However, what has remained unaffected is the charm, effervescence and the beauty that the sport possesses. Of course, the barrier has risen in the form of managers, PR activities and the lack of accessibility but India continues to remain the hotbed and, dare I say, the spiritual home of cricket. To understand the subject, SportsCafe caught up with one of the finest raconteurs in the country, Vijay Lokapally, a widely-travelled Sports Journalist, with more than 40 years of experience of covering cricket from practically every international venue in the world.

SC: Social media has changed the way a cricketer shares his relationship with fans. The syndrome of short attention span has played a role too. How different was it during the late 80s and early 90s as compared to the modern-time?

SC: The 1983 Prudential World Cup win and the subsequent 1985 Benson and Hedges World Championship victory ushered in a new era for Indian cricket. A whole new generation was inspired and the biggest and the most celebrated of them all was a certain Sachin Tendulkar, who scripted his own little history for the next quarter of a century. Looking at it from a close distance, how do you perceive the change?

Lokapally: Even before Sachin made his debut in 1989 everybody knew his potential and he received fantastic support not just from his teammates but from his opponents too as they recognized that he had a God-given gift. Yes, Sachin had a huge role to play in popularizing the game of cricket in the 90s and after 2000 and till the time he played his last Test in 2013, I don’t think there was a single moment where you felt that he could be dropped. Sachin inspired a generation of youngsters who used to gather in the stadium and chant his name ‘Sachin Sachin’. They used to pray for him and with him, they also used to pray for India to achieve good results. So India became a very strong team in Sachin’s presence and of course, then MS Dhoni came along.

Lokapally: MS Dhoni brought in a different brand of cricket and coming from a small town like Ranchi, he was a self-made cricketer. He gave hope to the young budding cricketers in small towns in rural India although cricket was an elite sport in the metropolitan cities. By winning the 2007 T20 World Cup and then the 2011 World Cup, he left a mark on the cricketing world. He also was fortunate to have the right batsmen and the right bowling combinations and also had the support of the entire team.

Also do not forget players like Sourav Ganguly who led the Indian team with such distinction. People also tend to forget the contribution of players like Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble who have won matches at home as well as overseas and have bowled in the first fifteen overs of a one-day international with shine on the ball which is never easy. And then of course Virat Kohli arrived when social media was present in your daily life. He has become the face of Indian cricket as the broadcasters have never missed an opportunity to make full use of Kohli’s presence and even he understands how important he is to Indian fans. Kohli respects his fans and obliges them by readily giving an autograph and posing for a selfie with them.

SC: For someone like me, who was born in early 90s and grew up in the 2000s, Sachin Tendulkar was always a larger-than-life character, symbolising everything excellent about cricket. But the aura of Sachin of the 90s was something different. You covered him extensively during that time and must have been witnessed to many aspects that make a wunderkind the all-time greatest. Can you take us through that phase?

Lokapally: People who have seen Sachin only in stadiums or on television. Please try to understand that being Sachin Tendulkar was not at all easy. He had to do a lot of hard work when there was no cricket happening. Keeping himself fit, giving time to his family, etc. were the important things that he had to do. He attended every net session in such a disciplined way as if it was a match. For me the most impressive part of Sachin’s career was how he used to prepare for matches. If you remember in 1998, ahead of the series against Steve Waugh’s Australian team he asked (leg-spinner) Laxman Sivaramakrishnan to bowl him into the rough and he practised and practised as he had to face Shane Warne. He had a great cricketing mind. There are many aspects of his cricket not narrated by the commentators and is not known to the public. He never missed an opportunity to play a domestic match. Playing for Mumbai for him was as important as playing for India. He also handled his fans with a lot of respect. He was caring towards the younger fans and loved them genuinely. He knew that they used to pray for him and help him get to his big scores. People say that Sachin played to reach the 200-Test mark but so what. He was never a burden and he kept himself fit and relevant for all this while. In this way, he inspired a generation of cricketers and something which will never be seen again.

Lokapally: I have watched Virat Kohli play from close quarters and what a lovely batsman he is. There is an awesome aura about his batsmanship. His range of shots, his consistency, his ability to produce match-wining knocks is exemplary. He has not developed it overnight. He had the talent but then he honed it with hard work. In modern cricket, he is the torch-bearer of quality batting and he does it in all the formats of the game. I know people like his T20 and ODI batting more but to me, he is a magnificent batsman to watch in Tests. He is an example for youngsters to emulate in judging the pitch and the bowling and then building your innings. There are some other attractive batsmen too like KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane. Also, don’t forget Cheteshwar Pujara who never gets credit for his contribution to Indian cricket. Despite his strike rate, he is a fine Test player. And they make for a stunning line up in Test cricket.

SC: How do you view the bunch of fast bowlers that India has now?

SC: How do you perceive the changing relationship between players and fans for which sports journalists play an important role. Do you think the PR barrier means cricket writers have been devoid of understanding a player’s perspective in this day and age?

Lokapally: Not having access to players is a serious problem for journalists in this era. One of the main reasons why journalists of my time had access to players was the trust that was built between them over a period of time. Also, the number of journalists was not so big. I feel sad when a journalist has to go through the manager to ask the player a question but you also cannot blame the player as he also has to manage his time. He cannot sit and give 20 interviews in a day. Many of my colleagues can still directly contact the players but this is because of the mutual respect they have for each other’s work. Many young sports journalists of today are as good as those from my time, some even better, but lack of access to the players is an issue for them.

SC: Thank You, Sir for sharing your time. It’s lovely talking to you.

Lokapally: Thank you for giving me this opportunity to share my experience with the young generation.