People have one thing in common: they are all different. But, instead of just trying to understand how good a person is, we can’t resist but compare a person with someone else, often to our peril.
After Leo Messi announced his retirement from international football a “noise” of comparison with India’s legend cricketer Sachin Tendulkar is moving around the corner among fans in our country. It is called “noise” because everybody throws their views in the air without a strong point of justification. We have to keep one thing in our mind. Sachin belongs to cricket and Messi in football. We can not compare the duo to their skills. Because both games have different skills.
We all know that Football is a global sport and the richest among all. Even basketball players of US and the richest sports persons in the boxing world are less popular. Footballers are the most followed sportsmen in the world.
Cricket is just a local phenomenon. Besides India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh it is quite popular in England, Australia, and Caribbean Islands but there are other sports as well of which people are more enthusiastic about than just cricket. In India, cricket means money and you know money attracts be it, viewers or sponsors. Actually, they are complementary, as long as there are viewers, there are sponsors and there is good money. It is a cycle. Sachin is god gifted talent. No one can deny that. Sachin was popular in India and will remain for upcoming many years as long as cricket will exist.
Even a million critics in this world could not even conclude who is best Messi or Ronaldo. Now we have come up with this funny comparison of Sachin and Messi. It will be even unfair to compare both the personalities. They are just from different fields and play at different levels.
Sachin took India to the finals of 2011 World Cup, but couldn’t deliver in the final. But he still helped galvanise the team on that important day, and fulfilled his destiny. Messi has done the same for his nation but doesn’t have anything to show for it. Both cricket and football are team games at the end of the day.
Tendulkar and Messi are two of the greatest sporting icons this generation has seen. They have a huge impact on the sport they played. Their legacies transcend their sports and affect all aspects of popular culture. Both are good in behaviour in and off the field. But , the comparison between two is totally unfair.