‘Sachin enriched Indian cricket like none other’

What is the one feature he would pick out amidst all his great and good qualities that are being praised in the course of his farewell Test match? “He adapted. He changed his thinking,” Kapil pointed out. “It’s amazing, who would have thought that he would go on for so many years. Here I must add that motivation was not lacking as he grew older because the team had such quality players coming into it — Dravid and Ganguly, then Laxman, Sehwag, Gambhir and Dhoni. It would have been much harder without them. Yet, 200 Tests are all the more remarkable considering he missed about 20 because of injuries. Who could have asked for more?”

He had been critical of Sachin just a few years ago when he said he was most disappointed that Sachin is not raising the tempo after getting to a Test century. Is he changing that opinion now? “Oh no. I remember distinctly that Op-Ed piece I wrote in Deccan Chronicle where I said Sachin would have been a true great had he pushed on after 100 to get runs more quickly. I think he took after Sunil Gavaskar in that, how Sunny would take guard again at 100 and grind on,” he pointed out.

“Cricket has changed, today it is totally different. You have to be aggressive. I think Sachin learnt all that. Unlike Sunny, he was not obsessed with Mumbai cricket since the team itself was beginning to slip below its old standards. Sachin accepted that and the pressure was far less on him because of that. These are the two helpful trends in his career that helped. The understanding that there was a need for aggression and the focus on national team performance,” Kapil continued.

Has modern aggression not helped Team India become formidable today to the extent that the team will not miss Sachin the batsman, maybe the persona of Sachin’s presence in the dressing room more? “True. I don’t have to think too much to predict that Virat Kohli will overtake Sachin’s tally of 49 ODI centuries. Such batsmen are in a different league. Look at Sehwag. My point against Dravid is also that. Consider how much time Dravid took to reach say 8,000 runs and compare it to the time Sehwag took to get there. My point is if you are waiting at the crease you are leaving yourself exposed to more risk.

“You need to be extra aggressive in the modern game as people want to see teams win. And the expectations of an Indian win are far more,” Kapil explained.

Where would he put Sachin’s place in history? “Truly the finest batsman I have seen or bowled to. I know Brian Lara was there to whom I bowled even before he played Test cricket, so many Australians, South African greats and English batsmen, and the Pakistani giants of a previous era in the 70s and 80s. There may have been more aggressive players than Sachin in Tests but in ODIs he was a champion. But even his 200 in an ODI proved my point — that he is capable of all this and should have speeded up his tempo before he realised the need. I can’t be seen carping at this point of time when he is leaving the game but as a cricketer I am just trying to put things in the right perspective,” he elaborated.

“Sachin enriched Indian cricket like none other,” Kapil Dev said in a parting tribute to the Little Master.