HISTORY has been made at the Twenty20 World Cup and now white-ball cricket is set for a geography tour of India with the Indian Premier League. Another edition of the IPL is round the corner as focus has started to shift to franchisee news from the heart-warming triumph scripted by Suryakumar Yadav’s team in Ahmedabad. From a delirious dressing room, the Indian players are now moving into the preparatory camps hoping to pull a fast one on the colleagues who were together just a few days ago to bail out Team India. In a jiffy, scenes are bound to change in the IPL with the T20 victory finding a mention in comments about a certain player appearing for his franchisee. Yet, the one thing that should be kept in mind forever is the silent contributions that helped the players shape their destiny. Such help mostly remains anonymous till the beneficiary decides to reveal it. Sports has seen it on numerous occasions when a redeemed performer lets out the secret behind the turnaround.

 

An advise here, a call there, or even an unnamed tip... such interventions have changed fortunes for players and teams in almost every sport. One such story came out only when India had retained the World Cup, fighting back from the brink at one stage of the tournament. Architect of that extraordinary fightback was Sanju Samson, who himself was fighting his inner demons and living on a lease in the team. Samson found his own game and soon escorted India to the title which historically had never been won in back-to-back tournaments. What Samson revealed after the final was of much importance. He had been in touch with the great Sachin Tendulkar all through his bad patch. The legend also had a talk with Samson on the eve of the big final. It had worked wonders for the opener who had almost given up after a series of failures.

 

Samson had contacted Tendulkar several months back and the maestro obliged without hesitation. His words of wisdom kept the Kerala batsman seek his purpose and despite severe setbacks he chose to put up a fight. This might look a normal story for a sportsperson in need of a morale-booster but it brings to fore the keenness of Sachin Tendulkar to help players in crisis. In his playing days, right from the start as a schoolboy, Tendulkar has only lived cricket. He would be the first to put his suggestions in the captain’s ears without caring for his position has a newcomer in the team.

 

It was the mad love for the game which drove him to keep finding an opportunity to contribute. Even when he could not chip in with his bat, Tendulkar would summon the bowler in him to make it up. He lived and loved cricket and is still living it in some or the other form. What Tendulkar has done for Samson is not a new story. He had come to the rescue of players like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. And all those gestures have been behind the scenes, without caring for eyeballs. It is only when a player shares his experience that the great contribution comes in public. It is a special character of players like Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman who have taken it as their moral duty to give everything back to the game which made them.