Sachin Tendulkar - The Living Legend (Part III)

[Plum]

[tscii:f3a9d6fb61] Someone has done the Ponting comparison I wanted to do (http://morethanjustagame.wordpress.com)
Take that, Ponting proppers-up!



To state the obvious , there are points that prove that Sachin’s team mates perform at a lower level than Ponting’s respective team-mates (especially in defeats), which leaves Sachin to do a whole lot more


But if you leave aside all the stats for a minute, there’s a human element to it all. There’s a tendency to believe that it’s the scores in the really big games that the player puts up which really matter. Even better if it’s a chase isn’t it? Truly taking your team to victory in style. Well , consider these points:

1. Australia has been to 4 world cup finals with Sachin around, India 1.

2. It’s generally a little tougher to score Centuries while chasing than while you’re setting a target. Ponting has 8 centuries when chasing vs 16 when setting a target. Sachin has scored 18 when batting first and 14 when India chased. Seems like Sachin can handle that pressure of helping chase.

3. In the 4 world cup finals Australia played in, they won 3 (1999, 2003, 2007). In the 4 world cup finals (1996, 99, 2003, 2007), they only chased once , in 1999, where the chase wasn’t much. In the 3 other situations, they batted 1st. Ponting duly got 1 big century against India in that game.

4. Sachin hasn’t had opportunities to get into that many finals. They got close in 1996, when the famous Eden gardens episode took place in the semis. They got close again in 2003, when India embarrassed themselves in the finals. But make no mistake about it. There have been quite some skewed performances in the past. The reason why India even made it to those stages, despite sub-par performances from more than half the team: SACHIN TENDULKAR.


[/tscii:f3a9d6fb61]

[ajithfederer]

Batting order blunder cost us 2007 World Cup: Tendulkar
PTI 10 November 2009, 04:54pm IST

NEW DELHI: Sachin Tendulkar rates the 2007 World Cup debacle as the worst moment of his professional career and blamed the setback on a batting
order blunder.

India could not make it to the Super Eight stage of the high-profile tournament in the West Indies and crashed out after defeats against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Tendulkar did not say a word on Greg Chappell, insisting he would not disclose dressing room secrets, but had no doubt that the batting order was far from perfect. "I felt our batting order was not right," said Tendulkar, who batted at number four with Robin Uthappa sent ahead of him.

"It was a big tournament and we had a fantastic team. Everything looked well set but I felt our batting order was not right. This was one of the reasons (behind India's early ouster)," the champion batsman told Times Now.

Chappell was nearing the end of his tumultuous coaching stint with India, having ticked off senior players, including Tendulkar, with his high-handedness.

The Mumbai player, however, refused to disclose anything. "I would not go into the details, for I believe what happens in the dressing room should stay in the dressing room. But of course, things could have been different," Tendulkar said.

Bangladesh thumped India by five wickets in the first Group B match at Port of Spain and Tendulkar said it was a freak match for his teammates.

"We did not play the way we were expected to. It's not that the players did not try enough. We tried our best but there are days when things don't go your way and it was one of those days," Tendulkar said.

Tendulkar said the early ouster was more painful than his own failure as captain of the team even though he has no regrets for failing to make a mark as the skipper of the side.

"No regrets at all. Captaining is not about an individual but a team," he said.

"Of course it was painful whenever team lost but losing the 2007 World Cup was more disappointing," Tendulkar added.

Tendulkar, who would be completing his 20 years of international cricket on November 15, said fitness-wise, he was feeling alright and was looking forward to playing in the 2011 World Cup.

"Touchwood, my body is holding up nicely. Of course I'm looking forward to the 2011 World Cup and by God's grace, we should be able to achieve what we want to achieve," he said.

Asked how he would like to be remembered once he hangs up his boot, Tendulkar said, "As somebody who played for the team and was true, sincere and honest as a member of the side...as somebody who has given it all and wanted to be a good team-man."

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/top-stories/Batting-order-blunder-cost-us-2007-World-Cup-Tendulkar/articleshow/5215700.cms

[ajithfederer]

Was Sachin Tendulkar's 175 against Australia the highest score by a batsman in an unsuccessful chase? asked Manasvi from India
Yes, Sachin Tendulkar's 175 against Australia in Hyderabad last week was indeed the highest individual score ever made in an unsuccessful run-chase in a one-day international: the previous record was 149 not out, by Shivnarine Chanderpaul for West Indies against India in Nagpur in 2006-07. There have been only two higher scores in a losing cause in ODIs than Tendulkar's 175 - Charles Coventry's 194 not out for Zimbabwe against Bangladesh in Bulawayo earlier this year, and Matthew Hayden's unbeaten 181 for Australia v New Zealand in Hamilton in 2006-07.

http://www.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/433540.html

[Plum]

Yeah, seruppu brothers are a disgrace. aNNan is a Ponting bhaktan(more of Steve Waugh edhiri, so edhirikki edhiri naNban-nuttu, he props up Ponting) and thambi destroyed Indian cricket for a brief while. nammALUnga, dressing roomla nadandhadhu angeye irukkanumnu edho logic solli chumma irundhuduvaanga. Seruppu brothers columns and books ezhudhu, indiavai blame paNnittu panathukku panam, whitewashing their sins-ku whitewashing their sins-nu poikittae iruppanga
I say, SRT, let out the dressing room secrets on the footwear brothers

[ajithfederer]

[tscii:bbc778ac47]Sachin beat me hollow in Table Tennis-- Paes!!

To me, longevity is the hallmark of greatness and Sachin epitomises that. That’s talking pure sport. But when we begin to judge greatness as a human being, then anyone’s greatest asset is humility. Sachin’s poise and composure in the face of constant public scrutiny is remarkable, in fact, it’s almost superhuman.

Over the years, I have met him a number of times but the one interaction ingrained in my mind is the time we spent together at the Taj Exotica in Goa. It was December 2000 and we had gone down there for an Adidas commercial.

Now, I earn my living from my skill with a racquet and consider myself pretty good at most racquet games. So I was not really too bothered about being able to hold my own when Sachin challenged me to a game of table tennis.

I went in confident, but in a short while I was shellshocked. The man has incredible skill with the paddle and his reflexes are razor sharp. He literally destroyed me.

Neither of us is known for giving up easy. What began as fun became a fierce contest of wills and we played over 30 games. I won about 10.

The incredible bit was his ambidexterity.

