Just what is it that endears Sachin Tendulkar to crowds and cognoscenti alike Down Under?
Australians are among the most overtly competitive people on the planet. Sport defines their approach to competition: it has rules and teams, it demands focus and self-confidence. It entails an intense desire and will to win; it needs an abundance of skill, stamina, courage and perseverance. Indeed, these are the qualities Sachin Tendulkar has come to define for Australians among others. And in so doing, he has come to represent an unreachable ideal. Here is a man not susceptible to human failing in any endeavour, a man not so much invincible as invulnerable.
Has Tendulkar unwittingly, albeit beautifully, massacred anyone else's chances to be held so reverently in the future? Just what it is about Tendulkar that the Australians so love? The reasons have as much to do with Australia as with the man himself.
A nation that feeds off the deeds of its sportspersons, Australia has always welcomed the talented with open arms. It was the same years ago, when a youngster, the 18-year-old Sachin Tendulkar, arrived on his maiden voyage and returned with two spectacular centuries, leaving behind impressions that still endure in the minds of the natives. It is almost as if they have adopted him as one of their own. There have been other visiting champions during this age, such as Brian Lara of the West Indies, but none has attracted quite the sort of rapturous applause that has greeted Tendulkar every time he has walked out onto a cricket ground in Australia. Australians are also fascinated by Tendulkar's status in India. Australian cricketers are hugely popular in their own country, but they do not need protection from their fans in the fashion Tendulkar does. His fame, to them, makes him an emblem of Indian extremity and exoticism.
His modesty is a bit old-fashioned these days and appeals to many Australians. The Australians have an image of being tough, very self-confident sportsmen, but most of the public there still prefer the modest champion. Humility and civility have followed him all his life. Australians like the humble, the laconic, no-complaining types, which Tendulkar is. He stands out in that regard.
There is also the matter of two ringing endorsements, delivered by Australian greats. When Tendulkar was at his peak in the mid-to-late-1990s, one day Sir Don Bradman called his wife Jessie to the television set and said how he could see himself in the young man he was watching play on the screen. Then Warne, talking about his contests with the Indian, said Tendulkar gave him "nightmares".
Mark Taylor, another Australian captain who played against Tendulkar and has been an admirer from the day he first watched him play, thinks the Bradman compliment was a major head-turner. "Suddenly people thought; Hold on, you don't have the Sir Don saying things just like that."
Taylor also points out that part of the admiration has to do with the sheer amount of runs Tendulkar has made in Australia. Six of Tendulkar's 41 Test centuries have come in Australia, each worth its own photo album. When he goes in, he watches the ball till the end. Then it all -- the ego, the courage, the belief, the work at nets, the eyes, the hands, and the strength -- coalesces. And he makes magic. Tendulkar's dazzling array of strokes make him the icon that he is but it's his consolidation skills that make him revered. Tendulkar attempts to not only survive but dominate. It will be edge-of-your-seat stuff. If Laxman loves batting in Australia, Tendulkar seems obsessed with it.
Tendulkar came to Australia for the 1991-92 series as an impressionable youngster. His legend was already on the way to being established, thanks to the world record he had set with Vinod Kambli in school cricket. When he arrived in Australia, people wanted to see the young phenomenon. People loved him then because he seemed to be still a boy but played brilliantly. Ravi Shastri, a team-mate at the time, recalls how Tendulkar, even on his first Australian tour, wanted to take the fight to the Aussies. "We were at the SCG and the contest was getting heated. Both of us were batting well and the Aussies were shooting sledges from all directions. I told him that I would take care of them while he focused on his batting. He was mentally charged. I still remember him saying, 'Let me get past my 100, then I will give it back'. Let me point out again that he said he wanted to get to the century and only then would he distract himself." Tendulkar for his part has valued the importance of gaining the respect of the most feared opponents around. Ponting confirmed Tendulkar remained the opposition player the Australians admired and respected the most. "Every time we have played against him he's done extremely well, he's played brilliantly, we’ve had lots of plans and different things we've tried against him and none of them have really worked." said the punter.
It is Tendulkar who has raised awareness about Indo-Australian cricket, given it a profile more than anyone else. He is someone people can relate to. A nonagenarian on a wheelchair entered Sydney Cricket ground during lunch with only one question on his lips, "Is he still there?" The adulation reserved for Tendulkar often make him appear like an Australian hero.
When asked if Australia ever felt like a second home to him, Tendulkar said, laughing: "I only have one home. But it's truly a special feeling to walk in to such a reception, when I don't know if I am batting on zero or on 100."
Performances Against Australia
Tests ODIs
