The Unsung Hero

None of the above craziness happened when Leander Paes stepped on to play the US Open men's doubles final, or is likely to happen when he steps on the courts again to spearhead the Indian challenge in the Davis Cup. I can perhaps take a risk and suggest that when Paes, partnered by Martin Damm played Bjorkman and Mirnyi at 2.30 am India time on Sunday 10 September, the entire nation (except may be a handful) was asleep.

Yet Paes continues to inspire, to amaze, to startle and to top it all continues to win laurels for the nation with amazing regularity. At the Australian Open earlier this year, Paes finished runner up. He followed it up with a semi-final appearance at Wimbledon and now the ultimate crown at the US Open. Yet, let alone the fanaticism over Sachin Tendulkar, Leander Paes hasn't ever managed to spawn the craze or the hype generated by Sania Mirza following her 4th round US Open appearance last year.

It is commonplace to suggest that Leander is an average tennis player who reaches another level when he dawns India colours at the Davis Cup. While on the one hand this is meant as praise--he continues to remain patriotic after sixteen years of professional grind--on the other, it dwarfs all his other achievements: Seven Grand slam titles in thirteen final appearances, which, to remind us all, have helped reinstate India in the world tennis map. If Andre Agassi can play the US Open as an American, play before his "home" crowd and make them weep, what makes us feel Leander only plays the Davis Cup for India and all other tournaments for himself? Or is this yet another example of the famous Indian treatment of its sporting icons?

For the record--it was almost impossible to follow the men's doubles final at the Open. It was played simultaneously with the second men's semi-final between Roddick and Youzhny and understandably all attention was focused on Roddick. Channel 9, which was showing the Open here in Australia was covering the Roddick match and did not bother to move on to the doubles even after it ended. The only way to keep tab of the proceedings was to follow the score on the internet. And having downloaded the point tracker at the US Open site, it was a unique experience. You could hardly blink, for if you did, you ran the risk of missing a point.

And while staring at the computer at the wee hours of dawn I was amazed to see that the point tracker informed me of the score at least 2 seconds in advance of the television broadcast. Even before Roddick had won a point on television, the point tracker had been updated on the net. It was like watching a deferred live telecast--even though the deferral was only a matter of seconds. And this rather startling contribution of modern technology gave me a kind of perverse pleasure--I was able to follow Leander and shout for him seconds before the television broadcast would have enabled me to.

When Leander and Damm lost the first set tie break 5-7, after leading 5-3, it was almost impossible to keep gazing at the computer screen. Suddenly the glare was affecting my vision; suddenly the bed seemed a more coveted place to return to. And when they came back to win the match in three sets I was amazed to see that not one Indian 24/7 television web portal updated the news that instant. In fact, it was after two hours that the news of Leander winning his first US Open title was updated. Can we imagine a similar plight for Dravid and his men after they beat the West Indies for example in the final match of the series in the Caribbean?

There comes a time when all of us have said enough is enough. So what if the news wasn't updated, so what if people don't throng the airports when Leander comes back to India next, so what if he continues to be hailed as a David Cup wonder? The truth -- and sometimes statistics -- is not the ass we think it is -- will demonstrate that Leander Paes, along with Vishwanathan Anand, has been the best thing to happen to Indian sport over the last two decades. And when he finally retires, nothing, not even the frenzy associated with Indian cricket can take this truth away from him. He will continue to be the most awe inspiring Indian sporting icon of all time. For who else could say, "Most people see Davis Cup as pressure on their shoulders. For me Davis Cup puts pressure under my shoulders, pressure that lifts me up". May be the US Open did too when he saw some tri-colours being waved from the stands.