Just about every big-name cricket player of the last 25 years was at Citi Field on Saturday for an exhibition match. But the thousands of mostly South Asian-Americans who fought traffic or rode the crowded, slow-moving 7 trains to the stadium were mainly there to see one man: Sachin Tendulkar.
Vinod Vellore of Atlantic City, who brought along a pole with an Indian flag on one side and a United States flag on the other, was one such fan. “We live for him; we die for him,” he said of Tendulkar. “He’s a god.”
In clarifying his motivation for driving up with a group of six fans, Vellore said, “Eighty percent for Tendulkar, 20 percent for cricket.”
He added: “It’s all about Sachin. That’s it. It’s a dream come true.”
Sachin Tendulkar, left, and Shane Warne will captain opposing teams of retired cricketers for the exhibitions on Saturday at Citi Field, Nov. 11 at Minute Maid Park in Houston and Nov. 14 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
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Tendulkar, 42, began playing on the Indian national team at 16, and by the time he retired in 2013, he had amassed more runs (34,357) at the top level of the game than any other player. But it is not just that Tendulkar is among the greatest sportsmen India has produced and one of the greatest players in cricket history. Fans seem to love him just as much for his personality.
“He’s humble; he has no attitude,” Shashank Singh of Boston said. “The whole of India supports him.”
Tendulkar was one of two team captains, along with Shane Warne of Australia, leading renowned players from around the world in the opener of the inaugural Cricket All-Star Series, which comprises three games this month meant to promote the sport in the United States. The next stops are in Houston and Los Angeles.
When the captains were introduced before the match, Warne, widely regarded as one of the sport’s best bowlers, received a loud ovation, but Tendulkar’s dwarfed it. Throughout the afternoon, any flash of Tendulkar’s face on the big screen brought a hearty cheer.
Many of the cricket legends, who were mostly in their 40s, may have been swinging golf clubs more than cricket bats lately. Brian Lara, the great batsman from Trinidad, said that he played to a 2 handicap and that his favorite American athlete was Fred Couples.
The game was competitive, but the atmosphere was light. The players mingled on the bench down Citi Field’s third-base side. As Warne’s team batted, he ate popcorn and tossed some of it at a camera.
The most noticeable change to Citi Field on Saturday were the wickets planted in short center field. And when a batsman lifted the ball into the stands, it was a six rather than a home run.
But the stadium did not look exactly like a normal cricket field, either; usually an oval, the playing area had an irregular shape, with a rope boundary tracing along the stands.
Knowledgeable cricket fans also said that compared with a world-class field, this one had smaller dimensions and longer grass, which slowed the ball.
Ricky Ponting, a former captain of the Australian national team, noted that the configuration of the stadium allowed the fans to be much closer to the field than they normally would be. “It was the first time I had a selfie taken with me in the outfield,” he said.
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Despite ticket prices that hit $175 for the better seats, the stadium appeared to be about three-quarters full. Late in the match, a wave sprang up with close to 100 percent participation.
“We never have a chance to see cricket in the U.S.,” said Dinesh Collins, a New Yorker who was born in Sri Lanka. “My friends in Australia and New Zealand can see it all the time, but this is our first time here.”
Asaduzzaman Tuhin of Jamaica, Queens, sporting a Bangladeshi cricket jersey, said: “I’m so happy. For the first time in New York, there’s a big cricket event.” Still, he and his friend Nishat Reza said they were a little disappointed there were no Bangladeshi players.
The game on display was Twenty20 — an increasingly popular form of cricket that is fast-moving, with Saturday’s match time, including a break between the innings, just under three hours — and the old-timers on the field seemed as enthusiastic as the crowd. Carl Hooper, 48, of the West Indies, daringly faced the ball without a helmet, as he often did in his playing days.
Tendulkar was a bit cautious at first while his fellow opening batsman, Virender Sehwag, lashed out with big hits. After Courtney Walsh of the West Indies was brought in to bowl the fifth over, Tendulkar gave the fans what they were looking for, punching a four to the short center-field boundary.
It took a leaping catch by Jacques Kallis of South Africa to get Tendulkar out, after he had scored 26 runs.
Tendulkar’s team, the Blasters, slowed down after that, and the crowd’s energy seemed somewhat diminished until the final over, when a blast from Shaun Pollock of South Africa toward the deeper boundary landed some 20 rows into the stands and unleashed a roar. Sehwag ended up the top scorer for the Blasters, with 55.
The Warriors then batted, needing to surpass the Blasters’ total of 140. Led by 48 runs from Ponting, they approached the target with ease. With the game all but certainly lost, the Blasters turned to Tendulkar to bowl the final over to give the fans one more glimpse of their idol. Two balls later, the Warriors had won, with 16 balls to spare.
But the result was not of much concern to most of Tendulkar’s fans.
“For me, it doesn’t matter,” Vellore said of the quality of Tendulkar’s performance. “Just the way he walks to bat is enough for us. Just the name is enough.”
Source: NYTimes