Remarkable personalities – Beyond the statistics

In recent weeks, the international sporting world has been lit up by further accomplishments from two of the greatest personalities ever to have adorned the cricketing field. Within the space of the last two weeks of the month of July, the record-breaking Sri Lankan spinner, Muttiah Muralitharan, and the Indian cricket idol, Sachin Tendulkar, added to their superlative array of outstanding performances during the Test series between their two teams which ended on Saturday last.

For Muralitharan, it was a fairy-tale retirement from Test cricket, for he reached the unprecedented milestone of 800 wickets in his very last appearance in this form of the game. His statistics are truly amazing, the stuff of legends as the old cliché goes -800 test wickets at a cost of just over 22 runs apiece, at a rate of one wicket every 55 balls. Only the very best of fast bowlers, the cream of the crop have recorded such rates, and no other spinner comes close. He is the only bowler to have taken 50 wickets or more against every other opposing team and he has the record of at least one ten-wicket haul in a match against all of them. The list of his records is never-ending, but that is not the object of this article.

Similarly, Tendulkar has herculean feats to his credit in the batting sphere. In the second test of the series, he reached three figures in an innings for the 48th time in Tests. When Sir Gary Sobers retired with 26 centuries, three short of thee immortal Australian Sir Donald Bradman’s 29, those figures were looked upon as stratospheric. Several batsmen have since gone past but not one comes remotely close to Tendulkar’s total, achieved in the course of amassing over 13,000 Test runs and more than 17,000 in one-day internationals. But, as with Muralitharan, numbers by themselves are not the focus here.

LONGEVITY AND DURABILITY

The first point to be noted about these remarkable sportsmen is that of their durability and longevity. Modern athletes, in whatever sport, face very testing schedules which severely challenge their fitness and longevity. Added to that, the modern sports world is virtually like a travelling circus involving extensive travel. Since Sachin started at the tender age of 16 in 1989, he has been crossing the globe many times over, playing in all forms of cricket, chalking up a tally of 275 innings in 169 tests and playing in 442 one-day internationals. Like the Duracell bunny, he keeps going on, and enjoying his cricket at that. A similar level of enjoyment can be observed in Murali’s approach to the game, in spite of having bowled more than 44,000 balls in Test cricket and an additional 18,000 plus in ODIs.

Nowhere do those examples need to be heeded as in the Caribbean where our prima donna stars of mediocrity are always complaining about one thing or the other, rarely seeming to be fit enough to last a whole series and hardly seeming to enjoy the on-field activities,(not so for extra-curricular ones, though). Tedulkar started playing Test cricket before Brian Lara, he is still at it. Not for him the approach of picking and choosing when and where to represent his country, he answers to the call. Murali is of the same attitude and it is only now, at the age of 36, he has given up his Test slot, to concentrate mainly on the shorter form of thee game. Sachin himself, has curiously opted out of the shortest form, Twenty 20.

COMMITMENT AND HUMILITY

That commitment to, and love for country, is paramount in both these superstars. The pressures that they have had to live with are unbelievable. In the case of Tendulkar, he is the supreme sports idol in a cricket-crazy society of over 1 billion people. There is a common saying that “In India, cricket is religion and Sachin is God”. That alone tells you what this man has had to contend with since his teenage days. He has weathered it with grace. Not for him the attitude which says “cricket is ruining my life”, for he recognizes what it means not just to him but to hundreds of millions of Indians whose hopes and dreams rest with his prowess in bringing pride and success to his country. Of how many of the Caribbean’s sporting stars can a similar thing be said?

Tendulkar’s humility is by now legendary. He has remained the same simple, smiling, yet intense and focused sportsman through all the glory. Early in his career, he had the captaincy of his national team thrust on him. It turned out to be a big mistake. He was not afraid to hand it over and to continue to serve his successors, carrying the burden of premier batsman without any chip on the shoulder. This is no tantrum-prone superstar, but a dedicated servant of his people.

Murali’s commitment is best exemplified in his role in singlehandedly shouldering the burden of the Sri Lankan attack for nigh on 20 years. Except for the left-arm seamer Chaminda Vaas, he has had little consistent support. Even Vaas’ 309 Test wickets are less than 40% of Muralitharan’s, and Murali is responsible for more than 40% of the wickets taken by his team during his 133 Tests. He it is who has been the main architect of Sri Lanka’s triumphs over the years. Like Tendulkar, there have been enormous social pressures to contend with all those years.

One aspect of this which demonstrates his strength of character is the unjust criticism and hostility he has had to face from some sections of the cricketing community and the media, especially in Australia and England. Threatened by Murali’s skill and success, fuelled by jealously (In the case of Australia, beating the Shane Warne drum), and with the added facet of racism, Murali being a black-skinned Tamil, these detractors set out to besmirch his name, accusing him of “throwing” and illegal deliveries. Muralitharan met these with dignity, stoically agreeing to undergo a range of tests to prove that his arm was naturally bent, something which many other athletes of his stature would have refused to do. His vindication came with the official clearance from the authorities, a triumph over his enemies.

BEYOND CRICKET-COMMUNITY SPIRIT

Both the giants of modern-day sport commit themselves to activities beyond the cricket field to help the less fortunate in their respective countries. Tendulkar’s household name is virtually a guarantor of success for any charity he endorses. In the case of Muralitharan, he has an even bigger burden to carry. He is a Tamil in a land of ethnic division and war. His people suffer discrimination from the majority Sinhaleese, yet he must carry the weight of the entire Sri Lankan nation, even when his people were at war and the Tamil homeland was being bombed by the Sri Lankan army. He has not let that deter him in his role as an ambassador for the entire country. He campaigns tirelessly for peace and has been designated a UN Goodwill Ambassador for the World Food Programme.

“There are no differences in the Sri Lankan team. So if we can be like that, I ask the question why can’t our people be like that?”

Murali has also played a major role in fund-raising after the dreadful 2005 tsunami ravaged his country. His “foundation of Goodness” has rebuilt 1024 houses in 24 villages for persons who lost their homes in the disaster and is carrying out a “Learning and Empowerment” project in the war-torn north.

“As cricketers we have more influence and more people recognize us, so we can get funds everywhere.”

Over the years these two icons have proven their worth, not just in the field of sport, but moreso, in the field of humanity. Significantly, they are among the tiny few of modern sports stars, untainted by the arrogance, the sleaze and the corruption to which so many others have succumbed. Truly, heroes worthy of emulation.

Renwick Rose is a community activist and social commentator.