There are 2 places where one must never equivocate – one is while reading obsequies and the other is while showering praise on a record-breaker. I am sure none of us has encountered an occurrence of the former but I have read through some excruciatingly painful manifestations of the latter in the last couple of days.
I am referring to the columns and blogs expressing the writers’ views on Sachin becoming the highest scorer in test history. “In terms of pure entertainment, no one comes near Lara, but what makes Sachin’s feat so admirable is the burden of expectation he has had to bear over the years”, “Lara took fewer matches and fewer innings to score those runs but Sachin has scored more centuries” … - these have been the tones of most of them. This reminds me of what my grandma says to a garrulous idiot -“guppa baslas tar koni muka nahi samjnar”- “No one will assume you are dumb if you stay quiet for a while”.
My point is why try to find faults with a champion on the hour of his greatest triumph. Yes, I know he has played more tests and that he has not been at his swashbuckling best over the past few years but you can preserve those comments for some other time. There is no need to be rational and consistent in your assessments. Ranking cricketers isn’t an exact science. No one is going to hold you for ransom if you had hailed Lara as the best modern-day cricketer 3 years ago and now are talking of Sachin in the same vain.
If you can’t come to terms with showering untainted, lavish praise on the man, then there’s a simple suggestion for you – ‘Don’t write’.
