Thursday, November 14, 2013
At 90, Tendulkar's greatest fan heads to Wankhede today
Age and frail health are no match for the enthusiasm of Mary Serrao, as she gets set to travel from her Malad home to Wankhede stadium today to watch her idol Sachin Tendulkar bat in his final Test
Margarita Serrao (90) aims to defy age and health as she makes her way to the North Stand of the Wankhede Stadium today. Margarita, or Mary as she is known, is Sachin Tendulkar’s most ardent fan. This Malad resident has a ticket to Sachin’s 200th Test and, nothing, she says, would stop her from seeing Sachin batting today.
All smiles: Mary Serrao proudly displays her ticket to Sachin’s 200th Test. Pic/Amit Jadhav
Aamir postpones 'Dhoom 3' event to watch Sachin Tendulkar bat
Seems like Bollywood has been engulfed by the Sachin mania.
With several film personalities taking time out to make sure they get to view the Master Blaster in action for the last time, Aamir Khan was no exception.
Photos: Celebs catch Sachin's swansong match at Wankhede
Aamir Khan at Wankhede stadium yesterday for the India-West Indies Test match. Pic/Atul Kamble
From left: Ravi Shastri, Aamir Khan and Harsha Bhogle at Wankhede stadium yesterday
The informer adds, “He also requested Dhoom 3 producer Aditya Chopra to postpone the event. He wanted to stay put at the stadium till the match got over. So he requested that the event start at 6 pm.”
Aamir was spotted happily clicking pictures of his favourite batsman at the stadium.
He also entered the commentary box and spoke about Sachin as well as his film Lagaan which revolved around cricket.
Remembering Sachin Tendulkar's first England tours
Kailash Gattani not only toiled on some unfriendly Indian wickets
to claim 396 first-class wickets, he also helped young cricketers
experience English conditions.
Kailash Gattani
He contributed in a way to making Sachin Tendulkar a finished product
before he was picked for India in 1989. After his exploits for
Rajasthan, the then Mumbai-based Gattani became famous for successfully
managing young teams to England under the Star Cricket Club banner.
Tendulkar, who was part of Gattani’s 1988 and 1989 teams, made full use of the opportunities and thrived. From his Pune home, Gattani informed us yesterday that Tendulkar was sponsored by the Young Cricketers organisation in Kolkata, where Jyotsna Poddar took keen interest.
“The cost of the airfare was Rs 13,600. I remember Sachin’s father and mother coming to the airport to drop him alongwith his brothers Ajit and Nitin. For a 15-year-old boy, he had such a mature head on his shoulders,” said the 66-year-old former fast bowler.
The kid was not just obsessed with batting. “There came a time when I had to tell him that he would not play all the games. If he was not playing in a particular match, he would coax his teammates who were fielding, to come in for a break, so that he could field.
Sachin Tendulkar (kneeling with hand on chin) with the 1988 Star Cricket Club team at Lord’s. Kailash Gattani is standing on the extreme right. Pic courtesy: Rahul Sagar’s collection
And when he had
no option but to stay away from the field, he would be a scorer. You
could tell the difference between the others and him in this aspect too.
His inscriptions were neatly written. Everything in his kit bag was
neatly kept as well,” said Gattani.
Super ton
The highlight of the 1989 tour was Tendulkar’s 77-ball century against Haywards Heath CC which had future SA pacer Meyrick Pringle, who was quick.
“In one of the matches, Sachin batted very well to score 60.
He was all set for a big score but was caught at extra cover. He just stood at the crease in disbelief before sitting in one corner of the dressing room and brooding. After a while, he asked me where he had gone wrong and I told him that he had played a bit too soon on the rise. Mind you, he never got out in that fashion again on the tour.
Glass act
“He loved batting against the bowling machine. If I remember correctly, once Vinod Kambli set the machine to deliver balls at 100 kmph at a school ground and Tendulkar hit a ball across the road, breaking a window pane of a cottage.
