Standing at the arrival lounge of the Delhi airport, Gaurav Virmani felt a very privileged man. He had been accorded the most prestigious assignment by the Haryana Cricket Association --- put on "Sachin Tendulkar duty", which required him to stay with the batting maestro 24x7. For six days.
He welcomed the Mumbai Ranji trophy team and saw them off in a luxury bus, but didn't spot Sachin Tendulkar anywhere. A special vehicle was arranged for him separately, with security in tow but minutes ticked by without any sign of Tendulkar. Panic set in, frantic calls were made to and fro for his whereabouts before Tendulkar was spotted, in a white BMW car that he prefers to travel in these days, while playing that perfect brand ambassador role.
Through the next two-and a half hour drive, Tendulkar was keen to know more about the venue of his final Ranji Trophy game; about village Lahli, which has been eagerly preparing, in its own style, for the arrival of its biggest VVIP. Like Gaurav, not everyone could dream of having access to Tendulkar all the while, and all they wanted was a mere glimpse of their cricketing God.
The pitch was getting rolled relentlessly, and the Ch Bansi Lal stadium was getting a facelift. Annirudha Chaturvedi, an interior designer who has also famously designed bats for Tendulkar and Sehwag, was called in to make urgent renovations at the venue and make it ready for such a grand fixture. A 23-tonne iron structure was erected in 11 days for the cameras to be installed, and work continued round the clock with just three, one-hour break with 100-odd workforce. Wall graphics, measuring 8 ½ feet and 45 feet wide were painted outside the Mumbai dressing room, as a tribute to Tendulkar.
"It's a matter of great pride and satisfaction that we hosted this historic game so well, and for Sachin to pay his compliments on the pitch and his stay here on live television was extremely touching moment for me. Not just me, but for the entire staff of HCA. We are all very happy bunch, having played host to one of the greatest players in the world and one of the finest human beings," says Chaudhary.
For all their efforts to make him feel comfortable and extend five-star facilities, Tendulkar had one simple wish. "Please make me feel the real essence of this village and its culture." And then began Tendulkar's love connection with the local lassi. It was a must, at breakfast and at dinner.
Meanwhile, the hotels in and around Rohtak --- the closest town to Lahli were going at premium rates, with discounts being offered only to customers who could give the hotel management a one-day pass to watch the Sachin match versus Haryana. The local sarpanchs, who had been given 500 passes for each match day to distribute amongst the villagers, were faced with a big problem of accommodating the requests. Nobody wanted to miss out to watch Sachin, in flesh and blood.
During this stay, Tendulkar was unhappy that one of the cops had clicked his picture from a mobile phone on the sly, outside the room window. Next day morning at the breakfast, he informed the HCA guys about it who immediately tracked down the constable, deleted the photograph and presented the embarrassed cop in front of him. Tendulkar walked up to him, put his hands over his shoulder and told him "photo hamesha acche se khichwao," and then posed with him for a photograph. "Yeh photo kitna acche lag raha hai," he said looking at the photo and then, requested the area SP not to scold or reprimand the cop over the incident.
Over the days, there were many who wanted to meet him, or get a photo done. There one large group who had come to gift Tendulkar with a silver plate, and special Rewadi. Then there was one man, who wanted to offer Tendulkar his famous thick jalebi. Someone wanted to gift him a collection of all his famous moments.
Ajeet Singh Tanwar was another one, coming from Shikhar district in Rajasthan. A mason by profession, he had all 327 Test innings, ODI scores and all his records on his finger tips. Wanting to pay his tribute to Tendulkar, he stood outside the guest house all night, undeterred by the cops. Until he was granted his wish, and Tendulkar was overwhelmed by his fan. He immediately signed a Mumbai T-shirt and gifted to him. The hungry media, soon signed him up for a hefty amount to stand on their channel. Then there was carpenter who was called for to shave off a centimeter off Tendulkar's bat.
Tendulkar too loved his stay, and enjoyed every moment, on and off the field. Once during the game, which saw paced crowds on every moment Tendulkar was at the ground, either fielding or batting, the crowd chanted "cricket ki bhagwaanki jai." Such was the noise they created that Zaheer missed his run-up a couple of time. Tendulkar just went near them, waved his hand to say "Thank you. Lekin Zaheer thoda ghabra raha hai app hi awaaz se," and laughed. The crowd just had their lifetime moment.
Tendulkar too had it memorable on the field. He scored an unbeaten 79 to guide Mumbai to victory after a difficult chase. The master was back in form --- a befitting end to his Ranji career, and a great beginning to end his Test career. Before leaving the stadium, Tendulkar walked up to the Haryana dressing room and gave a long chat to the team, their young bowlers for making this a nerve-wracking game, and giving him a big challenge.
He loved every moment of his stay and before leaving Rohtak, he decided to pose for three group photographs. First, with the entire staff of the Canal Guest house, including the helper, sweeper, waiter, maids as a thank you gesture for making his stay comfortable. The second one was with the 200 cops who were on his duty and finally with the HCA volunteers who did all the running around for him at the stadium.
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