Sachin 200*

It has been two days since it happened. But the joy bestowed by Sachin to his fans and the cricketing fraternity alike is exponentially increasing. Even now, 7 out of 10 facebook updates acknowledges this accomplishment by Sachin...

The ability of one man to bring so much joy and unite the most diverse country on earth leaves people with different reactions. Some have gushed that they can now die happy, some have wept tears of joy, some have re-iterated the fact that there is only one God that they worship.

I'd like to say Sachin Tendulkar is not god.

He is not god, because there is ample scope to question the existence of a god, but there is no scope to question the godliness of Tendulkar. No sir, he is far beyond mere godhead.

"I want to touch Sachin's feet": Gavaskar

"South Africa weren’t embarrassed. They were privileged to be on the same field as Tendulkar. Those who watched will never forget." : Wisden

"Tendulkar's journey is about joy and purity and a landmark is merely a comfort stop." : Harsha Bhogle

"I was in the office, streamed d vid and had a party later :)" - Gaurav Asida

"mera toh next day paper tha phir bhi match dekhne stadium gaya Awesome batting" - Akshay Bhandare

"I did not go to my CAT classes.. I was watching him play" - Puneet Dham

(The last three are the comments by some of his fans in Cricinfo.com)

And I am one of the privileged few who watched the match live, not even missing a single moment. Tendulkar’s innings was a microcosm of his career: flashes of pure genius and strokes of awesome dare but ultimately defined by the relentless appetite for scoring runs. He looked spent before the end but there were no calls for a runner or any look-how-tired-I-am histrionics.

The genius of the innings lay in its art.Edges? There weren't any. Miscues? Not here. Each and every four that was struck was sweeter than the last and most of them weren't even chased by the fielders. It was a chanceless innings.

There is nothing more benumbing than watching history being made. The mind is welled with cliché’s floating through it, but by and large it is a sense of helplessness coupled with an inability to describe when words should flow to record that moment for posterity.

Shall we call it walk into history books — but wasn’t he already there? He was already a legend, he was already a cricketing God. He had more records than platinums notched up by the Beatles; I could go on and on. He has it all; maybe he always did.

So, when he steered the ball behind point for and then strolled across 22 yards of turf for his 200th run of the day, what did it bring us — I would say a sense of relief ! We can always rejoice later.

First, we need to take a deep breath and then take a bow.Was Sachin destined only to be an accumulator: a collector of masterful hundreds and thousands of exquisitely crafted runs? So what really is his potential? God, if there is one, alone knows that.

Such is the level of expectations from him — we want nothing less than first, the most, the best, the highest, and whatever else from him. No longer,they can take away his centuries, they can take away his runs, just like they cannot take away his genius.

Doubtless, each one of the celestial fans, ranging from his father to Bradman and Trumper, and a whole lot of others would have been standing and applauding an epic. Legends by their nature dominate the sport they take to. Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan. Carl Lewis. The list could go on. But seldom has there been one, who has been pristinely clean. And to me, nothing would devastate me more than if I found something ‘not right’ about Tendulkar. May that day never come.

And that is the reason why he has got the most runs... most centuries.. most awards and most respect than any other player in the world!!

Having watched and worshiped this legend from my childhood days.. this double ton is very special to me..!! Oh yeah! I will be able to carry on with that memory for the rest of my life... :)

Afterall... It could only be Sachin, for cricket's sake!!