Bal Thackeray VS Sachin Tendulkar - Twenty20 or Test Match?

Sachin Tendulkar recently said somewhere (to someone) that he was proud to be a Maharashtrian, but he considers himself a patriotic Indian first. As expected, Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray retorted by quipping that "by taking this cheeky single, Sachin had got run out on the pitch of Marathi psyche” and advised Sachin to focus on cricket and stay away from politics.

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Fine. So what are we supposed to do? Nothing! Absolutely nothing!! Because both of them are self-centered heroes who are out to prove their individual supremacy. They are intelligent manipulators and nothing else.

Bal Thackeray has been manipulating Maharashtrians (ever since Shiv Sena came into existence) to fulfill his own political dream and to pursue his own personal agenda. Likewise, Sachin has been manipulating the Indian innings and using the Indian team (by eating too many 'balls' and hurling the team towards a defeat) to make personal records.

For Thackeray, his personal self-respect at any given time is more dear to him than the cumulative self-respects of all Maharashtrians put together. For Sachin, a century is more precious than a victory for his team (There are "records" to prove this).

Interestingly, both these manipulators have made it a practice to show some genuine concern once in a blue moon, to further fool their victims into believing that these two are actually working for 'their' benefit.

I don't want to waste my time on these two "individuals" or spend my energy on speculating whether this turns out to be a Test Match or fades away as a Twenty20 confrontation, but I salute both these great Indians for their sheer smartness!