Playing It My Way: My Autobiography (58 page)

Soon after take-off it hit me that I was travelling to play the last Test match of my career. It had all come to an end very quickly. In no time I would have a microphone in my hand and would be expected to speak to the world, to say something to all my fans and supporters about what I was feeling. It would also be my last opportunity to thank the people who had stood by me over the years. And yet I had not planned what I would say or exactly who I needed to thank. I knew I had to be careful, because on a previous occasion I had had to make a similar speech and thought I had thanked everybody – until the commentator Harsha Bhogle came to the rescue and whispered in my ear that I hadn’t mentioned Anjali! Sitting on that plane from Kolkata, I realized that I had two hours when no one would call me or speak to me and it was the ideal time to think about my speech. I took out my iPad and started to make a note of all the people I needed to thank, going right back to the very beginning.

While I was doing so, I had to keep reminding myself that I still had ten days left in my career and that I was going to enjoy every moment on the field. I had two innings left and wanted to leave my fans with memories they would cherish. As the flight started its descent into Mumbai, I thought back to the years gone by. It had been quite a journey.

Thanks to the early finish at Kolkata, I spent two quiet days at home before rejoining my team-mates. I made the most of the time to myself ahead of all the frenzy. The only cricket I played was with my son in our back yard, when he tried to test me out with some short-pitched stuff – with a tennis ball. It was great just to have some fun with him.

On 11 November, I met up with the rest of the team on the Mumbai Sea Link on our way to Kandivali Gymkhana, which was being renamed after me in a function organized by the Mumbai Cricket Association. It was a great honour. It is an excellent facility and I hope it will serve as a breeding ground for young talent in the region.

When we eventually got to the Taj Mahal Palace hotel, I couldn’t believe the lengths they had gone to. My pictures were in all the lifts and on the nineteenth floor, where the team was staying, there were photographs on every wall. In my own room every little thing you could think of was personalized. From the soaps and shampoos to the pillow covers, everything had my name on it, and every day the Taj management sent me a personalized sweet of some kind, such as cake or chocolate.

I was busy sorting things out in my room when I got a call from our coach, Duncan Fletcher. He said the team wanted to honour me by wearing special shirts that said ‘Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar – 200th Test match’, and he asked if I had any problems with this. I said it was an absolute privilege and I was overwhelmed.

There was no doubt that this would be a Test match like no other. There was a huge media presence everywhere, bigger than ever before. They were outside the hotel at all hours, waiting to catch us getting on and off the bus on our way to practice. I did my best not to be affected by it all. It helped that the practice sessions were just the same as they’d always been and I batted in the nets and played football with the boys just as I had always done.

One thing I was looking forward to was playing with some special new bat stickers and grips. The design featured the tricolour and I had worked closely on it with my sponsors Adidas and my manager Vinod Naidu. The stickers had been specially designed for my last game and they were never going to go on any other bat in the market. I looked forward to revealing them when I batted in my 200th and final Test match.

The stickers and grips arrived the day before the game and I didn’t want to let anyone see them till the morning of the match. I borrowed Rohit Sharma’s bag to take all my bats to my room, where I spent hours changing the stickers and putting on the new grips. I have always worked on my bats myself and have spent many happy hours doing repairs over the years. I enjoyed the close connection with the tools of my trade and the rest of the team often took advantage of this. If anyone wanted sandpaper, glue or bat tape, bat coat, grip or gripper, it was me they would come to.

I couldn’t resist taking a picture of the new-look bats to send to Anjali. I was very happy with the way they had turned out. The tricolour has always meant the world to me and this was my way of showing respect to my country. I was looking forward to using them the next morning. As I was packing my clothes and other things to take to the ground the following day, my sense of excitement was also tinged with sadness at the thought that I only had a few days left.

After a good night’s sleep, I got up at my usual time on the morning of the first day. I made my own tea in the room, which I have always done, and went through my routine of taking a shower and doing my prayers before putting on my headphones and going down to board the team bus, which was surrounded by at least a thousand people.

When we got to the ground, I carefully brought out my bats from Rohit’s bag with their new livery and walked out to practise with them. They were looking superb and my team-mates all commented on them as they could see the thought that had gone into the design. There’s no doubt they added to the occasion.

One way and another, it was a morning like no other. First the Mumbai Cricket Association congratulated me on notching up 200 Test matches and then the Government of India launched a special stamp to celebrate the achievement. I was told that I was only the second living person to be honoured with a stamp in that way, the first being Mother Teresa. What could I say to such a thing? Frankly, I was speechless.

Most of the crowd wanted to see me bat, so a loud cheer went up when it was announced that India had won the toss. But they were quickly disappointed when MS Dhoni opted to field because the wicket was expected to offer some assistance to the fast bowlers in the morning. There was some bounce and even the spinners might come into play on the first day.

As we left the dressing room, the captain gave me the honour of leading the team out, which I did throughout the match. Gestures like that are memories I will always cherish. As we stepped onto the field the team also presented me with a special commemorative cap, and I spoke to them briefly during the team huddle. I reminded them of our duty towards the sport and the need to uphold the spirit of cricket at all times. I consider it the duty of every generation of cricketers to set examples for the next generation and inspire the youth to embrace the sport. It is the least we can do for the sport that has given us our identity.

As I looked around the stadium I was feeling really happy that, for the first time, my mother was there to watch me. In fact, my entire family, my wife and children, brothers, sister and her husband, uncle and aunt, were all in the stadium and I felt blessed by the affection and support the crowd was showering on me. There was nothing more a sportsman could have asked for. All that was needed to top it off was to perform well with the bat to leave my final mark on the sport I love so much.

