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I have few heroes outside of cricket. In fact, as I write this, I can't recall even one!! My very first one was Sanjay Manjrekar. Yes, I was very very young, naive and stupid. Not to imply that none of these qualities exist at present. (note the clever use of double negatives in the previous sentence :-D) But, the good thing was, he was such an average performer that no one really cared if he failed. He was not a "discussed" cricketer. I never once had to spring to the defense of my hero!!

But from there, it went downhill. My next hero was Azza. The greatness of the man is exemplified by the number of hearts he broke, and the cynicism that he brought into the mind of every cricket follower in India. He was God, he was the devil, he was the magician, he was the clown...all at the same time. And no one could just let him be. No one could forget. And even today, there is a deep set feeling of "he let me down" in the heart of every Azza fan. He gave us immense joy (one of the last of the kind), but we remember the pain.

Then came my biggest crush - Sachin. He was the idol. It was also a time when I was living cricket. He was everything I could not be. There is really not much to be said. He is greatness. But now, when I see his broken body unable to perform to 10% of his abilities, struggling to get away "Lord" Haris, it pains. It must be similar to what the worshippers of Kapil must have gone through. Because, one does not even feel like defending them...one is just not worthy of the task!!

Sadly though, I now realize that the hero-worship years are past. Cricket is just a game. There are no heroes. There is no pain. I cant believe myself when I applaud - "well bowled Asif"!! That's grown up. And it sucks...like everything about "grown up".