SACHIN – ARE YOU UPHOLDING THE DIGNITY OF `BHARAT RATNA’?

Disclaimer : In a country where Cricket is the most Secular Religion saying anything against Sachin is considered to be blasphemy.  As far as cricket is concerned, Sachin continues to be one of my most favourite cricketer along with Kapil Dev, Viv Richards and Ian Bhotham – all four being the most impact players, who could win any match on their own strength.   This article is result of the few aspects of non-cricketing side of Sachin which disappoints me and many of his fans.

Sachin – should he be considered as God?

In a movie and cricket crazy country like India, often crazy fans treat their idols as God/Demi-Gods.   Though I am not in favour of any blind following in any field, I can still digest this status being bestowed on a movie star because he/she is pitted against stars of hundreds of countries which are into movie making and the canvass is really huge. Come to think of it, hardly 10 nations play cricket and 4 out of them are docile and pedestrian – that leaves only 6 actives teams in the fray.   Out of close to 200 countries only 10 countries play a sport called Cricket and to consider someone who achieved a distinction of scoring 100 hundreds as GOD is too much of magnanimity.

Sachin – The cricketer

So much is written about Sachin the Cricketer that anything more on that may sound to be repetitive.  What always impressed me the most about Sachin is his work ethics and discipline as a cricketer on and off the field which is exemplary and that is something which everyone should emulate in their respective professions.  As the advertisement tag line goes, he eat cricket, he drank cricket and he slept cricket.  How much his discipline and single minded devotion towards cricket helped him can be gauged from making a comparison between his success and the failure of his childhood friend and contemporary Vinod Kamble.  Being a left-handed batsman, VK was considered to be more stylish and equally prolific to begin with and scored two double centuries at faster clip than Sachin.   But unfortunately see how VK has tripped and could never get up and regain his rightful place, due to his wayward way of living.   Sachin always remained a great family man, sober, grounded and had a matured head over his shoulder which he managed to keep there only.

Sachin – the Records making machine :

In his illustrious career Sachin has broken almost all conceivable records.  Though he was very dominating and absolutely copy book style, many felt that he lacked the spark of Richards and appetite for huge scores like Brain Lara.   If one looks at his various innings he was absolutely dominating till he crossed hundred and laboured after crossing 150 and lost steam once crossed double hundred.   That is the reason even after playing 200 tests triple century eluded him.  The biggest advantage Sachin had was that at his peak the Indian cricket team was playing highest number of tests in a year compared to the days of Don Bradman or even Gavaskar, making it easier for him to accumulate large number of runs.   Unlike his Australian and South African counterparts, Sachin never seemed to be playing for joy and for the benefit of the team rather than be self centric and record oriented.  Sachin has never pardoned Dravid for declaring the innings in the Team interest when he was close to scoring double century.   When Dravid was facilitate by BCCI for his life time achievements, every top cricket turned up for the function but Sachin gave it a miss though the venue in Mumbai was across the street where Sachin was staying.   Sachin had literally laboured towards the end of his career and received flak from many quarters for his lack of form, almost forgetting where his middle stump was and letting all and sundry bowlers sending his middle stump for a walk.   As Imran Khan rightly said the winning stage of the World cup should have been befitting for Sachin to announce his retirement.   But he has his eyes firmly set on 100 hundreds and BCCI was hell bent on giving him chance after chance to achieve this land mark even at the cost of a critical place in the final XI being blocked and sabotaging the winning chances of India team.   Such was the craze and obsession of Sachin for getting his name written in record books. On the subject of retirement Gavaskar once said that a player should retire when people ask `why retire now’ rather than wait for them to ask `why not retire now’ and Sachin has reached the second stage much before his retirement and ultimately it has been announced only after the then tough man of BCCI Sandeep Patil had a open and frank talk with him that either you announce retirement or get dropped from the Team.

Sachin – The Money Making Machine

Along with smashing records Sachin, as a sportsperson has also broke all records in making money through endorsements.   This mad chase behind the money has put Sachin to much of malice.   No one will have any grouse if you wish to make hey while the sun is shining.    But Sachin has miserably failed in showing the same amount of dignity in making money as he did in playing cricket.   This must be something to do with Bombay/Mumbai `hawa paani’  which teaches one `that the whole thing is sub se bada rupayya’.   He chased money as religiously, if not more, as he chased runs and records.  I really do not find anything wrong in anyone making money honestly but one expects some amount of dignity from an iconic person of Sachin stature.   What pained me the most was that when he was sure to be selected in T20 team he found that he was not of right age to play T20 matches for India and opted out.  But very closely following that comes IPL, he found himself to be youthful enough to play for Mumbai Indian team for few seasons simply because Ambani’s could pay him vulgar amounts of money compared to what

BCCI paid for playing in T20 matches.   Sachin not taking pride in representing the country in any form of the game is a crying shame.  Despite the fact he was earning hundreds of crores through endorsements, for importing the Ferrari presented to him he approached Government for special waiver of customs duty which the Government has readily obliged as if it was waiving farmers’ loans.   And it is a pity that he sold the same Ferrari on which he got customs duty exemption and made profit out of it.    One would have expected him to pay back the customs duty exempted even at that time but that weren’t to be.  

