This  year, Sachin Tendulkar has clearly moved into the genius level.   He can no longer be classified as an extremely talented player.  Sachin in numero uno, the only player on the current international circuit regarded as a great by  most  of  the  famous  ex-players,  experts  and commentators.  Sachin  has  moved  so  far ahead that  Brian Lara is   now  considered to be an extremely talented player and nothing more. 

                 How does one define genius? It's difficult to do so.Suffice to say that they make things look  very  easy. But there is no doubt that the  flowering of genius can occur only if there are years and  years of relentless hard that, hopefully, money  will  not  satiate. It  seems  to be a psychic craving.  Which is an extremely good sign. 

                 It  means  that  he will  continue  to  score runs,  score more centuries than any other player in the  history of the game and probably be regarded as  the  only  player  who can hold a candle to Don Bradman. 

                  His  innings  of 141 against Australia at Dhaka, the 143 against the same team at Sharjah in 1998 will now be regarded as classics.  Cricket pundits   are   at   a   loss   on  how  to  classify  his unbeaten 124 against Zimbabwe in the Coca-Cola Champions Trophy final at Sharjah.  Terming it as a classic knock would be an understatement.  So awesome   was   the   quality   of    the  batting, the domination  of  the bowling and the sheer array of strokes played. 

                It is also nice to know that off the field, he is  such  a  courteous  and accommodating fellow.  Rarely, if ever, is he irritated by the numerous fans who  ask  for  his  autograph.  He  treats  his elders with   respect and much praise should be given to the middle-class Maharashtrian family background from  which  he  comes from, with an elder brother who  is  a poet  and a father who is a professor.  It has  enabled  him  to  stay  rooted,  his  feet on the ground,   and   he   has   been   able  to  stifle  the arrogance that arises from too much of fame.      

                Recently,  due  to  back  spasms he  has been out of touch.  Doubts have been raised about his career.   This  all have been put to rest with him beginning to practise.  The  World  Cup  in England might be another feather in his cap.

Dominance is not the right word. Yes, Sachin Tendulkar dominates. But there is no subtlety in dominating- no sense of the are in the craft. Because, Sachin, like no other batsman today, bring art into his craft, and craft into his art. So when he dominates-- even when he swears revenge on a bowler who has got him out cheaply--Sachin's madness always has a method. Viv Richards was more of the madness, Sunil Gavaskar more of the method. Sachin-well, Sachin is the best of both.  

Just over 10 years ago, I sat in the office of Sportsweek magazine with that same Sunil Gavaskar. Ayaz Memon and I were listening to Gavaskar in one of his rare, priceless moods. The 'Little Master' was was delving deep into his own experience, his own genius and bringing forth perals of wisdom as sudden, and as effective, as his straight-drives back past the bowler .                           

Then Gavaskar came up with the following statement (remember, this was in 1988, when Dilip Vengsarkar was about to become captain of India): "The two best batsman in Bombay today are Vengsarkar and Sachin Tendulkar." Full stop. End of statement. The ball crosses the boundaryline underneath the sight-screen.  

Sachin was 15 at the time. His immense partnership with Vinod Kambli was already part of cricketing lore, and his name was there to be read in the fine-print almost every day. But he had only played for his school. Yet Gavaskar was certain.  

And a few months later, when we were planning a sports-video for Sportsweek, Gavaskar's words still filled my mind. I wanted to interview Vengsarkar and Tendulkar, the two best batsmen in Bombay.  

I had always been a fan of Vengsarkar's and I knew that he has suffered from being a Shashi Kapoor to Gavaskar's Amitabh Bachchan. But Gavaskar had retired, so Vengsarkar was free to be his own man.  

Vengsarkar was ready and willing for the interview, and we decided to shoot it on the Marine Drive side of Hindu Gymkhana. When we enquired from Vengsarkar about Sachin, he told us that Sachin had net-oractice with the Bombay team at Wankhede Stadium that morning. (Sachin had, by the time of interview, played for Bombay, and scored a century in his first Ranji Trophy match.)  

Vengsarkar joined us at the nets, and the first sight I had of Sachin was him playing an off-drive on the 'up'. And as I watched the stroke, Vengsarkar said: "Sachin Tendulkar's weakness is going for his shots on the off side, and lofting them."  

It was ten years ago that Vengsarkar said that.  

Today, just watch the off-side fields set for Sachin when nhe first comes in to bat. The opponents are planning-almost desperately--for that same alleged weakness of Sachin's to appear.  

Very seldom do they succed. For Sachin Tendulkar has taken the art of driving on the 'up', and crafted it into one of the most breathtaking shots of modern cricket. Art and craft. The scret of Sachin.  

Eventually, 10 years ago, Sachin had batted enough, and we took him to the Hindu Gymkhana. I interviewed him with a match going on in the background.  

Sachin was shy, but confident. He spoke only enough to get his point across. He was not at all nervous about the interview, and treated it as a necessary experience. At the age of 15.  

Ten years later, he speaks easier, and more often. But the confidence is the same. Not bravado, not ego. Just a deep confidence in his art, his craft. The essential Sachin has not changed.  

In our interview, four points stood out. Firstly, Sachin stated that Gavaskar and Richards were his heroes.  

Secondly, Sachin, without hesitation, said that he could read Hirwani's googly, and was ready to face the West Indian fast-bowlers. (In fact, he said he prefers fast bowling.)  

Thirdly, when asked whether he grew tired of batting while with Kambli in that mammoth patnership, Sachin's reply was almost an inbelieving shake of the head.  

And fourthly, Sachin made it very clear that being compared with Gavaskar was a bit embarrassing to play his own, "natural"game.  
 

The Dons

The inspiration of Gavaskar and Richards, the confidence to face any type of bowling, the love for fast bowling, the desire to play and play, and, finally, the knowledge that your skill is unique-these ingredients made Sachin a very special 15-year old, and they still make him a very, very special 25-year-old.  

After the interview, we had Sachin walk across to where he had left his bat and kit-bag, pick up his bat thoughtfully, look into the distance, and then pick up his kit-bag too, and walk out towards Marine Drive and into the future. It was a shot which any veteran actor would have rehearsed several times, and probably muffed just as often. Sachin did it-first take 'OK'. It was as natural as his batting. Ten years later, he faces the cameras for umpteen ad-films with the same uncluttered ease.  

Will Sachin still be as uncluttered, as natural, 10 years from now?  

I write this soon after Sachin's century in the second innings of the first match of the New Zealand tour. It was a match of no apparent importance, beyond getting to know the conditions. And yet, Sachin played a knock of amazing skill and determination.  

WHY?  

Because he, and India, had failed in the first innings. And Sachin Tendulkar knew how important it was for him to not only succed in the second innings, but dominate with his art and craft. Which he proceeded to do.  

Remember the knock against Shane Warne for Mumbai in the first march of Australia's tour of India this year? Another apparently insignificant match. But Sachin used it to set the tone for an entire series. A series which will be written about for decades. A series which made Sachin a mythical legend.  

Ten years from now, Sachin Tendulkar will still be doing just that-playing the game he loves to play to the best of his immense ability. It is as simple as that.  

And just think- 10 years from now, Sachin will be only 35. He could still play for another 10 years after that.  

And they will still be setting those offside fields for him, trying to get him to drive on the 'up'. Once again, it's as simple as that.  

And I will be showing my grandchildren the tape of Sachin's interview.  

In the year 2018.