He could rip winning smashes with either hand! I am convinced that he would have been world-class no matter what sport he played. Cricket is lucky he chose to redefine that particular sport.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/cricketnews/I-took-him-on-and-he-beat-me-hollow-Leander-Paes/474653/H1-Article1-474644.aspx [/tscii:bbc778ac47]

[ajithfederer]

http://whatslatest.com/blog/?p=13926

Amul is known for making fun type of cartoons on the current events. The cartoon above makes fun of Team India in Hyderabad when Tendulkar (Ten Du) made all the runs and the other Ten (rest of the team) (Ten Don’t) did not contribute much to the chasing runs.

LM or PR, Is it possible to host that cartoon???. [tscii:32edb8792c][/tscii:32edb8792c]

[littlemaster1982]

I'm unable to get the url for the pic. PR could do it I guess.

This slogan is very old, IIRC. Sad that it still holds good :(

[ajithfederer]

http://i33.tinypic.com/fngydy.jpg

Here it is lm.

[littlemaster1982]

[html:5d784dbc3c]http://i33.tinypic.com/fngydy.jpg[/html:5d784dbc3c]

[ajithfederer]

Sachin interview in timesnow channel now.

[littlemaster1982]

There is another program on Headlines Today on Nov 14 named "God of Cricket". Not sure about the timings.

[19thmay]

http://i33.tinypic.com/fngydy.jpg

Nice one Stan and LM! :lol:

Fix it in the first page of our master's thread. :)

[Kalyasi]

Sachin interview in timesnow channel now.

Super a irunthuchi!!! Semmaya pesinaar....

[ajithfederer]

Sahin interview with timesnow channel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTROsu2q3OM&feature=channel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGVnkCTSLRc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LefGYXnLLoQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFVTS8ugPFE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNp-thplseM

[Plum]

An old article on Selection meetings during Sachin's captaincy (http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?203890)


One of the selectors told

Outlook that Sachin and Desai had lost their cool at the other selectors "at least twice" during the meeting. But there was no truth in the rumour that the two had very nearly walked out and had to be pulled back in by Lele.


Sachin's captaincy had been discussed in his presence and his wishes ignored.

ennellAm face paNNa vendi irundhudhu ivarukku!

The Bengali newspaper

Aaj Kal front-paged a report from Bangalore by its correspondent Debashish Dutta, and the Sachin it showcased was a Sachin no one knew. Among other things, the usually monosyllabic Sachin (favourite response: "most definitely") was quoted as saying: l "I've been given a B-grade team. It's not the best. It was imposed on me." l "I will not be a scapegoat anymore. Why shouldn't the captain get the team he wants when he receives the flak?"


"I won't be used any longer. I'm going to speak the truth."


"I'm not enamoured of the captaincy. They can take it away if they want. The Indian skipper is powerless."




On the flip side, there is this:

Sachin and he were overruled on retaining Kambli and Mongia
appO kambli, ippO durby. ketta sagavAsam vechukkAdhanna kEtkaraRa? hmm...

[Plum]

[tscii:e9ef9438ab]This is the coup from the above link:


After India collapsed from 210 for 3 to airy-fairy shots by the middle-order—Karim, Ajay Jadeja and Robin Singh—despite Sachin's instructions to play for singles, one of them reportedly squealed that he was asked to hit out by his partner. An enraged Sachin, according to a team-mate, said: "If anybody wants to become captain, it's OK by me. But as long as I'm in charge, my writ should run."

Any guesses who this partner is? Because the answer clearly outlines the biggest enemy sachin had to fight as captain - and which really makes any evaluation of his captaincy of Indian team unwieldy.

This report was in July 1997. So, this paragraph is, at worst, implicating that person of captaincy ambitions, and personal jealousy. However, in light of subsequent events and revealtions, this comes off as a sinister commission by that non-striker. And Sachin had to fight this as captain! And his record is compared unfavourably with some captains of today who have all things going for them![/tscii:e9ef9438ab]

[Sourav]

‘I HAVE DELAYED MY SHOOTS MANY TIMES TO WATCH SACHIN BAT’
They are the biggest two icons of the country; they are also unabashed admirers of each other. Amitabh Bachchan Speaks About Sachin Tendulkar’s Genius In This TOI Exclusive...
Ajay Naidu | TNN

TOI: Sachin Tendulkar is going to complete 20 years in international cricket. Your reactions on this awesome feat by the little great man of Indian cricket...
AB: Incredible! It is a marvel that a sportsman can have such an extended, achievement-filled life. His recent performance (referring to Sachin’s 175 in Hyderabad) was better than all those much younger than him. He is a true genius!
TOI: How does it feel to know that despite being an icon himself, Tendulkar has been a huge fan of yours since he was a kid?
AB: I am so, so humbled by this fact. It is Sachin’s greatness that he should consider me to be capable of his affection and love.
TOI: What is it that you admire about Sachin’s batting?
AB: It is the absolute confidence his stance exudes, and the imperious manner in which he dismisses each delivery. All his strokes are poetry in motion but, for me, his punched off-drive is breathtaking.
TOI: You are a legend yourself and have been in the limelight for so many years now. Do you appreciate the way Tendulkar has handled pressure, both on and off the field?
AB: I am no legend, but Sachin is a consummate artist and all such artists are gifted in handling pressure under all circumstances. Indeed, I believe if there were to be no pressure in an artist’s life, his best would never emerge.
TOI: Have you ever delayed a shoot, or postponed an appointment, just because Tendulkar was going great guns during a match?
AB: Yes, innumerable times!
TOI: When Tendulkar is playing well, he puts a smile on a billion faces. Suddenly, people everywhere seem to be more accomodating and friendly, and even the cashier at the bank serves you with a smile! Have you experienced similar feelgood vibes at your shoots?
AB: There is an atmosphere of positivity when Sachin is doing well and, at shoots, there is a constant, uplifting buzz.
TOI: Talk us through some of the innings you cherish...
AB: Look at his record! Do you really think anyone has the capacity to talk through his best innings? As far as I am concerned, they have all been the best.
TOI: When did you first meet Sachin and what was your first impression about him?
AB: I cannot remember when exactly I first met him. But I do remember that from the day I met him to this day, he has remained the same humble, quiet and shy person, one who almost wishes that he could avoid all the attention he gets in public.
TOI: Tendulkar has appeared on Kaun Banega Crorepati and also featured in a few commercials with you. What was the chemistry like during those shoots?
AB: There was instant rapport between us and he was clinically correct in the execution of whatever he took up.
TOI: Facing controversy is part of being a celebrity. Do you sometimes wonder how someone like Tendulkar has managed to stay away from controversies despite being under the microscope for two decades?
AB: It is the able manner in which he conducts himself in public and private that has made him what he is today. It requires great restraint and mental rectitude to achieve that. It is not easy to remain unaffected and aloof from controversy, but Sachin has always exercised the qualities most achievers do: he has remained patient and allowed his bat to do the talking. When his bat talks, controversy — right or wrong — can take a walk.
TOI: Apart from his batting, what are the qualities you admire in Tendulkar?
AB: His gentle, unobtrusive manner.
TOI: Besides yourself, who else in your family is a Tendulkar fan?
AB: Everyone in my family is a huge Tendulkar fan.
TOI: Like in your case, age appears to be just a number for Tendulkar. Retirement seems far off...
AB: Do not compare or put Sachin in the same class as me. May he continue to be with us, in our team, and be our inspiration forever. At a public function for the promotion of his film, Aamir Khan made a very pertinent remark. He said despite the fact that they know they are the best, Lata Mangeshkar and Sachin Tendulkar have never been heard saying so themselves. I would look at this remark in two ways. 1. Those who think they are the best, need to keep saying it because others do not. 2. Those who know they are the best do not need to say it because others say it! So if they are not saying they are the best, it probably means they still believe there is room for improvement. That’s the true mark of a master. [tscii:b432fef344][/tscii:b432fef344]
http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOICH/2009/11/12&PageLabel=20&EntityId=Ar02000&ViewMode=HTML&GZ=T

