By Javagal Srinath
One of the biggest questions on the minds of his millions of fans from the time Sachin Tendulkar announced his retirement has been what next for Sachin, after cricket?
Cricket has been the only constant all through his adult life, indeed for the last 30 years or so. In many ways, where he will find himself in a week’s time is a natural progression.
What he will go through is something several great sporting champions have experienced in the past. He will feel a huge, massive void the moment he wakes up on November 19.
It’s like a big part of his life has been taken away, and this void won’t be filled in a hurry. Irrespective of whatever he does in future and how he remains associated with cricket, the intensity of the connect that he has had with cricket as a player is something that can never be matched.
He will attend more felicitation functions and will remain inextricably intertwined with cricket, but that connection to the game he had as a player will be lost forever.
Sachin has to come to terms with that, and it won’t be easy, especially because of the extent to which cricket has dominated his life so far. The joy and delight that he experienced while raising his bat after scoring a hundred, that will never be replicated in future, and that is a reality that Sachin and the rest of the world will have to come to grips with.
I suppose the only consolation he will get is if he coaches Arjun to a place in the Indian team, or if he guides him and mentors him in such a way that Arjun goes on to become an India player. Having said that, I don’t want to put any pressure on the young kid. As it is, there will be plenty of pressure on the young Tendulkar every time he goes out to play because comparisons will inevitably be made with his illustrious father.
Now, what does the future hold for Sachin? There are plenty of avenues open to him, but I strongly feel that he should get into administration. Not immediately, because he needs time to unwind, put his feet up, spend time with his family and spend time with himself after so many years of service to India and to cricket, but at some stage in the next four or five years, he should look to become an administrator.
Given the perfectionist he is, it will be a wonderful experience for him and cricket will also benefit immensely from that. For all his life, he has been Sachin the player, Sachin the superstar.
When he gets on to the other side of the fence, he will understand the game from an entirely different perspective. Administration is a great leveller, and it’s my