batting, a hunger which has been in question time and again, and a determination to see the team through, if only losing to Pakistan by 12 runs in 1999 was reminder enough. And what a moment it was, when of all the shots in his repertoire, Tendulkar brought out the paddle, or as the Poms call it the “nurdle” to settle the issue – for him, Mumbai and India. A moment to savour. That’s when my mind pops back to Moscow, when Ryan Giggs, of all the people, in his 759th game for Manchester United, in the tightest of situations had the nerves to put it past the diving Petr Cech. That was the goal, like Tendulkar’s boundary, that mattered in the end.

And, for someone who passionately supports Manchester United week in and week out and occasionally chooses to back India in cricket, the very thought of destiny being a factor was to an extent scary. Chelsea did not deserve to lose the game at Moscow, nor did England in Chennai. But thats when there’s a 12th man in destiny. To put it simply, I quote our great manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, as he so rightly and effectively stated after the Moscow triumph, “We had a cause which was very important. People with causes are difficult to battle against and I think fate was playing its part.” Ferguson said. Fate and Tendulkar played their part in Chennai too.

And yes, as someone who’s been mesmerized and entertained by both these stalwarts, I can only sit here and hope both Sachin and Ryan Giggs give us a few years more of their talent. Like everyone is, I can’t imagine the day when both these players choose to hang their boots and move on from their respective sporting disciplines.