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/getimage.dll?path=TOICH/2009/11/12/20/Img/Pc0200900.jpg


http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOICH/2009/11/12&PageLabel=20&EntityId=Ar02004&ViewMode=HTML&GZ=T

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOICH/2009/11/12&PageLabel=20&EntityId=Ar02002&ViewMode=HTML&GZ=T

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOICH/2009/11/12&PageLabel=20&EntityId=Ar02001&ViewMode=HTML&GZ=T

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOICH/2009/11/12&PageLabel=20&EntityId=Ar02005&ViewMode=HTML&GZ=T

[ajithfederer]

[tscii:02179d183c]When sachin almost made me go blind: Atul Ranade
Vinay Nayudu, TNN 12 November 2009, 01:26am IST

I and Sachin Tendulkar go back a long way, since kindergarten, in fact. I also opened the innings for our school Shardashram in that famous match in which Sachin and Vinod Kambli notched up the 664-run partnership in 1988.

I feel what makes Sachin different is the utmost respect with which he treats all kinds of people. Be it a groundsman or the senior-most cricketer, his behaviour is impeccable and identical. He makes this possible because the respect he shows is immense and straight from the heart.

Many people ask me what makes him go on and on. I think it's the devotion. He sticks to the basics,
does the hard work each day and follows everything with discipline and honesty.

He is mentally very strong. We were training at the Bandra Kurla Complex gymnasium in Mumbai recently, and while I finished in 45 minutes, he went on and on, for hours. He has certain plans in mind and sticks to them faithfully, to the core. He is also very aware that his road is long, and he wants to go the distance. He knows there are no short cuts in life. Sachin feels that he was fortunate to get a chance to get into the Indian team when he was 16 years old and he treasures his place. He doesn't want to let go of that.

His batting has changed over the years, of course, and he has started including new shots in his repertoire, like the upper cut. As a friend, though, he's still the same. He has always been concerned about our families and will do anything to help out. His sincerity and morals come from his father, who always imbibed in him the importance of being humble.

When we were at the Ramakant Achrekar academy, our coach would make us put the nets, roll the pitch and even learn to do things with the outfield. So if the groundsmen were missing, we could still get on with the game. These basics are deeply ingrained in Sachin. He's still the same hungry boy who always wanted to bat and bat.

He's a brat too. Once when we were on the tour to Ahmedabad with the under-15 team, he applied Sloan's balm around my eyes and pretended to be asleep. When I awoke in the middle of the night, I rubbed my eyes and realised they were burning. They seemed to be on fire! I started screaming, ‘‘I can't see anything, I've gone blind!''

Sachin rushed to me and took me to the bathroom and said, ‘‘Apply this cream it will make you feel better.'' The cream was actually a toothpaste and since I couldn't see that too, I rubbed it all over my eyes!

When we catch up these days, we still talk about our schooldays and have a lot of dhamaal!

Atul Ranade has played first-class cricket for Mumbai and Goa

[/tscii:02179d183c]

[Plum]

[tscii:4e6423a204]This is the coup from the above link:


After India collapsed from 210 for 3 to airy-fairy shots by the middle-order—Karim, Ajay Jadeja and Robin Singh—despite Sachin's instructions to play for singles, one of them reportedly squealed that he was asked to hit out by his partner. An enraged Sachin, according to a team-mate, said: "If anybody wants to become captain, it's OK by me. But as long as I'm in charge, my writ should run."

Any guesses who this partner is? Because the answer clearly outlines the biggest enemy sachin had to fight as captain - and which really makes any evaluation of his captaincy of Indian team unwieldy.

This report was in July 1997. So, this paragraph is, at worst, implicating that person of captaincy ambitions, and personal jealousy. However, in light of subsequent events and revealtions, this comes off as a sinister commission by that non-striker. And Sachin had to fight this as captain! And his record is compared unfavourably with some captains of today who have all things going for them![/tscii:4e6423a204]

Ok, I think this was very cryptic.
I wanted to raise attention on this.

Basically, this talks about a match where Sachin was captain, and an easy runs-balls equation with the likes of Azhar, jadeja, Robin Singh and Karim to follow. It looks like Sachin instructed the latter 3 to play safe around Azhar. And it looks like Azhar instructed them to hit out, and thus they got out. Sachin, as per this report, at that point, interpreted this as "Azhar wants to be captain, so he was trying to lose the match for India".

Based on subsequent events, we all know how sinister that action from Azhar was.

I wanted to bring to light what Sachin had to face as captain. How do we even judge his record as a captain with such people in his team? That is why, I am sceptic of evaluations of Sachin's captaincy as poor.

[Bala (Karthik)]

Plum,
Sachin ku Azhar mela irundha gaandu (Tamil la solren pa, Indhi illa) per ponadhaache. Selection meeting la ellam direct a "enakku Azhar vendaam" nu solluvaar nu kelvi pattirukken.

Adhu poga, indha article oru madhiri irukkum pola irukke (full a padikkala, oru alasu alasunen). Tamizh pathirikkai range la ezhudhiyirukkaanga (i mean sports/cinema coverage in Tamil media)

[Plum]

Yes, bala, and why wouldnt he say that. Obviously, Azhar has been working against the interests of the team - this is one such instance. At that time, Sachin seems to have given a liberal interpretation that it was just personal jealousy. We all know how sinister Azhar had been. So, it is not at all surprising that Sachin didnt want him in the team

What I am saying is that, with that background, how do we say he was a bad captain?