The sound of glass breaking alerted everyone in the locality and the locals threatened to take the matter up with the principal. Being visitors, we were scared and I had to shell out 10 pounds to fix the broken window,” he recalled.
At the end of the 1989 tour, Gattani told his English friends, who were impressed by Tendulkar, that the batsman would not be part of his tours again: “I told them that this boy will come with the Indian team now.
They didn’t believe me. When Sachin got a Test century at Manchester a year later in 1990, the same people called me to ask whether this was the same ‘Tendollkar.’ I pulled a fast one on them and said it was his brother. I finally gave up the joke and said, ‘yes indeed. Same kid.’ ”
After cricket, the cars!
Kailash Gattani recalled that young Sachin Tendulkar was amazed at the different types of cars zooming across the roads of England during those two Star Cricket Club tours in 1988 and 1989.
Vinod Kambli (left) with Sachin Tendulkar with two of their 1989 Star Cricket Club teammates. Pic courtesy: ‘The making of a Cricketer’ By Ajit Tendulkar
Gattani drove a Mercedes car whenever he
was not in the team bus (also a Mercedes), driven by Les Wood, an umpire
whom he befriended during his playing days in the Durham League.
Kailash Gattani
Tendulkar, who was part of Gattani’s 1988 and 1989 teams, made full use of the opportunities and thrived. From his Pune home, Gattani informed us yesterday that Tendulkar was sponsored by the Young Cricketers organisation in Kolkata, where Jyotsna Poddar took keen interest.
“The cost of the airfare was Rs 13,600. I remember Sachin’s father and mother coming to the airport to drop him alongwith his brothers Ajit and Nitin. For a 15-year-old boy, he had such a mature head on his shoulders,” said the 66-year-old former fast bowler.
The kid was not just obsessed with batting. “There came a time when I had to tell him that he would not play all the games. If he was not playing in a particular match, he would coax his teammates who were fielding, to come in for a break, so that he could field.
Sachin Tendulkar (kneeling with hand on chin) with the 1988 Star Cricket Club team at Lord’s. Kailash Gattani is standing on the extreme right. Pic courtesy: Rahul Sagar’s collection
Super ton
The highlight of the 1989 tour was Tendulkar’s 77-ball century against Haywards Heath CC which had future SA pacer Meyrick Pringle, who was quick.
“In one of the matches, Sachin batted very well to score 60.
He was all set for a big score but was caught at extra cover. He just stood at the crease in disbelief before sitting in one corner of the dressing room and brooding. After a while, he asked me where he had gone wrong and I told him that he had played a bit too soon on the rise. Mind you, he never got out in that fashion again on the tour.
Glass act
“He loved batting against the bowling machine. If I remember correctly, once Vinod Kambli set the machine to deliver balls at 100 kmph at a school ground and Tendulkar hit a ball across the road, breaking a window pane of a cottage.
The sound of glass breaking alerted everyone in the locality and the locals threatened to take the matter up with the principal. Being visitors, we were scared and I had to shell out 10 pounds to fix the broken window,” he recalled.
At the end of the 1989 tour, Gattani told his English friends, who were impressed by Tendulkar, that the batsman would not be part of his tours again: “I told them that this boy will come with the Indian team now.
They didn’t believe me. When Sachin got a Test century at Manchester a year later in 1990, the same people called me to ask whether this was the same ‘Tendollkar.’ I pulled a fast one on them and said it was his brother. I finally gave up the joke and said, ‘yes indeed. Same kid.’ ”
After cricket, the cars!
Kailash Gattani recalled that young Sachin Tendulkar was amazed at the different types of cars zooming across the roads of England during those two Star Cricket Club tours in 1988 and 1989.
