Why is everyone thanking Sachin?

Don’t be surprised if one of these days Sonia Gandhi thanks Sachin Tendulkar in one of her speeches. We can’t expect Manmohan Singh to do that because he only thanks Sonia-ji but Tendulkar is fair game for everyone else. In the match against Chennai Super Kings, Tendulkar retired hurt after scoring just 16 off 15 balls but Man-of-the-Match Richard Levi, who made 50 off 35 balls, showed that he is quickly learning the ropes by heaping a lot of praise on Sachin in the post-match conference. [caption id=“attachment_267345” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Success has many fathers, it is said, but when it comes to Indian sport – all lines only seem lead to the master batsman. AFP”]  [/caption] “It was fantastic batting with him. He was such a calming figure out there and so easy to talk to,” said Levi. That’s when we knew that Levi was truly at home or perhaps he had just learned something from Mumbai Indians skipper Harbhajan Singh, who very proudly announced that this IPL, MI want to win it for Sachin. A few days back, on the occasion of the one-year anniversary of India’s World Cup triumph, Yuvraj Singh said that Sachin’s words made all the difference. “You will matter when it matters the most,” are the words which served as an inspiration for the dashing all-rounder during India’s World Cup triumph last year. When Gary Kirsten resigned as India coach due to family commitments last year, he too was quick to thank the master. “Thank you for your friendship,” he said. The ‘Thank you’ notes are starting to pile up. Umesh Yadav and almost every other Indian cricketer must’ve thanked Sachin at some stage of their career. Even Saina Nehwal thanked the veteran, who is clearly the brightest star in India’s sporting firmament, after she won the recent Swiss Open. “In fact, when he scored that 100, it was the semifinals day. I got a lot of inspiration from him. I told myself I also have to do well. I can also win the title…that also happened. I really thank him for giving me that inspiration on that day,” Saina said. Success has many fathers, it is said, but when it comes to Indian sport – all lines only seem lead to Tendulkar. Now Sachin is a genuinely nice guy but all these professionals have worked really hard to get where they are and surely they deserve some of the credit too. Or is it that they simply use his name to get more eye-balls. Sachin’s great. Period. But that doesn’t mean someone has to butter his ego in every press conference. He surely can’t be that insecure. It also might simply be the case of everyone trying to keep the boss happy. Either way, it’s starting to grate on our nerves now. How about finding something else to thank next time round, guys? And if Sachin can tell them that, then perhaps the next time we’ll say, ‘Thank You, Sachin.’