Sachin can be a friend, philosopher & guide to young players

Kochi: Curtains came down on the most remarkable career in Indian sports history on November 16. The fitting farewell that BCCI had organised for Sachin Tendulkar at Wankhade stadium transcended levels of the sublime as the Master delivered a speech that would have done a statesman proud.

The magnificent oration on Saturday brought out yet another aspect of Tendulkar’s persona as he had never been known or noted for his prowess as a public speaker. However, the contents of his speech and more importantly the manner in which he delivered it revealed the hours of hard work that had gone into its preparation and delivery.

The award of Bharat Ratna within hours of his leaving the international arena turned out to be the proverbial icing on top of the cake.

The question as to what Tendulkar would do next stood uppermost in the minds of his fans and the followers of the game as the farewell function came to a close. He had spent the last three decades of his life living cricket to the exclusion of everything else.

The easy answer would be to say that he should remain attached with the game so that the next generation of players can benefit from his rich experience. But this is easier said than done as avenues available for a former international cricketer at present are neither too many nor really suited for a personality like Tendulkar’s.

Let us examine the paths that former Indian cricketers had chosen till date- some had taken up coaching (Sandeep Patil, Kapil Dev), some had become administrators (Shivlal Yadav, Anil Kumble), some moved into the commentary box (Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri) and some had retained their connection with the game as match officials (Venkataraghavan, Javagal Srinath).

It can be said with a reasonable amount of certainty that Tendulkar would not fancy becoming an umpire or a match referee nor would he be keen on standing for elections for posts in BCCI or Mumbai Cricket Association.

Becoming a commentator appears to be the rage these days as can be seen from the profiles of the worthies’ occupying the commentary box and the fabulous amounts they are rumoured to be  paid to do so. But can any of us picture Tendulkar screaming out “Another ... maximum...” the way some of the former players do these days?

One sincerely hopes that Tendulkar would not reduce himself to this level from the exalted heights where he reigns.

Coaching is one area that Tendulkar is eminently qualified to do given his long years in the game at the highest levels.

However if we take the history of cricket coaches at the international level it can be seen that players with average or mediocre record have been more successful in this area than successful stars.

Kapil Dev had a very forgettable innings as coach of Indian side, as did Greg Chappell, while John Wright and Gary Kirsten, both cricketers with lesser ability and poorer record were much more successful.

If one looks at other countries also one will find a similar pattern. The most successful coaches have been Dave Whatmore, who played less than 10 tests and Bob Woolmer, whose international record is also equally ordinary. So history is firmly stacked against brilliant players becoming successful coaches and this fact alone may persuade Tendulkar to stay away from this line.
Thus it becomes evident that the paths taken up by lesser mortals would not suit Tendulkar.

Playing the mentor of an IPL side would not place any demands either on the time or experience at his disposal. It would require a novel project where he can play the role of a friend, philosopher and guide to young players with talent that would challenge a person of his calibre.

This would involve selecting a group of 20-25 young players from all over the country, providing them the best practice facilities and giving them opportunities for taking part in matches all over the world to improve their game, character and temperament, all under the supervision and tutelage of Tendulkar.

His name and involvement would give the team an automatic recognition and approval along with opening the required doors and purse-strings for making available necessary resources for kick-starting the scheme.

Once the project takes off it can set up zonal or state-level offshoots to increase the cover of its umbrella and bring within its fold more deserving cricketers. Such a project would benefit the game and the players and also help Tendulkar to contribute substantively to the development of the game and nurturing of new talent.

Tendulkar has scaled peaks of popularity not achieved before by any Indian sportsperson ever. Hence there would be plenty of interest about his next course of action which would be subjected to intense public and media scrutiny.

Given the exemplary manner in which he has conducted himself till date one can be certain that Tendulkar would devote himself to the next task that he takes on himself with the same amount of discipline, dedication and intensity that made him a national icon.

(The author is  Commissioner of Customs Kochi and former ICC umpire)