Vinod Kambli (left) with Sachin Tendulkar with two of their 1989 Star Cricket Club teammates. Pic courtesy: ‘The making of a Cricketer’ By Ajit Tendulkar
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Tendulkar's farewell match
Squat, visored knight, armoured in storied deeds, Uses his bat's butt-end to shift his box,Takes guard, gardens for invisible weeds,Looks up, thanks Dad, ignores two wheeling hawksNo higher in their heaven than him on turf…Buoyed by devotion's thermals, desis surf.A hundred runs, two hundred, maybe three,Will help delete the demi from their godGive us this day a valedictoryExplosion, oh, let Bombay's sacred sodBe his last proving ground, his portal,To that rare rank: Certified Immortal.Immortals can't cite age as their excuse,Swansongs must scale the summits of their pomp;To fail is to invite unhinged abuseFrom second-hand men who dimly rompThrough heroes' lives and will go starkly madWithout that brilliant youth we never had.
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Dangerous pitches, and a first-ball six
They say if you were good enough to survive in the top division of
Mumbai's Kanga Memorial Cricket League, the Ranji Trophy would turn out
to be a piece of cake.
The Kanga League, a club tournament, has a storied history. Wet, uncovered pitches, matches in the rain, tall grass in the outfield, and no helmets meant the conditions favour bowlers as heavily as they do batsmen in the modern international game.
Sachin Tendulkar
made his Kanga League debut at age 11 in the G division, in 1984, for
the John Bright Cricket Club. Ramakant Achrekar, Tendulkar's coach, was
so confident of his abilities that he told John Bright's owners that
Tendulkar would only be available for a year.
"He will be playing higher-level cricket next year," Achrekar told Sharad Kotnis and Prakash Kelkar, who had asked the coach to allow the young batsman, who was attending summer-camp nets, to play for their club.
John Bright was originally a recreational cricket club owned by a Parsi family from Dahanu, 140km north of Bombay. The family travelled on weekends to play Kanga League matches, stopping in the suburb of Borivali on their way in for an update on the status of weather in South Bombay. It was on one of these stopovers in 1983 that Kotnis and Kelkar bought the club from the Parsi family with the idea of promoting young cricketers who could then progress to play for Kotnis' other club, Shivaji Park Youngsters, which played in the higher division. The new John Bright was restructured to feature six to seven senior cricketers and four or five young players, who the seniors could mentor.
"The Kanga League was dangerous, but that was a test for these boys," says Kelkar, an administrator with the Mumbai Cricket Association for more than 30 years. "Not everyone was selected to play, these were special boys. These guys played with tennis or cork balls, so their movement of feet was so good, they become strong to play [with the] season ball."
The 11-year-old Tendulkar showed remarkable ability to defend on those
treacherous pitches, according to Nadeem Memon, one of the senior
players in the side.
For the next three years, Tendulkar batted and batted and batted. There were no rest days. He rode pillion on Achrekar's scooter from ground to ground, and team to team. From John Bright CC, he graduated to Sassanian CC, then to Shivaji Park Youngsters, changing schools to concentrate on cricket, giving bowlers false hope with his small frame, but then flattening them with powerful assaults. Whether it was the Kanga League, Police Shield, Purshottam Shield, Times Shield, age-group cricket or school tournaments, Tendulkar collected runs like a well-oiled machine.
In a Purshottam Shield match in 1987, he scored an outstanding 70-odd against a Cricket Club of India side that featured Madhav Apte, the former India batsman who was the president of the CCI at the time. The CCI was already following Tendulkar's rise, especially after he hit five consecutive hundreds in the Giles Shield. His inclusion in the premier club was discussed by the club's cricket committee.
"In the case of Tendulkar, it was very clear that he would play for a club Ramakant Achrekar wanted him to play for," says Hemant Kenkre, Tendulkar's first captain at CCI. "If he should play or not play for CCI was eventually Achrekar's decision."
