As a child, Sachin Tendulkar was known to sleepwalk. Years later, he would confess to insomnia. On the eve of matches, Sachin Tendulkar would lie awake till the wee hours. For all perfectionists, sleepless nights come with the turf.

Just the other day at Lahli, speaking to the awe-struck Haryana players after his last domestic game, Sachin Tendulkar revealed his encyclopaedic pre-game checklist. Pitch condition, strokes suitable for the surface, dimensions of the field … and, finally, a threadbare analysis of the bowlers. With so much mental maths to do, Sachin Tendulkar was usually too preoccupied to count sheep and steal a few winks.

Photos: Sachin Tendulkar, Poonam Pandey, Katrina Kaif

The eve of his 200th Test will be the same. Or rather, very different.

From his room at Taj ? by the way, the man of the moment has politely moved out of the special suite to the floor where his team mates are staying ? Sachin Tendulkar, on Thursday, the first day of his final Test, is likely to emerge bleary-eyed. And it wouldn’t be because he was tense under the blanket wondering of a way to read Shane Shillingford’s doosra on Wankhede’s ?live and kicking? red soil.

A couple of years ago, when Rahul Dravid was contemplating retirement, Sachin Tendulkar gave him a valuable piece of advice. During his dream run against England in the summer of 2011, Dravid spoke about those words of wisdom. Don?t set a date to quit as it will keep playing on your mind, was what Sachin Tendulkar said. The thought of doing everything that is dear to you for one last time, he had added, can exhaust you emotionally, which isn?t the ideal state of mind for a professional sportsperson.

To say that Sachin Tendulkar didn?t practise what he preached would be silly. Brand Tendulkar is much bigger than Dravid. In a way, it?s even more influential than Sachin Tendulkar himself. A Dravid kind of low-key departure for Tendulkar would have made fans, corporates and the media feel cheated. The nation famous for its big fat weddings instead got enough time to plan a long, extended and over-the-top farewell.

THE SLOW CLAP

The slow clap began a month ago, after Sachin Tendulkar ?s October 12 retirement announcement. In the days ahead the Wankhede will drum up the decibel levels and Sachin Tendulkar will do everything that he has so famously done for over two decades, one last time.

Asking for leg-stump guard, rolling his tongue over his lips, adjusting his crotch, straight driving, throwing hard from the deep, advising bowlers from mid-on, smiling conspiratorially in the huddle after the fall of a wicket, pushing the steel kada up his forearm before bowling … these are images that have dominated Indian cricket?s modern history.

Their disappearance after this Test will see the end of habit and, yes, the end of an era.

He will also do something he has never done: crossing the white line never to return again. At the Wankhede, the crowds will rush to take their seats so they can rise for that familiar ovation, one last time. Sachin Tendulkar ?s imminent arrival has filled stadiums, his dismissal has emptied them.

Considering his legacy, the near-consensus on his impact on the nation, and the weak opposition in the West Indies, a happy ending to the Tendulkar tale is almost a given. But still, how will the final chapter of the cricketing magnum opus unfold?

Broadly, Sachin Tendulkar ?s Test innings can be divided into four types.

A, the non-starter: 76 times in his career he has been out for a single digit score; B, the average knock: after crossing 50, the man with a Test average of 53.71 has been out in the 50s most times, 15 to be exact. C, the nervous 90s: he holds the world record for getting out while approaching 100. D: the big one: he has scored 51 Test hundreds.

Different from Kolkata

The all-knowing groundsmen say that the Wankhede surface isn?t the kind that will produce a three-day finish, as was the case at Kolkata. With a wink, the man with greying hair adds, ?But it can be ?the end? on the fourth day.? That would mean a Sunday to remember.

Imagine this: 200th Test in his backyard, a glowing career ending where it all started, mother in the stands watching son for the first time, Sachin Tendulkar scoring a hundred in an India win. Who writes the scripts for this man? For most of his career, it was Tendulkar who did it himself. But for this one time you want Bollywood to take over. At the Wankhede, they are dreaming of a dream end for the child who was known to sleepwalk.

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