Pitch Perfect

It shows a young cricketer holding aloft an oversized bat as the ball comes towards him— what happened next is now part of the record books. The batsman smashed a century,India won the test,and the world was introduced to 16-year-old Sachin Tendulkar.

In Delhi on Friday,Tendulkar,now 37,points to the picture and says,“What I remember of that day wasn’t the euphoria. It was the nervousness of attending the post-match press conference. I was shy and scared of the barrage of questions from the media since I had just become the second youngest to score a test 100. I approached coach Bishen Singh Bedi for advice and he,in his blunt style,asked me to just take it as it comes.”

The photograph is among the 21 that makes up an exhibition called “The Sachin Tendulkar Journey” at The Stainless gallery. The exhibition,being organised by the Royal Bank of Scotland,one of Tendulkar’s sponsors,marks 21 years of his career with the national squad. Tendulkar has clearly become as comfortable with the media as with creating and breaking records. “Now,I chat and joke with newsmen,” he says with a laugh before settling down to discuss the exhibition at length. “I had to handpick 21 images from a huge heap. It was a tough call. So,I picked those moments that have stayed with me till today,” adds Tendulkar. All images have been sourced from news photographers and news agencies for the three-day exhibition that is being held in Delhi and Mumbai simultaneously till September 5.

The images are chronologically displayed,and begin with Tendulkar’s first appearance in test cricket in 1989 where he is posing with Kapil Dev and Mohammed Azharuddin. The other milestones in pictures show him as a captain during the Sahara Cup against Pakistan in 1997 — India was playing without its three regular bowlers but if Tendulkar was ruffled,the picture doesn’t show it. There are shots of two master blasters,Tendulkar and Donald Bradman,seeing eye to eye at the latter’s Adelaide residence. Then there is the moment of his first double century in the ODI against South Africa in February this year,one that cemented his position as God.

Pointing to an October 2008 picture taken in Mohali,where he is shown raising his arms in celebration after surpassing Brian Lara’s test run record,Tendulkar says,“I felt I had contributed something to cricket at that moment. I always respected Lara so when I broke his record,it was special.” Another image shows him exulting after running out South African Fannie di Villiers in the last over of the Hero Cup finals in 1993. “This was special since the captain trusted me to bowl the last over. It is also the only image of me bowling,” he explains.

Amid the rows of the star cricketer’s glorious moments,there remains,however,a sense of a story untold. Tendulkar agrees: “I face sleepless nights before each test. I am always restive and my subconscious mind is working overtime. That is how my body gears up for a big match.” There are also the moments of regret that shadow his face after an innings that hasn’t gone his way. “While walking back to the dressing room,I would regret not scoring more runs. If I could,I would want to go back on the pitch and bat again,” he says. “But I live by my father’s unwritten code of always looking ahead at the next match.” The cameras may have missed these moments but images of the journey on field show how a teenager became a legend.

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