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Sachin still remains an ambassador of cricket

Sachin Tendulkar made his Test debut at 16 and played 20 of his first 21 Tests on foreign soil. If his 50 Test hundreds lends a new dimension to his stature as a grown-up, the above piece of information gives an idea why he was referred to as a Boy Wonder. Sachin averaged 38 in those 21 Tests with four hundreds and five half-centuries. And the tours included Pakistan, New Zealand, England, Australia and South Africa. If there ever was a single statistic indicating a players promise, it was this.What we are watching now is fulfillment of that promise in abundance - such a rarity in a quirky world. There are some compelling arguments in favour of Sachin being the most complete batsman. Giving marks to each type of shotmaking (from the straight drive to paddle sweep; and from defensive dot to a cheeky single), the sum of Sachin will be greater than any other batsman of the TV era. Flexibility is the greatest test of any art. And Sachin, like the tabla wizard Zakir Hussain, scores heavily here. Sachin can play different gharanas with the bat: ruthless like Lara (see his ODI double hundred vs SA in Gwalior, Feb 2010); the swagger of Viv Richards (98 vs Pakistan, Centurion, World Cup 2003), the technique and grit of Sunil Gavaskar (136, Chennai Test vs Pak,1999), the doggedness and control of Steve Waugh (241*,Sydney,vs Aus,2004) and the poetry of Mark Waugh (several knocks in Sharjah). Most importantly, he had scored an unbeaten winning hundred (103) in the fourth innings against England in Chennai Test in 2008. Sachin is also a great mix of science (back and across movement etc), arts (playing the backfoot drive between point and cover better than anyone along with the variations of the paddle sweeps) and, of course, accumulation (commerce)! In a sport where a batsman's existence in a match hangs on one or two wicket-taking balls, his art of surviving uneasy moments at the crease is simply legendary. Coaches may cry themselves hoarse about processes and techniques (we have to concentrate on the correct process, results will follow ) based on their academic level, but Sachin has made it alarmingly practical. He takes signals from his brain and body, and translates them into processes which in turn are converted into runs. Not surprising, then, he is fond of auto racing which works on the man and machine principle. When a person gets a stage all for himself, his basic choice of expression boils down to two things: Expression of talent and expression of content. That is playing to the gallery and playing for the team. And content is nothing but talent projected in a mature, systematic way. Among all great batsmen of the TV era, Sachin seems to shift between these two things effortlessly. Rather than impulsive switch hit, he concentrates on switch on and switch off technique while batting. You can attach a style tag to most legendary batsman of TV era. But Sachin has showed many facets of his craft. He could be a big brand and endorsing many products. But at heart, he remains an ambassador of batsmanship.

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