Sachin Tendulkar
It is not about the 30k runs he has pocketed, not about the 90 plus hundreds he has scored, not about topping the ICC ranking charts, but the principles he adhere, that has made people worship Sachin Tendulkar. He commands so much respect in and outside the cricket field. Great talents and good performers are admired and appreciated. But respect is earned more often through the moral values and ethics one possesses inside their system.
It was the headlines of most sports articles a month before “Sachin rejected a one-year deal that is worth Rs 20 crore”. Meanwhile, Dhoni had recently signed a three-year deal with Vijay Mallya’s Liquor brand which worth 26 crores for 3 years. Experts in the commercial endorsement business say it would have been the highest-ever deal for an Indian sportsperson, had Sachin clinched it.
From what I saw in the news channels, it was the promise that he did to his father when he was young that he didn’t want to violate. He didn’t want to promote a liquor brand and spread a wrong message to his fans and team-mates. I feel it was because of the mental strength inside him that he has refused to go down in a path that tends to misguide people. Anything that weakens the health is equivalent to poison, he believes. The magnitude of the money failed to lure him.
What made him resist the temptation of signing what could have been a record-deal? He is aware of the fact that children try to imitate what is done on the screen, fans and supporters heed to what their celebrities do both on and off the field. While most of this generation’s cricketers, I’m afraid, would have agreed to sign the deal, Sachin was as scrupulous as ever in his decision making. Refusing to sign the deal underlines and highlights the value system that Sachin has installed into himself.
Recently Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh were scorned by the Sikhs for featuring and promoting liquor brands, a deed that is considered to be something close to a crime according to their religion. More than what religions say, what books read, what matters is principles we have framed for ourselves.
We often abdicate our value system claiming that we are enjoying life, having fun etc. We consider life is meant to be enjoyed. We adhere to the western countries in what we should not and don’t adhere to them in what we should. Probably we live in an era where, not being bad is equivalent to (and thank god not greater than) being good. We believe everything that was felt as a wrong deed by our predecessors, have come out of superstitions they had and are completely outdated.
I know most of this generation cricketers and even my friends will not subscribe on my view. Sadly, we live under the misconception that whatever we do, come under the category of enjoyment. 2010’s updated dictionaries probably convey the meaning of fun and enjoyment the way it should not! There is only a small line of demarcation that separates the good and the bad, and more often our generation yield to the ostentatiousness of the bad.
Sachin believes in what most of these generation cricketers don’t believe. It is a part of the deal that one must buy into, as one enters into international arena of cricket.’ He has to be good, both inside and outside a cricket field’. It demands a lot of courage in leading such a life. He must endure so many ethical battles. Most of them boil down as a fight between the head and the heart. One’s character is accurately assessed from who wins the duel!
Tags: Cricket, Cricketer, God Of Cricket, India, Sachin Tendulkar
