Now,Over to mumbai

A group of visually challenged fans of Sachin Tendulkar is praying for his ‘ton of tons’, his 100th century in the World Cup final,as it’s their earnest wish. They are also doing what Sachin himself had asked of them: “Wish that we win the World Cup”.

Sachin is armed with their wish in braille,a letter they had given to him,praying his wish and theirs come true.

“When we wished him the best for his 100th century and said it would come in the World Cup final,he said,wish that we win the Cup too. A perfect comment from a selfless individual,” says Satish Navale,a visually challenged student and fan who met Sachin at the Mariott on Senapati Bapat Road on January 27.

Commentary and not TV still rules the cricket lives of these visually challenged fans. Navale says,“I admire Tony Greig’s commentary. The five minutes of overwhelming commentary he gave when Sachin hit a towering six to Shane Warne in Sharjah on April 24,1998 is etched in my memory. When I met Sachin,the first presentation I gave him was my dream commentary for this World Cup,which ran like… ‘It is India vs Australia and we need four runs to win. A ball left. Brett Lee comes in to bowl. Tendulkar hits the ball and Ricky Ponting is going after it… but the ball has crossed the boundary… and India has won the Cup and yes,Tendulkar has his well-deserved …100th century.”

Although Australia has been replaced with Sri Lanka,Sachin’s 100th ton and India winning won’t be substituted in his dream commentary,says Navale,and all the others in the group have no doubts either.

They can never forget about the 30 minutes they spent with Sachin. “I have no words to explain what I felt then. I could feel his presence. He stood on my right with his hand on my shoulder. I asked him what the secret was behind his honesty and simplicity to which he answered,‘there are times when a player is out and the umpire says not out’. If we do not argue with the umpire then,why should we do so when it is the other way round. Sportsman spirit is no different’” says Sunny Gaikwad,17,a visually challenged student of arts at Fergusson College.

“It was a surprise visit arranged for 40 members of our school by Subhash Karmarkar. Sachin gifted us a bat with his signature and we handed over to him a letter in Braille that wishes the Indian team all the best for the World Cup. We are 100 per cent sure about the power and purity of our wishes behind that letter,” said Chandrakant Bhonsale,principal,the Poona School and Home for Blind Boys.