A farcical farewell

Kolkata's goodbye to Tendulkar defines bad taste

There is no doubt that the retirement of Sachin Tendulkar is an epochal moment for Indian cricket. It will be difficult for many Indians to remember a time when Tendulkar was not playing for India; and in the 25 years since he debuted, India's self-confidence and cricketing ability have risen steeply, their climb mirroring Tendulkar's own. A player of such significance cannot of course be expected to retire quietly. But, on the other hand, it need not be an occasion for the wide-eyed idolatry that comes too easily to Indians, either. But that is unfortunately precisely what it seems to be becoming.

Tendulkar is due to play his 199th and penultimate Test in Kolkata shortly - a city never known for its restraint when it comes to its idols. But the preparations for this occasion cannot but strike any observer as bordering on the ridiculous. Perhaps the engraving of a young Sachin Tendulkar on the tickets being sold for the Test is acceptable. And the giant hoardings and posters all over town - well, perhaps they are just straightforward publicity. Perhaps even the "100 photographs" celebrating "every stage of the maestro's life and career" that will be part of an exhibition at Eden Gardens are understandable. But is it really necessary that even the coin with which the two opposing captains - there is in fact another team involved in Tendulkar's last Test, the West Indies - conduct the pre-match toss be embossed with Tendulkar's image? If that doesn't seem like overkill to you, then consider this: the Cricket Association of Bengal will hand the coin over to Tendulkar in a ceremony after the toss. And along with the coin, he will be given "a silver banyan tree", which no doubt has some convoluted metaphorical connection with his career. And what of the tableau of Sachin moments that will be flagged off from Eden Gardens by a minister in the state government to wander the congested streets of West Bengal's capital to the strains of a specially-composed song in Hindi and Bengali? Or the five-pound sandesh, a Bengali sweet, that is to be handed over to Tendulkar? Any and all of these might be considered too much. But, for Kolkata's powerful, they are just the beginning. All the spectators at Eden Gardens are to be issued Tendulkar masks, so when he walks out to bat on the first or second day he will be greeted by the sight of tens of thousands of doppelgangers looking down at him. The Cricket Association of Bengal has also organised placards for all the spectators with special congratulatory messages on them. And, to top it all off, at some point in his innings he will be showered with 199 kilograms of rose petals released from three specially-hired aircraft flying low above Eden Gardens. At some point in that list, the plan for a send-off has moved from poor taste to parody.

In fact, the exaltation of his departure to the exclusion of all other facts about this Test or the two teams doing battle on the pitch is the exact opposite of the values that Tendulkar espoused and epitomised in his long career. He was always seen as a team player of the first order, who was never satisfied with many of his individual milestones or his finest innings. Perhaps Tendulkar's best send-off is not a silver banyan tree or 199 kg of rose petals, but the performance of India's batsmen on Saturday, when Rohit Sharma scored 209 in a one-day match against Australia. The self-confidence and aggression of this new generation of batsmen are as much Tendulkar's gift as anything.