The lovers of the game, and more so the ardent followers of their iconic batsman with the ‘10’ jersey, should be keenly tracking the unfolding news – be it about the unveiling of the wax figurine at the Madame Tussauds museum in London recently, his birthday, or the exploits of the ‘Mumbai Indians’ in South Africa.

In the fantasy that is Sachin Tendulkar, the repeated allusions to his playing style at the age of 16 is perhaps a plea for perpetual youth for cricket, Sachin and for the fans themselves, the authors write.

“In the mythology of fans, the green fields are perhaps Avalon, where Boycott still plays for Yorkshire, where Gower still has baby curls, where Venkat can still turn the ball from well outside off to hit middle, where Kapil still has a million-watt smile, where Gavaskar is still the challenger, where Imran is still bowling wondrous inswingers … where Viswanath is still square-cutting Roberts at Chepauk, and where Bedi is still changing patkas between sessions. And where Sachin is still sixteen years old.”

Nostalgic narrative.

D. Murali

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