Thanks For 24 years of such an entertainment - Sachin Entertainment.

Sachin Tendulkar walks away with millions longing for more.

Sachin is playing his 200th international test match and he is the only one to do so. He creates this unbreakable record of playing 200 test matches. All his fans are happy for his yet another record. But the fact that this is his last match makes them all sad. We probably watched his last international innings in whites as the West Indies team does not look good enough to offer Indian cricket team another chance to bat. Sachin scored 74 runs before giving a catch in the slips. Dev Narine was the lucky bowler who got Sachin Tendulkar's wicket in his final test match.
  Sachin, as usual for last 24 years, did not disappoint any of his fans and looked in great touch during his stay at the crease. The match was also the rare and only occasion when Sachin's mother watched him play while sitting in the VIP-box. At this moment every Indian has this feeling of departure. We all feel as if we are losing something really big and something very close to our hearts. Yes we know its him, but may be its time to respect his decision and stand by the one who stood for us each time we wanted him to.

BCCI did it again. They chose money over feelings and VVIPs over common man.

The cricket board in India is famous for its pro-business strategies. This was the reason why such an important test match ( Sachin's 200th) was snatched away from South African cricket board and arranged within India. Yes the top management were successful in making this event commercially a hit but Sachin Tendulkar's fans will never forget how almost all the tickets went to the rich and VVIPs and even the broadcast rights were limited to a particular section. The board never seemed concerned about the people who lost opportunity of watching Sachin one last time. In present era where every single One day international is being shown on National television the fact that no one tried to show this match on DD1 was heart breaking. The poor in this country would have never complained about zig-zag picture quality but may be the BCCI wanted to protect us from any such experience.

 Well one can always complain about one or the other thing and therefore I am holding my thoughts back for some time. Its time to celebrate the huge event. We all congratulate Sachin Tendulkar for the successful carrier that he has just completed with yet another success and also wish him best of luck for the upcoming challenges. I want to modify the lines written on the score board that were shown while Sachin was present on the ground like this-

Thanks for 24 years of such an entertainment - Sachin Entertainment. 

For all the Sachin fans who are a bit nostalgic about all the great memories related to the Master Blaster, here is a light moment from the pages of history in the form of following funny picture-

I am not sure about the place or country that these guys were in during this beach party. If any one knows something about the occasion, he or she can always drop a comment below and share it with everyone here.

Tomorrow I will post another interesting pictures related to 2003 world cup final that features Sachin in a different mood.

Sports And Politics.

                                                Sports & Politics
 There is this news out there about Sachin Tandulkar going towards politics, Don't worry he is not going to be contesting in any elections, but he has been nominated by our President of India for Rajya Sabha membership.
There is this tradition in place in which President is supposed to nominate or suggest names of citizens/public figures with great achievements or services for the nation. 
 let us discuss  something about the connection of politics to the big sporting celebs. This week we have come to know about possibilities of Sachin Tandulkar beginning his new and unexpected innings in the Rajya Sabha. Thinking about it makes me sad when I realize that the time has come for our beloved and believed hero to decide his future plans.Along with that he will decide future of Indian cricket too. But I guess no one was expecting him to take on the challenge of running our democracy through politics. And that is what Sachin is made up off, you think he is over and he begins new innings, isn't it? I think I am being unfair in discussing his retirement too prematurely, especially when he himself has indicated to be around for a bit longer. Let me just get back to his and other sports person's connection to politics.
 Over the years we have seen quite a few of them sitting around in our Parliament or its lower houses and serving the Nation, and some of them had even been successful in retaining or getting re-elected after their first term. May be there are people from other sports fields too but let me just focus on cricket.These days Navjoot Singh Sidhu and Md. Ajaheruddin are doing their bit in the field of politics.
 I just want to know one thing if it for their mass appeal are their own interests in politics that get these cricketers into politics. Definitely being cricketers helps a lot in gaining followers but are cricketers being used by these political parties as masks or advertising material. I think each one of us knows how difficult it is getting for these parties to keep themselves alive. With the advent of new regional parties the huge vote banks have been divided and bigger fishes are getting slimmer and thinner. One can just hope that this combination of sports and politics does some good to the democracy and in return for the country. We all will keep following our heroes wherever they go and whatever new challenges they take on.Let us Wish Sachin best of luck in his political life.
 As far as writing about this issue is concerned I have that habit of raising question marks everywhere, letting people think
and then Speak up. So SPEAK UP BECAUSE YOU CAN.