In case of a person of Sachin Standing how he spends his money also matters.   No one deny him the right to spend his hard earned money the way he wants but one would expect him to believe in some measure `giving back something to the Society’ which is practically unheard in his case.   You would hardly hear Sachin’s name in any major charity work, either donating his money, or donating his time and goodwill except few Government social welfare advertisement which most of the celebrities do to be in the good books of the Government to be in reckoning for Padma Awards.   One often listen the name of Gautam Ghambir and Viran Kohli when it comes to charity.   Ghambir surely has earned much less compared to Sachin but it is not the question of having deep pocket but larger heart.  

Is Sachin upholding the dignity of Bharat Ratna/Parliament Membership?

An ABSOLUTE NO.   Sachin has been nominated to Rajya Sabha.  But though he is coming to the close of his six year terms his attendance percentage is absolutely pathetic and in single digits.   Less said the better about his participation in debates and moving private motions.   He let go a great opportunity to highlight the plight of non cricketing sports persons, in the Parliament and strive hard to get some bills passed for the welfare of the sports persons.  He could have followed the footsteps of Javed

Aktar.  When a huge hue and cry was made questioning his absenteeism from Parliament sessions, he raised a boggy that his brother was undergoing treatment for heart ailment and wanted to take care of him and applied for leave of absence.   But during the same period  he managed to take time out to go all the way to Vijayawada (in Andhra Pradesh)  to inaugurate a private shop – no marks to guess that it is for hefty fee and not for charity.  

Just take a look at this photo taken at a sales meet of a water purifier company.   Sachin’s leg was put under heavy supporters and it was not easy for him to walk without pain and being helped.   But see his commitment towards `Commercials’.   Mind you this event has happened in Delhi and not in Mumbai and how much of special efforts he has taken to make it to the event.   The same person even when he was in a position to walk and move comfortably had never had the same commitment and interest to attend Parliament.   So he neither thinks himself to be Parliamentarian nor its Brand ambassador.   The handsome allowances and freebies worth lakhs of rupees of the tax payers’ money is no motivator for Sachin to make frequent guest appearances to Parliament.   Sachin and his die hard fans could turn around and say that he has not craved for it nor sought to be nominated, but there is no denying that even if the than Government wanted to nominate him for whatever benefit they were looking at, he had to accept the nomination to be sent to Parliament.   What stopped him from politely refusing the offer saying that he will not be able to devote his time being very busy with his commercial assignments – the way he did in case of representing India in T20 matches?  After being a Parliamentarian  is not such unimportant position to be taken so lightly and in a country of over billion people there is no shortage of talent to represent in Parliament.   For six long years he blocked the seat without doing anything but enjoying the name and fame of being a Parliamentarian and some perqs and lifelong pension.

The biggest controversy of Sachin’s life has been his being conferred Bharat Ratna on the last day in the office, ahead and at the cost of host of more deserving candidates specially Late Major Dhanchand. Unfortunately, cricket crazy fans of India (which includes many decision makers in Government) are blinded to many facts and refuse to acknowledge any sporting contributions beyond cricket, either in team sports like Football and Hockey or individual sports like Badminton, Tennis and Athletics.   How competitive Cricket is, which is played by a mere 10 nations in the world compared to Football, Hockey, Tennis, Badminton and Athletics which are played by hundreds of nations and what is the comparative worth of the achievements in Cricket.   It is like someone scoring 500 points in `Kabbadi’ and if any one does that, can anyone with any degree of sanity suggest that he deserves Bharat Ratna.   If one looks at the illustrious list of recipients of the coveted `Bharat Ratna’ the short Sachin gets further dwarfed.   Most of the Bharat Ratna awardees have put not less than 50 to 60 years of selfless and dedicated service to the nation through their chosen profession and conducted themselves with highest degree of dignity that reverence comes so naturally for them.    Who can take the name of  Sachin in the same breath as the Divinity personified MS Subba Lakshmi, Lata Mangeshkar, Bismilla Khan, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, Sardar Vallabhai Patel, CV Raman, Sarvepalli Radha Krishnana, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Ambedkar, Vinoba Bhave and Abdul Kalam. 

At the least once he was honoured with the highest civilian award, he should have bothered to conduct himself in such a way which behoves being Bharat Ratna.  We still find him in any type of advertisements and as if it is not enough, he sits in the dug outs and designated area for technical staff of `Mumbai

Indians’ IPL team, building the Brand of MI for his masters Ambanis for hefty fee.   He never finds time to devote for any NGOs, sports academies for less privileged budding sportspersons.   He has got so much from the Society but hardly paid anything back to the Society.   How I wish he bothers to take a leaf from Pullela Gopichand who has devoted his entire post retirement life in shaping the future of hundreds of budding badminton players and already produced couple of Olympic medal winners.  It is reported that he reaches his academy at 3:30 am and spends the entire day there personally supervises the progress of top prospects like Saina, Sindhu, Srikant and many more.   He has no other life than his academy.  Sachin, the Bharat Ratna, pales  in comparison with Gopichand.  

I admit that it is no fault of Sachin.   RaGa (whatever thinking capabilities he possess) and the Government at that time thought that they can get sabahi from the billions of cricket crazy` janta’ (which could get converted into votes) on hurriedly conferring Bharat Ratna on Sachin.    May be he is not willing to realise his responsibility as `Bharat Ratna’ and leave any opportunity to make few more bucks by endorsing any product, attending any commercial event, sit out in stands for MI. 

  Returning `Bharat Ratna’ may be disrespectful but surely Sachin can offer to keep his `Bharat Ratna’ in abeyance / suspended for the time being as long as he does not attain the maturity and dignity to handle the most prestigious award.    This way he may be able to redeem some of the lost respect and adulation from millions of fans likes me.

S. Prabhakar

25.5.17