Tendulkar had a lot to gain at the club. Firstly, CCI was an A-division club with direct entry to the top divisions of all the Mumbai tournaments. Secondly, inclusion by the CCI would have allowed Tendulkar to develop his game further in international-class facilities at the Brabourne Stadium. The pitches at Brabourne were carefully curated, unlike the up-and-down ones in the maidans, which, although they tested the batsmen, were also thought to be the source of faulty techniques among players. Thirdly, the club would allow Tendulkar access to mentors such as Dilip Sardesai, Hanumant Singh and Milind Rege.
But Tendulkar needed to overcome a technicality to play for the club. Minors - under the age of 18 - were not allowed into the main clubhouse at CCI that housed the player dressing rooms in the '80s. Tendulkar was 15 and thanks to Apte, an exception was made to allow him into the clubhouse. The ruling is still in place and Tendulkar is the only cricketer for whom an exception was made.
The bowler, Sharad Rao, was known to be a difficult medium pacer, who played first-class cricket for Karnataka. Kenkre remembers how that first delivery was lofted straight over Rao's head for a six with so much ease it was hard to believe it came off a 15-year-old's bat. It was as straight as it could have been, "in the line of the stumps".
In another match later that season, Kenkre remembers the team was struggling and messages were sent out to Tendulkar to not do anything stupid. Tendulkar defended till lunch but asked permission to play naturally in the afternoon session as he was uncomfortable playing the waiting game. In the three overs after lunch, he changed the complexion of the match with a calculated attack on the bowlers. His aggression rubbed off on the batsmen who followed.
"He turned the Bombay style of batting on its head," says Kenkre. "Before that, if you lofted the ball as a batsman, the coaches used to get upset about why you want to take the risk. But that is the beauty of Achrekar. He allowed Tendulkar to play that way."
As early as his first season with CCI, there were many across Bombay who believed Tendulkar would play for India. As Kenkre puts it, "Tendulkar could have played for any unknown club and still made it big, he was so good. From the first day, it was very clear that this guy was destined for greatness. Unless he messed it up himself."
The Kanga League, a club tournament, has a storied history. Wet, uncovered pitches, matches in the rain, tall grass in the outfield, and no helmets meant the conditions favour bowlers as heavily as they do batsmen in the modern international game.
Tendulkar in 1988: a run-ogre © Unknown
"He will be playing higher-level cricket next year," Achrekar told Sharad Kotnis and Prakash Kelkar, who had asked the coach to allow the young batsman, who was attending summer-camp nets, to play for their club.
John Bright was originally a recreational cricket club owned by a Parsi family from Dahanu, 140km north of Bombay. The family travelled on weekends to play Kanga League matches, stopping in the suburb of Borivali on their way in for an update on the status of weather in South Bombay. It was on one of these stopovers in 1983 that Kotnis and Kelkar bought the club from the Parsi family with the idea of promoting young cricketers who could then progress to play for Kotnis' other club, Shivaji Park Youngsters, which played in the higher division. The new John Bright was restructured to feature six to seven senior cricketers and four or five young players, who the seniors could mentor.
"The Kanga League was dangerous, but that was a test for these boys," says Kelkar, an administrator with the Mumbai Cricket Association for more than 30 years. "Not everyone was selected to play, these were special boys. These guys played with tennis or cork balls, so their movement of feet was so good, they become strong to play [with the] season ball."
The 11-year-old Tendulkar showed remarkable ability to defend on those
treacherous pitches, according to Nadeem Memon, one of the senior
players in the side.
For the next three years, Tendulkar batted and batted and batted. There were no rest days. He rode pillion on Achrekar's scooter from ground to ground, and team to team. From John Bright CC, he graduated to Sassanian CC, then to Shivaji Park Youngsters, changing schools to concentrate on cricket, giving bowlers false hope with his small frame, but then flattening them with powerful assaults. Whether it was the Kanga League, Police Shield, Purshottam Shield, Times Shield, age-group cricket or school tournaments, Tendulkar collected runs like a well-oiled machine.
