Sach a power - Still...

What would life be if I could unwind myself and go back? Say, 13 years.

I would still be going to my school in my half-trousers.

My fingers would still be a computer virgin.

I would not have known base tracks about trigonometry.

Petrol would have been 23 rupees in India.

Sachin Tendulkar would have kept my bottoms on a chair for 50 overs.

13 years on, in the present, the last entry in this list still held good.

On the fifth of November 2009, in Hyderabad, history was being made, again, by the little monster Sachin.

The action pulsating and riveting, never once bordering on insanity, Sachin managed to soar above the other 21 mortals on the ground, onto a pedastal upon which only he could dream thriving. The poetry of the innings was so breath taking, for a moment I was reminded of the song 'Loose Yourself' by 'Eminem'.

So complete was this innings, that it reminded me of every phase of his career over the last two decades.

There was the grit of the 16 year old from Faisalabad(1989).

There was the urgency of the 19 year old from Perth(1992).

The defiance of the 24 year old in Cape Town(1997).

There was the hunger of the 25 year old from Sharjah(1998).

The 30 year old rampaging man from Centurion(2003).

The 35 year old cautious veteran from Chennai(2008).

But, as fate would have it, what finally stayed etched in our minds was none of these flashes from the past. As he scooped the ball into the waiting hands of fine leg, as Jadeja and Praveen Kumar enacted the unbelievable run outs, as India stood inches from the finishing line of a marathon, one particular moment silhouetted itself in front of my mind's eyes. The defeated man from Chennai 1999.

As he looked on, forlorn and choked for words at the presentation, there were only profanities on my lips for every single person who blamed him for not crossing the last three inches (read as runs).

Time stood still. No, that was when it moved back 13 years and took me back with it.

Not only was Sachin the only one left standing between Australia and a defeat, his other 10 teammates were egging Australia on, to victory.

With an ache in my heart, I realized that if somehow I could have bribed the scorer to add another 4 runs on the Indian side of the board, I would have.

P.S: This entry was written around ten days back. Bear my lethargy.

An earlier publishing of the entry would have made more relevance to the context than today.