For over two decades, Sachin Tendulkar has been used to carrying the burden of expectations of the entire nation on his shoulders. When he got stuck on 99 international hundreds, the pressure of scoring that one hundred became unbearable. How heavy that burden of expectations was could be judged by what Tendulkar felt while batting against Pakistan on Sunday.
"It was different, different in the sense that the thought of 'that' (100th 100) was not there!"
He was indeed relaxed during that knock of 52 which brought back the retirement question: Where do you go from here? "As I said before, I am enjoying it out there. The fact is, even today, I just can't wait to get out on the park. Yes, I need to understand now when I need to go and how long to stay."
Tendulkar pointed out that all through last year he was batting well. "To be honest, the way I batted in Australia was one of the best in my life. In the first three Tests my feet moved really, really well. I felt wonderful about my footwork and I played with a lot of freedom. I was always in the zone. Unfortunately, I couldn't convert my knocks into big scores. Despite feeling good and batting well, I was missing out. It was a testing time for me. I felt, maybe it is God's wish. I kept trying."
As Tendulkar soaked in the pressure all by himself, his wife, Anjali, and other family members silently shared his agony. "My family has sacrificed immensely. Without them things wouldn't have been the same. That I spend so much time away from them is a huge sacrifice on their part. The milestone added huge pressure on the family as well. My mother, wife, children, brothers and sisters were all deeply concerned about my health and mental well-being but they never shared it with me."
There was no apparent reason to explain the year-long century drought though. "The journey to my 100th hundred became really tough with every game that I played. The expectations just kept growing. It was something I never experienced before in my career," he says.
Tendulkar also dismissed allegations that he picks and chooses his tours. "People said all kinds of things when I didn't go to the West Indies. But I did it only because I wanted to spend some time with my family. I had been playing for 12 months before that and, if I hadn't taken that break, I would have had to wait another 12 months. It would have meant I had to be away from the family for 24 months which would have been very long. Also, my children had school holidays, so I approached the BCCI and they graciously agreed."
Soon after the West Indies tour came the tour of England and all the talk there was about Tendulkar's 100th ton instead of the clash between two top Test teams. "People talked about only one thing. It frustrated me,"
Like everyone else, Tendulkar too believed there were four or five occasions when he thought he could have scored a hundred. "In England, at the Oval, where I made 91, I thought it was going to happen because I was very much in control. Also, during the Mumbai Test (he made 94) against the West Indies, and in Melbourne (he made 73) and Sydney (he scored 80) recently in Australia. It pushed me mentally but, somehow, I couldn't get to the landmark."
© Times of India
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