We bowled brilliantly to get the West Indies out for 182 on the stroke of tea, at 2 p.m., with Pragyan Ojha taking five wickets and Ashwin three. My mother, I was later told, had been planning to leave the ground at tea when a friend told Anjali that there was a chance I might bat after all if India lost a couple of wickets. Anjali asked my mother if she felt up to it and luckily she agreed to stay on, hoping to see me bat from the stands for the first time.

The gods must have been listening and it was a little past 3.30 p.m. when, with the score at 77–2, I walked out to the middle. The crowd was chanting ‘Sachin Sachin’ and the West Indians and the on-field umpires gave me a guard of honour as I walked to the pitch to take strike. I tried to soak in every moment. I was relieved to score the first run quickly. After that, I started to enjoy myself, my confidence growing with every boundary.

It was during the last over of the first day’s play that my mother was shown on the stadium’s giant screen for the first time. The moment she appeared the crowd gave her a standing ovation. As soon as I saw her face I got very emotional. I now had to deal with two very difficult challenges – protecting my wicket and controlling my emotions. I took my time to settle down before taking guard again.

In hindsight, I’m not sure it was such a good idea to show my mother on the screen with just one over to go for the day. The broadcasters could have shown her on television but to show her in the stadium when I was doing my best to survive the day was perhaps inappropriate. While I understand they were trying their best to make the occasion memorable, and I much appreciate them for doing so, this one thing could perhaps have been done differently. It did not stop with my mother. One after the other, they kept showing my family members on the screen, much to the delight of the huge crowd.

It all made it very difficult to concentrate and I had to keep telling myself that I needed to shut out everything that was happening around me. On this day of all days I wanted to give it my absolute best. Happily, I managed to survive the day and was unbeaten on 38. I was delighted to have stayed out there for close to an hour and a half. As I was about to leave the park, I raised my bat towards my family.

When I look back at these moments they feel surreal, to say the least. My mother’s reaction when she first saw herself on the giant screen, her tongue coming out in embarrassment because she wasn’t used to the limelight, was so natural that I had tears in my eyes. The crowd standing up to acknowledge her was more than I could have asked for as a son and I am deeply thankful to everyone for showing her that affection and respect.

Amidst all the emotion, I was actually rather surprised to see Arjun in the ground. Before I left home for the Test match we had had a lengthy discussion about whether he should watch me or play his own Under-14 match. It was eventually decided that he should go to his match. Yuvraj Singh then kindly dropped Arjun off at his game to try and make up for his disappointment at missing my 200th Test match. All of Arjun’s friends were delighted to see Yuvi and Arjun was proud to be dropped off by him. Arjun’s day then got even better when his team got a walkover and he jumped into a taxi and found his way to the Wankhede. He managed to convince the police of who he was and the next thing I knew was when I saw him on the giant screen, working as a ball boy.

Back in the hotel that evening, I tried to relax and enjoy the moment. I was exhausted but happy that I was still batting. I ate dinner and retired early, knowing that I had important work to do in the morning.

The next day I got up at my usual time and, having finished my morning routine, put my headphones on and listened to some music. As I was walking down to the lobby and then to the bus, people wished me luck. There were happy and excited crowds on both sides of the road. I just tried to concentrate on the music and stay removed from what was happening around me. Clearly, it was not business as usual, but I did not want the enormity of the occasion to get to me.

After reaching the ground, I took out my bats and went out to the middle. It was our batting day and on such days players are allowed to follow their own routine. On fielding days, we are expected to take a few catches and do some fielding practice. Duncan said that we just needed to do a few stretching exercises and then we were on our own. I went to the nets to bat to a few throw-downs and then came back to the dressing room to get ready.

When we went out to bat I was feeling surprisingly good. Every time I took guard and saw the new bat sticker I felt a strange feeling of elation. I had always played cricket for the tricolour. Now I could see it on my bat every time I looked down. It was a terrific feeling. My mother’s presence in the stands only added to my determination.

Tino Best produced an inspired spell of fast bowling, testing me on quite a few occasions. It was only later that I learned that it was his son’s birthday and he had promised him he would get my wicket as a birthday present. On one occasion when I was beaten, he appealed and I laughed and asked what was wrong with him, because the ball was miles away from my bat! In the next over I could sense that he was about to bowl me a bouncer and I was ready for it. I had all the time in the world to play the upper cut – but I missed it by a few inches. I don’t know why I wasn’t able to connect with any of the short balls. I finally managed to play a cover drive and as the ball was being retrieved from the boundary, I mock-punched Tino Best and said it was his lucky day because I had missed out on at least four boundaries against him. We are good friends off the field and fierce competitors on it.

I brought up my half-century with a straight drive and raised my bat to my mother. The delighted crowd kept shouting ‘Sachinnn Sachinnn’ and it was tremendous to be out there. Even when I was not facing the ball, the crowd kept chanting.

About five minutes after the first drinks break, Narsingh Deonarine was given the ball. I was aware that he was an occasional off-spinner who would probably bowl only three or four overs. I told myself that I should do nothing foolish against him but just take a few singles. Only if there was a loose ball should I put it away for a boundary.

The ball I got out to bounced slightly more than I expected. It was a fuller delivery and faster than his normal one. I thought I could cut it to backward point for four. I had played a similar shot against Shillingford a little earlier. It all happened in a flash. Before I knew it, I had played the shot and the ball was on its way to Darren Sammy at slip. It hit his chest and he caught it on the rebound. I was out, for 74, with the score at 221–3.

As I turned to walk to the pavilion, my mind was flooded with thoughts. Why did I have to play that stroke? Why cut the ball when I could have played it to cover for a single or even left it for the keeper? What prompted me to go for the cut shot at all? Throughout my career I have always questioned my shot selection after getting out and it was no different in that innings.