Who qualifies to be called 'Great'? a term often used disproportionately. On a day when a truly remarkable sporting feat was accomplished; the post is not pointing to Sachin. He is a Great. Period!
I may or may not like him, for various reasons (I would still pay to watch Yuvraj Singh rather than Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar), but that aside and not an antecedent to this discourse. The question asked... here is - Is being Great, a relative term. As Einstein once was asked, how would you define relativity.
- "Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour," he once declared. "Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. That’s relativity!"
Should we necessarily measure greatness with teams success- in a team sport! I will quote an example. Pardon me for using a sport other than cricket as an anomaly, for I just want to make my point. Does Roberto Baggio (who made pony-tail a rage in early 90s) become a lesser great for his teams failure in '94 football WC and does Brazil's success in '02 WC procreate Ronaldo a true great. Though if seen Baggio's football in '94 for its sheer joy was way ahead to what Ronaldo produced 8 years later! I think Ronaldo produced his best football at world stage in '98- the convulsion did him but in the finals. Why I'm alluding to this is because its very rare to find a great player in a great team/side. It happened with Viv Richards in late 70s and 80s, it most certainly happened with Sir Don Bradman with his invincibles of 40s. But the combination is very rare.
I may or may not like him, for various reasons (I would still pay to watch Yuvraj Singh rather than Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar), but that aside and not an antecedent to this discourse. The question asked... here is - Is being Great, a relative term. As Einstein once was asked, how would you define relativity.
- "Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour," he once declared. "Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. That’s relativity!"
Should we necessarily measure greatness with teams success- in a team sport! I will quote an example. Pardon me for using a sport other than cricket as an anomaly, for I just want to make my point. Does Roberto Baggio (who made pony-tail a rage in early 90s) become a lesser great for his teams failure in '94 football WC and does Brazil's success in '02 WC procreate Ronaldo a true great. Though if seen Baggio's football in '94 for its sheer joy was way ahead to what Ronaldo produced 8 years later! I think Ronaldo produced his best football at world stage in '98- the convulsion did him but in the finals. Why I'm alluding to this is because its very rare to find a great player in a great team/side. It happened with Viv Richards in late 70s and 80s, it most certainly happened with Sir Don Bradman with his invincibles of 40s. But the combination is very rare.
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