Cricket or Chess?

India is not known to produce "World Champions". In most of the sports, Indians are yet to set up a milestone. But, it is made sure that the world champs we produce are known in the world for their game as well as their modesty.

We have few people who actually worked hard for the pride of the nation. Major Dhyan Chand, Milkha Singh, P.T Usha, Sachin Tendulkar, Vishwanathan Anand are few of the leaders of this “World Champions” lobby.

But as every community has a TOP LEADER, let’s find out the Sardaro ka Sardar (leader of the leaders) for this contingent.

After fumbling with thousands of thoughts in my mind, I decided to go according to the facts and figures. Performance and efficiency of these players were my top weapons and in the end, I was cornered by the two of them.

These two took India to another level of Pride and Honor.

Interestingly, both of these BIG GIANTS had different paths but God destined them with similar problems at similar time.

Well said,”Winners do similar things but in a different manner”. These two also struggled through out their career but their approach was different from their predecessors.

So, I was ready with my numbers to proceed towards the GRAND FINALE.

:P

One one side of the ring, we have

5ft 5inches   39 yrs old                        -SACHIN TENDULKAR

On the other side

5ft 8 inches 42 yrs old                        -VISWANATHAN ANAND

And now the battle is on....

One started with his career when he was just 15yrs old and the other came into the scenario after winning the National Sub-Junior Title at the age of 14.

By 1988, V. Anand became a Grand Master while the precocious 16 years old boy faced killer deliveries from Pakistan’s Pace Attack (considered the best at that time) and played them ferociously.

 

Seven years later, Anand reached a whisker away from the World Title but lost the game as well as his form. This defeat followed with a rough patch for him. In 1996, Sachin was clearly ahead of every batsman in terms of runs, strength and form. India was just about to win The World Cup when its dreams were shattered with a defeat in the Semi Finals. Captaincy in the very next year crushed the fumbling form of Sachin Tendulkar after the world cup defeat.

Hard work, Clear Vision and Passion in the game joined the grit to form a solid wall.

In 2000, Anand gave his best shot and showed his brilliance to the world. He won his first

"WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP". Sachin Tendulkar also became the king of the game. He was bestowed by Sir Don Bradman, the greatest cricketer of all times.

These two gave answers to their critics by the game they played and not by their words.

The life was never a dream land even for these masters. One got shadowed by an injury while poor performance took over the shine of World Title for the other.

India and the never ending Indians tried to step over these masters to establish their names in the game. Young chess players sprouted up to fill the void formed due to strangling performance of V. Anand while more aggressive minded players tried to be another Sachin Tendulkar.

The conditions became worse with an elbow injury for The Master Blaster while Viswanathan Anand was facing attrition.

Any lesser man would have left the game after reaching the scrap from the top position. But these two had some other plans.

Both of them reinvented their games, learnt their new roles and practiced even harder. Success paid well in the end. Anand regained his form while Sachin became the “run scoring machine” again.

Anand got his World Championship title back and Sachin Became the highest run scorer in Tests as well as ODIs.

2010 started and it saw the emergence of these master players to their best levels. Sachin got his double hundred in ODI and became the first batsman to accomplish this feat in ODIs while Anand continued with his winning streak. The defending champion remained as World Champion even in 2010.

Year later, Sachin placed the WORLD CUP in his cabinet. World expected Sachin to stop but India was still all seated to see some more action. His hunger for some more increased further and he blasted out with his 100^th hundred. He showed the world his mastery over the game. Against all odds, Anand won his fifth Title in The 2012 World Championship.These mind boggling achievements confused me more. Even after going through this stress condition (thinking is a stressful job for me, Phewwwww!!!), I was unable to find out the winner.

 My question is still unanswered and I think it should remain unanswered.