[littlemaster1982]

In the book "Sachin Tendulkar - A Definitive Biography" there are lot of such things said about Azhar. To be honest, I felt it was little exaggerated. Will post some excerpts later. (I don't have the book now).

[ajithfederer]

Australia's PM Kevin Rudd salutes Tendulkar
Last updated on: November 12, 2009 17:14 IST

Visiting Australia Prime Minister Kevin Rudd doffed his hat at batting ace Sachin Tendulkar on becoming the first cricketer to score 17,000 runs in One-day cricket.

"I congratulate Sachin Tendulkar on achieving the outstanding milestone of 17,000 One-day International runs," Rudd said while addressing an India business lunch in Delhi on Thursday.

Incidentally, Tendulkar reached the milestone during the just-concluded ODI series against Australia.

Rudd conveyed the respect Tendulkar commands in Australia and said, "From one cricket-mad nation to another, we salute the 'Little Master'.

"I'm advised his young team-mate Yuvraj Singh has started calling the 36-year-old grandfather. Where that places a 52-year-old like me, I'm not sure," Rudd quipped.

"And, may I say on behalf of all Australian cricket fans that if Sachin does decide it is time to retire, we would support him wholeheartedly," he said, tongue-in-cheek.

"Of course, there is more to life than cricket," Rudd added.

The Australian prime minister said he would have loved to be in Mumbai for the seventh and final India-Australia ODI, which was washed out.

He said India and Australia are similar in their love for cricket and also shared his dabble with the game.

"You will be surprised to learn that I have played against India before -- as a member of the Australian embassy team in Beijing against the Indian embassy team. My highest score was 11 not out," he said.

http://cricket.rediff.com/report/2009/nov/12/aus-pm-kevin-rudd-salutes-tendulkar.htm

[ajithfederer]

In times of Tendulkar: Top 20 at 20

For my generation (the one that has traversed teenage to early 30s!),Sachin Tendulkar has been a constant indulgence. When he arrived a Prime Minister had forced us consider our caste. Mobile phones were still part of sci-fi flicks. An unspectacular life in government service was what we were taught to aspire for. News was still not a 24-hour circus.


Amitabh Bachchan was frittering away a body of awe-inspiring work with a series of monstrosities. A lap-top was a grainy adult film the video shop shop owner quietly slipped into your palm as adolosence demanded its price.


So much has changed, yet there is one constant. The indulgence that assures you to this day that it doesn't need to be forsaken. Sachin Tendulkar. Memories are vivid. And we remain fulfilled, yet unsatiated. To indulge myself a bit more, I decided to pick one Tendulkar moment from each year that he has been an Indian cricketer. Much like choosing just one piece of chocolate from a scrumptuous box, this is a hard task. But indulgence demands its price! So here we go with my top 20 Tendulkar moments; One from each year:


1989


The Test matches from Pakistan weren't broadcast live so we only read tales of a fearless debut. When he brushed away a blow to the nose from a beastly Waqar Younis bouncer to bat on. The moment that remains etched in memory is from an exhibition one-day game. Abdul Qadir, that magical leg-spinner, dancing in to the boy. And being clouted for six after six. Tendulkar's captain, no mean hitter of the cricket ball himself, is watching flabbergasted from the non-striker's end. A stunned crowd is silent. I can't recall the result of the game. But in the space of a few balls, the first sign of Tendulkar's genius was apparent.

1990


At Manchester, England have set India an unachievable 408 in the final innings. At 127 for 5 with Sidhu, Shastri, Manjrekar, Vengsarkar and Azhar dismissed the result stinks of inevitability. Tendulkar has just turned 18 and so finally has a driving licence! But on this day he doesn't just drive! He cuts, pulls, glides and confounds his team to the safety of an unexpected draw. It is his first Test century. We are learning to rely on Tendulkar.


1991


A quiet year. India play only two test matches and a smattering of one-day cricket. Tendulkar achieves little in those. But as the year is ending a tour to Australia begins. India are thrashed first at Brisbane by 10 wickets and then at Melbourne by 8 wickets. In the second innings at the MCG, Tendulkar makes 40. The second highest individual score for India in the innings. It is in his dismissal that clues to a growing reputation are visible. Allan Border, Australia's usually stoic captain, holds on to a skyer and leads a wild celebration. Hmmm, Australia were winning anyway, and comfortably at that. So why this? Is the teenager already the most prized wicket in the Indian line-up?




1992

The seminal hundred at Perth against an Aussie attack hurling more than just five and a half ounces of leather at him was for many the making of Tendulkar. My abiding memory from this year though is from a miserable day in Wellington during the World cup. India are being thrashed by West Indies. Tendulkar makes just 4 and gets carted for 20 in 3 unimpressive overs. But as Phil Simmons launches one into orbit off Prabhakar, and it swerves and hisses in the cold Wellington air, somehow one felt assured that Sachin was under it. He catches it, hits his head on the turf and is forced to walk off the field. In nearly every game we start to learn, there is a Sachin Tendulkar moment.

1993


Hero cup Semi-Final vs South Africa. 6 are needed to end India's tournament in the final over. In front of a packed Eden Gardens, with the cacophony only Calcutta can achieve. Kapil Dev, Javagal Srinath and Manoj Prabhakar; all have overs left. Skipper Azhar takes an incredible punt. Calls Tendulkar on to bowl his only over of the game. The 21 year old calmly steps up and concedes just 3. India win. Any lingering doubts about who India's turn to man in a crisis is are laid to rest.


1994


Navjot Sidhu wakes up with a stiff neck in Auckland. India search for a replacement opener. "Let me do it", Tendulkar is reported to have urged Azhar. Chasing just 143, Tendulkar sets the ground ablaze. 82 are made in 49 balls. 15 fours and 2 sixes. India win in the 24th over. The first step has been taken towards a one-day career that will scale peaks generations will be in awe of. Sachin Tendulkar remains India's opener in one-day cricket to this day, 15 years later.


1995

India only play three forgettable Tests that year against New Zealand at home. One-Day cricket is the new money spinner and Sachin starts to make that stage his own. In Sharjah comes another full throttle assault. Chasing just a shade over 200, Tendulkar lets the emerging Sri Lankan outfit that would be crowned World Campions in a year have a taste of his new found love for brutalising the new ball. 112 in 107 balls, the world is starting to fear the ferocity of Tendulkar.

