Maestro Sachin Tendulkar turns 37 tomorrow

Indian cricket may be besmirched in one of its worst ever crisis but there is cause for celebration amid the gloom as iconic batsman Sachin Tendulkar turns 37 tomorrow.    Unlike some previous years, Tendulkar will have to put his  birthday celebrations on hold as a day after he has some unfinished task to complete.    With his coruscating show with the bat, he has led Mumbai Indians to the IPL summit clash for the first time in three attempts and could give himself a perfect birthday gift by laying hands on the winners' trophy.    The maestro is, however, struggling hard to get fit after splitting his right hand webbing during the semifinals. Fans are keeping their fingers crossed that he is declared fit to play the final on April 25.     Tendulkar's 37th birthday comes as BCCI and the IPL battle allegations of corruption and betting. IPL commissioner Lalit Modi is in fact, facing the possibility of being shunted out of the event which was his brainchild.     But with their splendid show, Tendulkar's Mumbai Indians have shown that the controversy -- which has found an echo inthe Parliament of the country as well-- has not diminished their spirits and when on field they care for nothing but cricket.Tendulkar has been in phenomenal form which has made cricket fans around the world wonder what makes him tick on the cricket field with such consistency even after 20 years of virtually non-stop play at the international level.     And to top it all, not a whiff of the scandals that have enveloped the sport in the duration of his incredible career has besmirched his name.Just when people started writing epitaph on his career, his heavy bat boomed with a huge bang in all three forms of the game - Tests, One-Day Internationals and in the IPL -- to silence them.The champion batsman first ratcheted up the stakes in Test cricket by zooming close to a half-century mark in the number of tons and how well he did it.Between December's visit to Bangladesh and the February home series against South Africa, Tendulkar wielded his bat like a magician to rake up five centuries in four Tests, including four on the trot.     Tendulkar started the fabulous sequence of three-figure knocks with an unbeaten 100 at Ahmedabad against Sri Lanka that helped India draw the match before going on to clinch the rubber.