Sachin Tendulkar: End of an Era

I was busy doing chatting with my girlfriend on WHATSAPP when i got a notification of some inbox, I flipped through the chat windows and saw a text, which read: "Sachin Tendulkar announces retirement from Test cricket after 200th game" courtesy Praveen Tiwari.

I was not supposed to believe him and did the same, but yes, he raised a doubt in my mind; just to clear doubt from my mind i went on to Google for the latest news about Tendulkar and let my girlfriend on hold. And what i saw was unbelievable - at least to the cricket lovers of this country, "Sachin Tendulkar will going to play his last two against West indies in coming month" - and along with him retiring a long lasting legacy,  life seemed to come to a standstill.

My thought drifted to the days I played cricket as a kid; How old I was? I might be of six, no, five or even less but  since the day came across with cricket and was pretty confident of at least one player (who used to be the first choice for selectors without any hesitation) who would be there as rescuer whenever team needs him. I can easily make out moments when i used to seek permission to watch Sachin play and as soon as he got out i used to switch to other work with thought of "India's lose" in mind. He used to be the first and last hope of India's win.

I believe, there exist a child in every person which drove individual to their love and the same child in him, prompted him all these year since he was 11 years old to play and enjoy the game. Today he feathered almost all the batting records a batsman can have to his cap and will going to add another a few in his last two. There were lot of ups and downs came in his career but every time he learnt from his mistakes, always came with something new and gave his best shot in more energetic way. He defied age at every stage of his career. With growing age he refined his technical skills and remained on the top through out his career of 24 years. 

SachinTendulkar is not mere a name of a person, he is a  kind of player India has ever produced and ever will (doubt). He is the motivation, inspiration, passion, and personality to name a few; for the people of this country. People of this country and all around the world has felicitated his name with "GOD OF CRICKET".

Sachin's decision to hang up his boots after his 200th Test lined up next month will not only leave a HUGE void in Indian Team but would also take away a generation, a mentor, an inspiration, an experience and most importantly a true sportsmen along with him. And now when he is on the verge, there are few questions striking on my mind, few unresolved queries for which there are no answers, troubling me. Who after him? Who will take over his job and getting the job done? Who will wear No. 10 jersey for India with which there is an emotional attachment of his ardent fans? And to whom we would look up to like the way we look for him.. These are the questions that has not been asked for more than two decades. These were the rhetorical questions as no one really thought it could be answered.