1996

On his second tour to England, Tendulkar arrives as the world's most followed batsman. And it is in the final Test of the series that sees the emergence of his great batting contemporaries, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid that Sachin plays his signature knock. 177 in the first innings, batting for 6 hours to help India post a massive 521. And 74 in the second in a mediocre team score of 211. The Test match is drawn, the series is lost, but Tendulkar is now a reliable bank of runs. We realise that in every series he sets goals for himself, and inevitably achieves them as only geniuses can.




1997


Its his first coming as captain. And the man he deposed in the job is his partner as a session of Test cricket unfolds in Cape Town that staggers to this day. South Africa have made 529. India are on a timid on 58 for 5. When Tendulkar in the company of Azhar suddenly counter-attacks. Centuries flow from their blades at the speed of light. The home team wins in the end, yet remain bedazzled by what had unfolded. When asked later what the plan was, Tendulkar innocently replied, "We were concentrating on the singles!"


1998

Desert Storm. It is the week he turns 26 in. Captaincy has returned to Azhar. In the space of a couple of days, Tendulkar plays the most compelling one-day innings in living memory in Sharjah. First, he makes 143 to carry India into the final. And then in the summit clash, as India chase down 273, Tendulkar hammers 134 in 131 balls. 12 fours and 3 sixes. This was the signature moment that underlined his dominance of the world's most dominant team. Now there is Tendulkar...and then there are the rest in the hierarchy of batsmen around the world.

1999

India's world cup campaign is woefully off-track in England. But Tendulkar is shattered by a greater and irrepairable loss. His father passes away in Mumbai. Tendulkar flies home. And then, finds the courage to leave a grieving mother and family behind to take a long flight back to England. Tendulkar joins his team at Bristol and walks into bat with against Kenya. A hundred was ordained by the gods. Moist eyed, we applaud as a Sachin we can't comfort, looks heavenwards for a heart-wrenching private moment with the man he still calls his role model. Ramesh Tendulkar would have been proud. We were just grateful that in this lifetime, there was Tendulkar.


2000

Sachin is captain again. But as the ghost of match-fixing threatens lurks menacingly, India face a well oiled South African attack on a spicy pitch at Mumbai. In the first innings, Tendulkar makes a divine 97 out of India's 225 against Donald, Pollock, Klusener and Kallis. The ungrateful in the stands shamefully boo him as India ultimately lose. And would lose the series. But there remains little doubt that captain or not, Tendulkar won't be matched when battles against rampaging fast bowlers are thrust upon us. Even when all was lost, there was Tendulkar.

2001

Its the first Test of a series against South Africa in Bloemfontein. Expectedly, India are quickly tottering on 68 for 4. Tendulkar is joined by a man who by his own admission only began playing the game after watching the master on television. His name is Virender Sehwag and he is on debut. In a delicious fairytale, both men reel off attractive hundreds and add 220. Tendulkar, we already knew was an inspiration to many. Just how deeply ingrained he was in the bloodstream of emerging India's young cricketers was now clear as day.

2002

Tendulkar arrives in England for his third test series. He has never been part of a team that has won a Test match in the country of the game's origin. At Headingley, that opportunity arises. India play 5 bowlers. And bat first in helpful bowling conditions at Headlingley. Dravid makes 148. Ganguly makes 128. Tendulkar, a small matter of 193. India have 628 on the board. Kumble takes 7 wickets. India win by an innings. Tendulkar is no longer a lone ranger. He relishes sharing centre-stage with cricketers of unmistakable pedigree. In the company of great men, the sparkle of Tendulkar is enhanced further.

2003

At Centurion, India are playing Pakistan in a World Cup league game. It is the first face-off between the rivals in nearly 3 years. Pakistan have made 273 batting first. And to defend it have an attack that answers to the names Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Shoaib Akhtar. Sachin makes 98 in 75 balls. India win. Enough said.


2004

The new year brings a wave of doubt. India have punched above their weight in Australia. The series is level 1-1. But Tendulkar's blade has fallen silent. Are his powers waning? Is their a chink in the armour? Sachin steps out to bat at Sydney with India at 128 for 2. When the innings is declared, India are 705 for 7. Tendulkar is unbeaten on 241. He has batted for over 10 hours. And willed his mind to not hit a single cover drive, the shot that has consumed him more than once in the series. Greatness, we learn is not simply in the ability to execute talent. It lies in the capacity to eschew and forbid. Phew, what more can Tendulkar do?

2005

Breaking records was Tendulkar's destiny. And we cheered every statistical milestone that came his way. But at the Kotla one arrived that formalised his coronation as the emperor of Indian batsmanship. Century number 35 in Tests took him past the man he idolised. Sunil Gavaskar. And the original little master was delighted. He had predicted when he hid behind a tree to watch a 14 year old Tendulkar bat, that all records known to man would one day rest with him. There is joy we learn, in being knocked off a pedestal.




2006

A quiet year as injuries start to take their toll on Tendulkar. But in Pakistan, Tendulkar began the one-day series with a classic. An even 100 was made in Peshawar as India's next generation of batting superstars began to take over the onus of winning matches. Yuvraj and Dhoni made neat contributions to take India past 300. India was to lose the game but it was apparent that in Tendulkar's shadow, a new and brave India, inspired by his feats, was looking the world in the eye.


2007

A dismal world cup campaign had the doubters sharpening their knives. India set foot in England for Tendulkar's fourth series in the country with a nation consumed by cynicism. Sachin hadn't been part of a team that had ever won a Test series outside Asia (he had missed the win in the West Indies in 2006 with injury). Tendulkar wanted to experience the joy of a moment such as that. And did. Top scoring with 91 in India's first innings at Nottingham. A 7-wicket win gave India the series lead which was preserved with a draw at the Oval. As the champagne flowed when Dravid lifted the series trophy, Tendulkar's joyous face brought cheer across the land

2008

Going past Brian Lara's mark for the most Test runs was a monumental feat, but the Tendulkar memory that stands out from this year is the run chase in Chennai against England. Some pundits believed Tendulkar's career was blotted by his inability to guide a final innings chase in a crunch Test. Less than a month after his city was attacked, Tendulkar made an unbeaten 100 as India chased down 387 on a final day. A moment that made your hair stand at an end. He dedicated the effort to the heroes of Mumbai. In an hour of great personal triumph, Tendulkar knew just what millions across India wanted to hear from their reigning deity.


