Cricket in England started gaining popularity in the 18th century and the first recognized cricket match was played in 1844 while the term "Test Cricket" was recognized in 1877. It became more and more popular in the 19th and 20th centuries as globalization happened and cricket was adapted by many countries. But, for more than a hundred years, cricket was mere sport (although for many it is still just another sport but for many Indians and people abroad it's different).
On April 24, 1973, in the family of renowned Marathi novelist Ramesh Tendulkar, a boy named Sachin was born. He was made for cricket and cricket was made for him. We all know the different stories about Sachin as a schoolboy cricketer and how Vinod Kambli and he made a record partnership in the prestigious Bombay school cricket tournament, Harris Shield. He was different from the beginning. A lot of people are gifted but not can use the gift properly. Sachin wasn't one of them. He wanted to become a cricketer (his brother Ajit wanted too). He was perhaps really lucky to be coached by the great Ramakant Achrekar.
In November 1989, when a really hyped Sachin Tendulkar made his test debut at 16, many believed his international career to be short-lived and so did he. Playing along with the Shastris and the Devs and playing against Imran Khan's Pakistan wasn't easy for a debutant and as we all know he didn't have the greatest start to his international career. It took him some time to settle him but the way he settled, he owned cricket for all the years he played. The fairytale of 100 100s wasn't something that started on Day 1 of his career. He almost took 2 years to manage a century and post that he didn't stop. Sachin's career is not just another career. There have been many great cricketers in the Indian team as well as other teams but Sachin was different. And, this is not just my opinion but the legends of the game who played with and against him always say this.
Such was his impact on the game that when India got eliminated in the group stage of the 2007 world cup, the world said "Sachin Tendulkar lost an opportunity to lift a world cup", not team India. In 2011, when India finally won the trophy, every member proudly said that they finally made Sachin's dream come true. I haven't seen any sportsperson making such an impact on a sport. A young Virat Kohli said something very beautiful that Sachin has lifted the country for more than 20 years and now it's their time to life him while giving him a lap of honor. In 2013, when he finally ended his career, he wasn't playing as good as he used to throughout his career, still the world him to continue playing.
When Shane Warne in 1998 said that Sachin smashes him in his dreams and all of us saw the banner "Cricket is my religion, Sachin is my God", the world knew that the sport has changed forever. His impact actually brought a lot of financial benefits to the board. Cricketers started getting special treatment (which is at times unfair to other Sports), they became the face of Advertisements. All of it used to happen before Sachin's arrival but he was the icing on the cake. Matthew Hayden, whom I along with many others consider the best opener 21st century witnessed says Sachin Tendulkar is the god of cricket. Virender Sehwag's none of the sentences are complete without mentioning Sachin's impact on his career. Post Sachin Tendulkar's arrival in the Indian cricket, many newborns were named Sachin. More and more kids started playing cricket, the sport garnered a lot of following because India finally had someone who ruled the sport (not disrespecting the others in the Fab 4 or Mr.Gavaskar or the other greats, but Sachin was different).
I'll not start mentioning his stats to prove his legacy as the world already knows all of it. Harsha Bhogle said, "Sachin, you were a great habit", cricket has definitely changed for a lot of Indians post his retirement.
Our favorite Zakir Khan once said, "SUNO, SACHIN SAB KA BAAP HAI", and yes he wasn't wrong.
P.S. Happy 47th Sachin!!
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