Suppose one of the 24X7 news channels in India conducts an SMS poll. The topic is Sachin vs Anand – who is the best? Can you guess what the poll outcome will be?
You need not be an avid sports follower to predict the correct answer.
It will definitely be Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. No doubt about that. You cannot expect otherwise in a country that eats, drinks and sleeps cricket.
But if I get a chance to send an SMS, I will vote only for Viswanathan Anand. For I believe that Anand is the greatest Indian sportsperson.
I know majority of Indians will beg to differ.
Don’t count me in the anti-cricket brigade. I do enjoy cricket. Moreover, I admire the on field heroics of Sachin, Dravid, Dhoni and even Sreesanth.
Ripping Apart
Let us rip apart the professional achievements of India’s two sporting icons.
Sachin, 34, and Anand, 36, began their careers around the same time.
One hails from Chennai (erstwhile Madras), and the other is the son of Mumbai.
Both have carved a niche for themselves in their chosen sport.
Wisden had named Sachin as the second greatest Test and ODI player in the world.
Anand had won three world titles, including the one at the junior level. Winning titles has become a habit for Anand. For the record, the Grand Master has won the World Chess Championship at Mexico City last month.
Difficult Times
Anand struggled a lot in his quest to reach on the top of the chess world.
He took to the sports when the game was at its infancy in India.
In the beginning, the media paid scant attention to his feats.
He won the national sub-junior championship at the age of 14 in 1984. From then on, the Anand juggernaut kept on rolling. He has become the undisputed leader of the world chess. His victories in the national and international events forced the media houses to devote a little space in their newspaper columns for the mind game.
Thus the champion gave the much-needed fillip for the game in India. Slowly more and more youngsters started taking the game seriously. Coaching centres mushroomed in every nook and cranny of the country.
Thus India was able to produce a handful of young champions in Sasikiran, P. Harikrishna, Koneru Humpy, Dronavalli Harika, Tania Sachdev, S. Vijayalakshmi, to name a few. They kept the Indian flag flying in the international stage.
Sachin’s Easy Journey
But Sachin faced no qualms in his ascendancy to the pinnacle of the cricket.
The game has already caught the fancy of Indians even before he padded up for his first game. The players were rewarded well. Sports journalists paid too much attention for the ‘gentleman’s game’.
Sachin utilised this situation to the maximum. He fully concentrated on his game. Naturally, the media came to him. Thus he became the pin-up hero of millions of Indians.
Money Factor
Sachin became an integral part of the international cricket. He is labeled as the great crowd puller, no matter India won or lost a particular match.
Thus Sachin’s market value has soared to stratospheric levels. Now he is one of the highest earning sportspersons (brand ambassador?) in the country.
He endorses more than a dozen brands (17 approximately) all over the world. Besides, he owns two restaurants in Mumbai.
Love for the Game
On the contrary, India’s world champion Viswanathan Anand has been running on the single sponsorship of NIIT.
His market value never went up.
It never let 36-year-old Anand down.
At a time when most of the sportspersons will seriously mull over retirement (even Sachin is planning retirement, say media reports), the ‘tiger from madras’ is hungry for more titles.
It is the love for the game that keeps him on. Not money or market.
He is India’s most consistent champion. Hail the King!
You need not be an avid sports follower to predict the correct answer.
It will definitely be Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. No doubt about that. You cannot expect otherwise in a country that eats, drinks and sleeps cricket.
But if I get a chance to send an SMS, I will vote only for Viswanathan Anand. For I believe that Anand is the greatest Indian sportsperson.
I know majority of Indians will beg to differ.
Don’t count me in the anti-cricket brigade. I do enjoy cricket. Moreover, I admire the on field heroics of Sachin, Dravid, Dhoni and even Sreesanth.
Ripping Apart
Let us rip apart the professional achievements of India’s two sporting icons.
Sachin, 34, and Anand, 36, began their careers around the same time.
One hails from Chennai (erstwhile Madras), and the other is the son of Mumbai.
Both have carved a niche for themselves in their chosen sport.
Wisden had named Sachin as the second greatest Test and ODI player in the world.
Anand had won three world titles, including the one at the junior level. Winning titles has become a habit for Anand. For the record, the Grand Master has won the World Chess Championship at Mexico City last month.
Difficult Times
Anand struggled a lot in his quest to reach on the top of the chess world.
He took to the sports when the game was at its infancy in India.
In the beginning, the media paid scant attention to his feats.
He won the national sub-junior championship at the age of 14 in 1984. From then on, the Anand juggernaut kept on rolling. He has become the undisputed leader of the world chess. His victories in the national and international events forced the media houses to devote a little space in their newspaper columns for the mind game.
Thus the champion gave the much-needed fillip for the game in India. Slowly more and more youngsters started taking the game seriously. Coaching centres mushroomed in every nook and cranny of the country.
Thus India was able to produce a handful of young champions in Sasikiran, P. Harikrishna, Koneru Humpy, Dronavalli Harika, Tania Sachdev, S. Vijayalakshmi, to name a few. They kept the Indian flag flying in the international stage.
Sachin’s Easy Journey
But Sachin faced no qualms in his ascendancy to the pinnacle of the cricket.
The game has already caught the fancy of Indians even before he padded up for his first game. The players were rewarded well. Sports journalists paid too much attention for the ‘gentleman’s game’.
Sachin utilised this situation to the maximum. He fully concentrated on his game. Naturally, the media came to him. Thus he became the pin-up hero of millions of Indians.
Money Factor
Sachin became an integral part of the international cricket. He is labeled as the great crowd puller, no matter India won or lost a particular match.
Thus Sachin’s market value has soared to stratospheric levels. Now he is one of the highest earning sportspersons (brand ambassador?) in the country.
He endorses more than a dozen brands (17 approximately) all over the world. Besides, he owns two restaurants in Mumbai.
Love for the Game
On the contrary, India’s world champion Viswanathan Anand has been running on the single sponsorship of NIIT.
His market value never went up.
It never let 36-year-old Anand down.
At a time when most of the sportspersons will seriously mull over retirement (even Sachin is planning retirement, say media reports), the ‘tiger from madras’ is hungry for more titles.
It is the love for the game that keeps him on. Not money or market.
He is India’s most consistent champion. Hail the King!
Most of the peoples in the country loves sachin,not only in india he have a fans in aboard also.so peoples will vote for sachin more than Anand. Anand also a greatsportsman, but he don't have popularity like a sachin.
ReplyDeleteanand is undoubtedly india's no 1 sportsperson of india..
ReplyDeleteanand has won world champ twice, world cup twice, world rapid four times, 4 oscar awards, and 1000s of international awards and titles...
anand is too bigger than sachin on the basis of achievements... chess is played actively in more than 150 countries whereas cricket is a dozen country game..
on the other hand, sachin cant even bring a single world cup..
anand has revolutionised chess in india.. now, chess is the only sports india can dominate and control the whole world!
as a human being also, anand is gr8.. he never get into any controversies and known for his humble and down to earth nature.. whr as sachin involved in ferrari case, tax evade, flag cut etc...
Interesting!...
ReplyDeleteVALENTINE-TIDINGS