2009

As the month when his 20th year in international cricket started Tendulkar sent a reminder that the fire within continues to illuminate. Australia had been Tendulkar's most preferred foes. And in Hyderabad he played an innings of rare pomp, one that would have made the Nawabs proud. 175 were made, his 45th One-Day hundred and a knock that carried him past 17,000 runs in the format. Yet it wasn't enough. Defeat is a nasty by-product when sport turns cruel. Chasing 350, Tendulkar virtually shepherded the run-chase on his own bat. As the body tired after an intense day at the office, the mind perhaps urged a stroke of adventure. It wasn't to be. For a brief moment the prospect of a first ever double hundred in One-Day cricket seemed all too real. But neither that, nor the sweet taste of victory was meant to be Sachin's on this day. Even to the chosen ones sometimes we learnt, sometimes the bitter taste of defeat overshadows the fragarance of mesmeric talent.


POST-SCRIPT

Since the Tendulkar indulgence can be intoxicating, allow me to add two imaginary scenarios for the next two years. In 2010, Tendulkar leads the Mumbai Indians to the IPL title! Scores a brilliant 80 in the final, holds up the trophy, and lets the world know that he wasn't such a bad captain afterall!


And in 2011, Tendulkar scores a century in the final of the World Cup at his home ground at Wankhede stadium. India win the title and Dhoni invites Sachin to walk up with him on stage to hold the trophy aloft. At the Olympics of goodbyes, if this one comes to pass, there will be no contest for the gold medal!

http://cricketnext.in.com/news/in-times-of-tendulkar-top-20-at-20/45029-13-single.html

[ajithfederer]

[tscii:c7ae59b959]From the publishers of THE HINDU

VOL.32 :: NO.46 :: Nov. 14, 2009

• Contents

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

COVER STORY

Celebrating Sachin Tendulkar

From his first outing to one of his most recent efforts, a stunning 175 against Australia in the Hyderabad ODI, Sachin Tendulkar has been a great batsman. Longevity counts amongst his strengths. Twenty years! It’s a heck of a long time and it’s gone in the blink of an eye. It has been an incredible journey, a trip that figures alone cannot define, writes Peter Roebuck.





K. R. DEEPAK

Sachin Tendulkar… still playing blistering innings, still looking hungry, still demolishing attacks, still a prized wicket, still a proud competitor.

Sachin Tendulkar has been playing top class cricket for 20 years and he’s still playing blistering innings, still looking hungry, still demolishing attacks, still a prized wicket, still a proud competitor. He has not merely been around for two decades. From his first outing to one of his most recent efforts, a stunning 175 against Australia in the Hyderabad ODI, he has been a great batsman.

Longevity counts amongst his strengths. Twenty years! It’s a heck of a long time and it’s gone in the blink of an eye.

When Tendulkar first took guard in his country’s colours, Nelson Mandela was behind bars, Allan Border was captaining Australia, and India was a patronised country. In those days Tendulkar was a tousle-haired cherub prepared to stand his ground against all comers, including Wasim Akram and Merv Hughes, the most menacing of the Australians.

Now he is a tousle-haired elder still standing firm, still driving and cutting, still retaining some of the impudence of youth but nowadays bearing also the sagacity of age.

It has been an incredible journey, a trip that figures alone cannot define.

Not that the statistics lack weight. To the contrary they are astonishing, almost mind boggling. Tendulkar has scored an avalanche of runs, thousands upon thousands of them in every form of the game. He has reached three figures 87 times in the colours of his country and all the while has somehow retained his freshness, somehow avoided the mechanical, the repetitive and the predictable. Perhaps that has been part of it, the ability to retain the precious gift of youth. Alongside Shane Warne, the Indian master has been the most satisfying cricketer of his generation.

Tendulkar’s feats are prodigious. He has scored as many runs overseas as in his backyard, has flogged Brett Lee at his fastest and Shane Warne at his most obtuse, has flourished against swing and cut, prospered in damp and dry. Nor can his record be taken for granted. Batsmen exist primarily to score runs. It is a damnably difficult task made to look easy by a handful of expert practitioners. Others have promised and fallen back, undone by the demands, unable to meet the moment. Tendulkar has kept going, on his toes, seeking runs in his twinkling way. In part he has lasted so long because there has been so little inner strain. It’s hard to think of a player remotely comparable who has spent so little energy conquering himself.






Throughout Tendulkar has been able to concentrate on overcoming his opponents.

But it has not only been about runs. Along the way Tendulkar has provided an unsurpassed blend of the sublime and the precise. In him, the technical and the natural sit side by side, friends not enemies, allies deep in conversation.

Romantics talk about those early morning trips to Shivaji Park, and the child eager to erect the nets and anxious to bat till someone took his wicket. They want to believe that toil alone can produce that straight drive and a bat so broad that periodically it is measured. But it was not like that. From the start the lad had an uncanny way of executing his strokes perfectly. His boyhood coaches insist that their role was to ensure that he remained unspoilt. There was no apprenticeship. Tendulkar was born to bat.

Over the decades it has been Tendulkar’s rare combination of mastery and boldness that has delighted connoisseurs and crowds alike. More than any other batsman, even Brian Lara, Tendulkar’s batting has provoked gasps of admiration. A single withering drive dispatched along the ground eluding the bowler, placed unerringly between fieldsmen, can provoke wonder even amongst the oldest hands. A solitary square cut is enough to make a spectator’s day.

Tendulkar might lose his wicket cheaply but he is incapable of playing an ugly stroke. His defence might have been designed by Christopher Wren. And alongside these muscular orthodoxies could be found ornate flicks through the on-side, glides off his bulky pads that sent tight deliveries dashing on unexpected journeys into the back and beyond. Viv Richards could terrorise an attack with pitiless brutality, Lara could dissect bowlers with surgical and magical strokes, Tendulkar can take an attack apart with towering simplicity.






Nor has Tendulkar ever stooped to dullness or cynicism. Throughout, his wits have remained sharp and originality has been given its due. He has, too, been remarkably constant. In those early appearances, he relished the little improvisations calculated to send bowlers to the madhouse, cheeky strokes that told of ability and nerve. For a time thereafter he put them into the cupboard, not because respectability beckoned or responsibility weighed him down but because they were not required.

Shot selection, his very sense of the game, counts amongst his qualities. On his most recent trip to Australia, though, he decided to restore audacity, cheekily undercutting lifters, directing the ball between fieldsmen, shots the bowlers regarded as beyond the pale. Even in middle age he remains unbroken. Hyderabad confirmed his durability.

