A wide half-volley,and a jab beyond point---all it takes to shake God out of his coveted position.A hundred messages,a thousand status-updates,and a million excited voices later,you realise if there is anything bigger than God in India,its the cherubic 5'5 maharashtrian guy.I wonder if God is pissed of right now.And I intend to piss him off even more.
                         Sachin is not God.God has this aura around him that makes him invincible.Mortals don't possess such invincible armour.Sachin is quite your average human.The problems that have penetrated his aura are innumerable and have always seemed insurmountable.Injuries,fitness concerns,questions on his waning passion,and the now cliched burden of expectations.Its not as if Sachin has never failed.2003 finals,entire 2007 campaign,the captaincy stint still remain stubborn dark spots on an otherwise purple career patch.Sachin has tasted defeat in the form of his own blood.Unfortunately,God,you don't have that on your resume.
                         It takes more of a man to triumph after a defeat than to jump from one victory to another.You appreciate a booming drive even more when you have been bowled thorough bat and pad.A Sachin without failures would have been a machine.Neither God,nor human...a machine.Machines don't thank their fathers in heaven,machines don't punch the air on a landmark,machines don't care for their fans.Mr. Tendulkar does.Every time.
                         The next time he comes out to bat,it wont be guaranteed that he'll score a double hundred,hundred or even a fifty.But i will still watch and pray for an encore of 200*.Coz for me,he will always be one-up to any mechanical instrument or a religious myth ever.Take a bow,Sachin-the-mortal,take a bow.