Stop throwing no-balls at most loved Indian, Sachin Tendulkar

Those opposing maestro’s nomination to the Rajya Sabha have no ground to stand on

By Qaiser Mohammad Ali in New Delhi

PRESIDENT Pratibha Patil’s nomination of Sachin Tendulkar to the Rajya Sabha is an extremely heartening decision. It should be welcomed by one and all — the government and the Opposition, the fans of the batting maestro as well as cricket haters, and sports lovers as well as those who don’t play ball.

If Sachin’s nomination is to be seen through a political lens, it was a masterful straight drive by the government that gave the bowler (read the Opposition) and the fielders (read red- faced critics) absolutely no chance of stopping the ball from crossing the boundary.

Those who are opposing or objecting to Tendulkar’s nomination are actually insulting India’s most loved and admired athlete ever. Before anyone interprets and twists this in any way, let me clarify that colossi like Dhyan Chand, Milkha Singh, Michael Ferreira, Geet Sethi, Viswanathan Anand, PT Usha, Leander Paes, Pankaj Advani and a few more are in the same bracket, or were even better.

Those who are still alive might get a Rajya Sabha nomination in the future and it’ll be well deserved as well.

Almost all the opinions expressed against Tendulkar’s nomination so far have been political, and it is clear that this is a case of sour grapes, especially for the Opposition. Even a few members of the political Opposition, like former India cricketer Kirti Azad of the Bharatiya Janata Party, have welcomed Sachin to Parliament, though even he questioned the “timing” of the nomination.

WHILE the government and the Opposition were almost united in supporting Tendulkar’s name for the Bharat Ratna only recently, it was strange to see the latter see red over the Congress- led government’s decision to recommend the former India captain for one of the 12 nominated Rajya Sabha seats.

Left speechless, the embarrassed Opposition is now speculating on how many days Tendulkar would be able to devote to Parliament. That is, however, not the business of the Opposition or of those who feel that they had a chance to be nominated instead.

What a Bal Thackeray or a Subhash Kashyap, a former secretary general of Lok Sabha, feel is neither important nor is it going to change the beautiful picture that Tendulkar has diligently been painting globally with his bat for over 20 years. Thackeray’s opinion, as usual, is heavily prejudiced, and doesn’t deserve a reaction.

Remember, Tendulkar a few months ago had given a fitting reply to Thackeray on the issue of nationalism. The master’s reply stunned all into a deafening silence.

And it was disappointing to see Kashyap assert that sport was not a category provided by the Constitution under which nominations to the Rajya Sabha could be made.

Is he implying that the President was not aware of the Constitutional provisions, or that she erred by appointing Sachin? I ask this: Does a person of Tendulkar’s eminence need a category to be nominated under? And doesn’t someone who is widely considered good enough for the Bharat Ratna deserve to be nominated to the Rajya Sabha?

What I am eagerly waiting to see is the reaction/ behaviour of the Parliamentarians opposed to Tendulkar’s nomination when they come face to face with him in the Upper House. Some of them are also part of the Board for the Control of Cricket in India and usually try desperately to be seen and clicked in the maestro’s company. Let them shun Sachin or not speak to him in our outside Parliament. Is it possible? Well...

(This story first appeared in Mail Today)