And yet, even these, the runs, the majesty, the thrills, do not capture his achievement. Reflect upon his circumstances and then marvel at his feat. Here is a man obliged to put on disguises so that he can move around the streets, a fellow able to drive his cars only in the dead of night for fear of creating a commotion, a father forced to take family to Iceland on holiday, a person whose entire adult life has been lived in the eye of a storm.

Throughout Tendulkar has been public property, India’s proudest possession, a young man and yet also a source of joy for millions, a sportsman and yet, too, an expression of a vast and ever changing nation. Somehow he has managed to keep the world in its rightful place. Somehow he has raised children who relish his company and tease him about his batting. Whenever he loses his wicket in the nineties, not an uncommon occurrence, his son asks why he does not “hit a sixer?”

Somehow Tendulkar has emerged with an almost untarnished reputation. Inevitably mistakes have been made. Something about a car, something else about a cricket ball and suggestions that he had stretched the facts to assist his pal Harbhajan Singh. But then he is no secular saint. It’s enough that he is expected to bat better than anyone else. It’s hardly fair to ask him to match Mother Teresa as well.

At times India has sprung too quickly to his defence, as if a point made against him was an insult to the nation, as if he were beyond censure. A poor LBW decision — and he has had his allocation — can all too easily be turned into a cause celebre. Happily Tendulkar has always retained his equanimity. He is a sportsman as well as a cricketer. By no means has it been the least of his contributions, and it explains his widespread popularity. Not even Placido Domingo has been given more standing ovations.





And there has been another quality that has sustained him, a trait whose importance cannot be overstated. Not long ago The Rolling Stones’ guitarist, Keith Richards, was asked how the band had kept going for so long, spent so many decades on the road, made so many records, put up with so much attention.

His reply was as simple as it was telling. “We love it,” he explained, “we just love playing.” And so it has always been with Tendulkar. It’s never been hard for him to play cricket. The hard part will be stopping. But he will take into retirement a mighty record and the knowledge that he has given enormous pleasure to the followers of the game wherever it is played.

http://www.sportstaronnet.com/stories/20091114500700400.htm[/tscii:c7ae59b959]

[ajithfederer]

LM, There are a couple of statistical images in the sportsstar link. Please upload them whenever possible.

[ajithfederer]

Celebrating Sachin
Prem Panicker
Dear Arvind Lavakare:

A month ago, when you had visited our office and told us that you would be penning a piece "bursting the Sachin bubble", I had promised you a rejoinder. Which, please find delivered to you, as under.

May I start off by telling you a little story? Once there was this king, very proud and arrogant and demanding, the kind who wants what he wants when he wants it and no questions asked.

In the court of that king there was a young lady of wonderous beauty, who went around telling all and sundry: "I wouldn't surrender my virginity even to the king!"

Wah, wah!, went the admiring multitudes, marvelling at this iron determination to preserve her chastity.

One day, a wandering knight found his way to that court, and sure enough, the lady 'casually' accosted him and went into her spiel, about her virginity. The newcomer looked at her, scratched his head in thought and then asked, "But my dear, has the king ever asked you to surrender your virginity to him?"

The answer, as it turned out, was 'No!'


Sachin Tendulkar

Your article reminded me of that story. Every line of your article speaks of the enormous trouble you have been to, to find the relevant statistics to prove your theory. But what is that theory? That Sachin Tendulkar is not Don Bradman.

But, my dear friend, whoever said he was?!

What this means, effectively, is that you have gone to all that pains to disprove a statement that was never made in the first place.

This whole Bradman thing, if I remember right, began with the Don himself. And this is what he said of Tendulkar: "In matters of stroke production and shot selection, Sachin Tendulkar is the player who most reminds me of the way I myself used to play." And that is all that was said.

You would expect the Don to know, wouldn't you?

I was quite frankly amused at the enormous amount of statistics that you've thrown into that article. Statistics, my college professor once told me, is like a lamp-post: you can either use it for illumination, or you can use it like a drunk, hanging on to it for support. With all due respect, Arvind, I suspect that you have used statistics in the latter fashion -- inebriated by the exuberance of your own fury, you've chosen to cling to numbers (carefully chosen numbers at that) for support, rather than for illumination.

When you do that, without thought, the results can be as ludicrous as a drunk (I don't use the word in a pejorative sense, believe me) hanging in there with his arms wrapped tight around a lamp-post. Let me see if I can underline the point, by a similar use of statistics to come up with a ridiculous result.

Thus, I shall now make a proposition: Of all the bowlers who have played one day internationals -- a lineup that includes Lillee, Thomson, McGrath, Warne, Roberts, Holding, Garner, Walsh, Ambrose, Marshall, Akram, Younis, Saqlain Mushtaq, Kapil Dev, Richard Hadlee, Anil Kumble, Javagal Srinath.... -- the greatest, of all time, is -- hold your breath -- Ajit Agarkar.


Ajit Agarkar

No, don't bother contesting that statement: statistics show that Agarkar got to his 50 wickets faster, at a greater strike rate, than any other bowler in history. So, using a phrase you use often in your article -- "at that stage of his career" -- Agarkar has to be the greatest of them all, right?

That is the problem with statistics -- if you rely exclusively on it, as you have done in your article, you will end up with some propositions that are downright laughable.

There is another danger with the use of statistics. If you take all available numbers and think them through, then you might come up with interesting conclusions. However, if you first come to a conclusion -- as you did, when you told us a month ago that you were going to prove that Tendulkar was no Bradman -- and then go looking for the figures to underline it, you tend to ignore everything that doesn't fit into your theory.

To revert to my old college professor, he used to say, "Statistics are like miniskirts -- what they reveal is interesting, but what they conceal can be downright fascinating."


Sunil Gavaskar

The numbers you have quoted in your article are like that -- more interesting for what they conceal, than for what they reveal. Thus, when it comes to Gavaskar, you say that since he had played only 108 ODIs, at that stage of his career, he had a greater average than Sachin. And arrive at the conclusion that Gavaskar was the greater one day player.

Really? How does that reconcile with another set of statistics that you forgot to mention? Namely, that Sachin (21 centuries in 211 ODIs) averages one century every ten visits to the crease (and here, do keep in mind that unlike Gavaskar who opened throughout his career, Sachin only began opening after 70+ ODIs spent in the late middle order), Gavaskar averages one century per 100 ODIs? On the basis of that yardstick, who would you say is the better ODI batsman? And if you were bringing up Gavaskar's one day credentials, should you not also have mentioned the most famous of his limited overs knocks -- namely 36, with the help of three dropped catches, in 60 overs, in the first edition of the World Cup?