In a Purshottam Shield match in 1987, he scored an outstanding 70-odd against a Cricket Club of India side that featured Madhav Apte, the former India batsman who was the president of the CCI at the time. The CCI was already following Tendulkar's rise, especially after he hit five consecutive hundreds in the Giles Shield. His inclusion in the premier club was discussed by the club's cricket committee.
"In the case of Tendulkar, it was very clear that he would play for a club Ramakant Achrekar wanted him to play for," says Hemant Kenkre, Tendulkar's first captain at CCI. "If he should play or not play for CCI was eventually Achrekar's decision."
Tendulkar had a lot to gain at the club. Firstly, CCI was an A-division club with direct entry to the top divisions of all the Mumbai tournaments. Secondly, inclusion by the CCI would have allowed Tendulkar to develop his game further in international-class facilities at the Brabourne Stadium. The pitches at Brabourne were carefully curated, unlike the up-and-down ones in the maidans, which, although they tested the batsmen, were also thought to be the source of faulty techniques among players. Thirdly, the club would allow Tendulkar access to mentors such as Dilip Sardesai, Hanumant Singh and Milind Rege.
But Tendulkar needed to overcome a technicality to play for the club. Minors - under the age of 18 - were not allowed into the main clubhouse at CCI that housed the player dressing rooms in the '80s. Tendulkar was 15 and thanks to Apte, an exception was made to allow him into the clubhouse. The ruling is still in place and Tendulkar is the only cricketer for whom an exception was made.
“
"He turned the Bombay style of batting on its head"
One of Tendulkar's first captains, Hemant Kenkre
In July 1988, Tendulkar was included in the squad for a match against
Karnatak Sports Association for CCI's Kanga League match at Cross
maidan. He walked in at No. 4, as Achrekar had insisted. At the other
end was Kenkre, CCI's captain for the match, and he knew that in the
Kanga League "the mud hits your face before the ball does".
One of Tendulkar's first captains, Hemant Kenkre
The bowler, Sharad Rao, was known to be a difficult medium pacer, who played first-class cricket for Karnataka. Kenkre remembers how that first delivery was lofted straight over Rao's head for a six with so much ease it was hard to believe it came off a 15-year-old's bat. It was as straight as it could have been, "in the line of the stumps".
In another match later that season, Kenkre remembers the team was struggling and messages were sent out to Tendulkar to not do anything stupid. Tendulkar defended till lunch but asked permission to play naturally in the afternoon session as he was uncomfortable playing the waiting game. In the three overs after lunch, he changed the complexion of the match with a calculated attack on the bowlers. His aggression rubbed off on the batsmen who followed.
"He turned the Bombay style of batting on its head," says Kenkre. "Before that, if you lofted the ball as a batsman, the coaches used to get upset about why you want to take the risk. But that is the beauty of Achrekar. He allowed Tendulkar to play that way."
As early as his first season with CCI, there were many across Bombay who believed Tendulkar would play for India. As Kenkre puts it, "Tendulkar could have played for any unknown club and still made it big, he was so good. From the first day, it was very clear that this guy was destined for greatness. Unless he messed it up himself."
Tendulkar and his bats
Like every top-class batsman, Sachin Tendulkar is particular about his
bats. Veteran cricket journalist Sunandan Lele, who has known him for 25
years, says: "One of Sachin's favourite pastimes is to switch on music,
put on his earphones, and sit with a bat in his hand, fiddling with its
grip or knocking on it with a mallet. He carries his own toolkit and if
he is on his own in a room, he is bound to be working on his bat like
it is some piece of art."
And the number of grips he would like to have.
A lot of fuss is made about cricket balls, but for a batsman, the right bat is like being comfortable in your own skin.
He has to see what the grain feels like.
But when you are a run-machine like Tendulkar, you can't prevent your bat from looking cherry-kissed.
There are times, however, when even legendary batsmen will happily trade their bat for a guitar. Tendulkar and his wife meet Dire Straits lead guitarist Mark Knopfler in Mumbai in 2005. Dire Straits was one of Tendulkar's favourite bands growing up.
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