|
March
6, 2008: Sachin Tendulakar has regained top spot in the one- day ranking
after leading India to a tri- series triumph over Australia on
Tuesday.
‘Padma
Vibhushan’
Sachin Tendulkar
NEW DELHI:
January 25, 2008: The 34 years old Sachin Tendulkar India's
sporting icon being selected for the prestigious Padma Vibhushan, the country's second highest civilian award.
Tendulkar, who made his international Test debut against Pakistan in Karachi in 1989 at a tender age of 16, is no stranger to awards and is a recipient of several honours.
Tendulkar has received the Arjuna Award in 1994 and the Padma Shri in 1999.
He was given the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, country's highest sporting honour, in 1998. He was also chosen as the
Wisdom cricketer of the year in 1997 while 'Time' magazine named him in November 2006 as one of the Asian heroes.
He made us love cricket even during the dark days of match- fixing. With a
slew of legendary cricketers caught in the net, cricket was at its lowest ebb. But the Brand Sachin remained unaffected. When bad blood it seemed would contaminate the very fabric of Indian dressing room, he inspired respect, united the team.
|
|
March
6, 2008: Sachin is batsman No.1 after four yeras. He climbed
10 places after match winning knocks of 117 not out and 91 in the
finals in Sydney and Brisbane respectively to aggregate 399 runs in the
series. He also holds the records for most one-day runs (16,381) and
centuries (42).
Led by Sachin and Praveen Kumar, India beat Australia by 9 runs to
win series.
On January 25, 2008, the 34 year old Sachin Tendulkar, who has been in vintage batting form in the ongoing Test series against Australia being selected for the prestigious Padma
Vibhushan, the country's second highest civilian award.
|
Last year, the
important event was India’s win over Pakistan, in the first twenty-over
(T20) World Cup cricket tournament. India beat Pakistan in the final in Johannesburg by five runs to clinch their first major trophy since 1983.
India has won the World Cup first (all credit to the players) and will now introduce the 20-over format
domestically.
India’s managers of the game did get one thing right for the tournament: they picked the right side. The average age was 24, compared to Australia’s 28, South Africa’s 27 and England’s 26. Pakistan too had a young team, and therefore made it to a final that could have gone either way till the very end. This young
team’s success raises a barely visible question mark over the careers of the older stars of Indian cricket: who will be dropped from the
winning team to accommodate them?
India's three seniormost cricketers, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid
and Saurav Ganguly, opted out of this 20 overs-a-side tournament.
The team, captained by 26-year-old Mahendra Singh Dhoni, included a host of youngsters.
|
India's Cricket team
Mahendra Singh Dhoni |
|
What is clear about T20 batting is that upper-arm strength will become more
important. The second winner was bowling and now accurate bowlers will be more in demand.
Whatever the future direction of the game, the T20 version will add new zing to cricket, and India is the world champion again after 24 years.
Throughout the tournament, India have played with a refreshing energy and
positive ness which, on top of their natural flair, has endeared them to the fans.
The Indian cricket board announced a bonus of $2m for the team, and a $250,000 cash prize to Yuvraj Singh for his record feat of hitting six sixes in an over.
Indian cricket star Sachin Tendulkar said India's cricket was in "safe hands" after the win.
"Dhoni led the team to a fabulous victory and I can say that Indian cricket is in safe hands," he was quoted as saying by news agency Press Trust of India.
Pakistani newspapers said cricket was the winner in the final match. "There is no shame in this defeat even though it might be at the hands of Pakistan's biggest rivals," said Dawn newspaper.
India's win in the Twenty20 World Cup has boosted the brand value of the cricketing heroes, raising expectations of media planners and broadcasters that the upcoming series with Australia will spell good business. Not only are the media planners bullish on the increased brand value of cricketers, including star performers M S Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh, but official broadcaster Nimbus for the
India- Australia series is also expecting it to be a sell-out in terms of advertisement spots. The seven-match series starts on September 29. |
|
|
'Padma
Vibhushan’ Sachin Tendulkar
On January 25, 2008 the 34 years old Sachin Tendulkar India's
sporting icon selected for the prestigious Padma Vibhushan, the country's second highest civilian award.
He is our Superman. A man who can do no wrong. Nice and unassuming off the field and our
saviour on it. A fierce competitor, yet always a gracious winner.
At a tender age of 16, Sachin was padding up to face the mighty Pakistan trio of Imran Khan, Waqar
Younis and Abdul Qadir, in their own den. As a 19 year old, he smashed a brilliant
counter- attacking century in Perth, world’s fastest wicket and announced his arrival at the international stage. By the time he got over his teens, he had the world at his feet. Proclaimed the world’s best batsman ever, who even reminded the great Sir Don Bradman of himself, Sachin represents the new vibrant India. Bold, yet humble, fearless yet modest, successful yet grounded to the roots.
A once in a generation batsman with 25000+ runs, studded with 80 priceless centuries,
Sachin has left a legacy that has few parallels in modern cricket.
Sachin’s tremendous record attains even more magnanimous proportions, considering the fact that for close to a decade he almost single handedly carried the burden of expectations of a cricket fanatic country. Sachin Tendulkar deserves a Padma Vibhushan for the sheer undiluted joy he has provided to the followers of the game. |
|
|