Again, in one impassioned paragraph, you say that India's dependence on Tendulkar is a myth. And you quote games that India has won, with minimal contribution from the man. Strangely, however, you forget to mention one statistic: on 17 instances out of the 21 where Sachin scored a century, India won. What does that tell you, my friend? Simply this: that when he performs (and as mentioned earlier, he performs big time once every ten trips to the wicket), Sachin increases the statistical probability of India winning.

The point here is that while it is said -- with obvious justice, as pointed out above -- that Tendulkar ranks as India's best match-winner -- no one ever said India only wins when he is there. To point out instances when India has won in his absence, or despite his neglible contributions, is thus, yet again, to attempt to prove a theorem no one propounded in the first place.

Your proposition, in this instance, is a bit like saying that the Brazilian football team has won matches without Pele scoring, ergo, Pele is not the king everyone claims he is!

You quote Dilip Vengsarkar, saying that Gavaskar is the greatest Indian batsman of all time, and that his real forte was "staying power". You mention innings after innings where the batsman hung on for 350, 400 minutes to get his runs. Tell me, when making that little statistical end run, did you take into account that the game has radically changed between Sunny's time, and Sachin's? That today, a batsman who hangs around for hours to make his runs finds little favour with either the fans, or the selectors -- ask Rahul Dravid?


Michael Holding

And while on 'staying power' -- let me come up with a little quote of my own. Did you ever chance to read Whispering Death, by Michael Holding?

While discussing Gavaskar, Holding says that he had noticed that while Gavaskar hung around and scored runs when the conditions were right, he never seemed to put a premium on his wicket when the conditions were inimical to batting. Shall we, on that evidence -- and Holding, you will admit, is a bowler of sufficient stature, with sufficient experience of bowling to Gavaskar, for his voice to count -- condemn Gavaskar as a flat track bully?

Similarly, you take pains to argue that Tendulkar is unreliable. That he has let the team down when it most needed him. As a case in point, you cite the recent India-Pakistan Test in Chennai, when he played that heave against Saqlain Mushtaq and departed, at a time when victory was well in sight.

Your choice of that innings is particularly interesting. Because all commentators -- including Vengsarkar in his column, and Gavaskar on air -- rated it as one of the two best Test innings by an Indian batsman. The other being Gavaskar's own 96 in Bangalore, in a similarly losing cause.

Equally interestingly, nowhere do you mention that for the greater part of that innings, Tendulkar played with crippling back pain -- the kind of injury that would have most players retiring hurt. But never mind that -- let us go with your premise, that a batsman on whom the team depends has no business playing such a shot; that a batsman who plays such a shot at such a time has no claim to being called a great.

Now throw your mind back to the 1934 Ashes series, which in fact you have cited in your article. By then, Bodyline had been outlawed. In the second Test of that series, Australia was trailing by 156 runs on the first innings, and was 57/2 in the second, when the new batsman attempted to hit Headley Verity against the spin. The ball went straight up in the air, and down the throat of wicket-keeper Les Ames. The batsman departed for 13. England won by an innings. The Times described it as "the worst shot the batsman has played in his life, at the worst possible time".


Donald George Bradman

Second Test, 1936-'37 series: The same batsman tries to, of all things, hook the selfsame bowler, Verity, and is bowled -- by a long hop! "The greatest batsman in the world has played the worst strokee in the history of cricket," was how C B Fry, who you will agree knew a thing or two about the game, described that shot. Needless to add, both the above are incidents from the cricketing life of Donald George Bradman.

By your yardstick, should we now call the Don unreliable? A batsman who lets his team down just when he is most needed? Who plays the most injudicious shots at the worst of times?

I have no intention of running down Gavaskar, or the Don, here. But I'll tell you what --- name any batsman you like, from the Don on down. Give me a day or two with the scoreboards, and with history books and, by carefully selecting figures and facts, by ignoring other facts with equal care, I will make that batsman look like the worst that ever held a cricket bat. It's easy enough to do -- because they were all, from Don Bradman to Sunny Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar, human beings. Human beings who achieved far more than you and I can ever dream of, certainly -- but also human beings who, by virtue of their human-ness, had their fair share of failures.

Failure does not detract from greatness, my friend -- it merely underlines it, enhances it. Because it reminds us that the achiever was human -- and that whatever he achieved was in defiance of that very human-ness.

The most amusing part of your article -- for me personally, that is -- is para 14. Where, in the second line, you say: "One bright young cricket correspondent said the other day that he had seen old film clips showing Bradman having several fielders close by while he flayed the bowlers around merrily".

I am, of course, most grateful to you for referring to me as a 'bright young cricket correspondent' -- an appelation I must deem an honour coming from a veteran such as yourself. And yes, I did mention, during our chat that day, that Bradman had played in the era where deep set defensive fields were virtually unknown.

However, I wish you had put that statement in the context I made it in -- if my 'bright young' memory serves me right, the point I was making to you at the time was that it was inadvisable to compare players of different eras, because the way cricket is played, the tactics employed, change with such dramatic suddenness from decade to decade.

You have, however, taken that statement out of context, and then refuted it -- "not acceptable", you say -- by pointing out that Harold Larwood returned an economy rate of 2.40 runs off 834 overs on the Australian tour of 1928-'29....

With due respect, Arvind, I find that a cynical use of statistics. Simply because you omitted one important fact -- in that year, against an Australian side led by Bradman, England won by the margin of four Tests to one, Australia's sole win coming at the end of a dead rubber, after it had been systematically demolished by England in the first four Tests on the trot.

When one team beats another by four Tests to one, wouldn't you expect the lead bowler of the winning side to have good figures? Just what does it prove, besides the fact -- surely not the fact you set out to prove, though -- that Bradman, too, has in his time found himself on the heavily losing side?

I could go on and on, answering each statistic you threw into that piece with another. But I won't bother, because, Arvind, the point I made in course of our conversation that day, is something I adhere to even today. Namely, that comparisons across generations are odious -- and they can never be conclusive, one way or the other. Who is to say Tendulkar would have made runs against the Bodyline attack? Who is to say that Bradman would have been as prolific in these days of reverse swing? Could Bradman, who as pointed out above, muffed it against Verity, have coped with the wiles of Warne and Mushtaq Ahmed and Saqlain Mushtaq? How do you ever prove, or disprove, these things? And if you can't, then why bother trying?

You choose the occasion of Tendulkar's 26th birthday to, in your own words, "burst the Sachin bubble". Let me take you back a year in time, almost to the day, to remind you of just what that "bubble" is all about.

Cast your mind back to April 22, 1998 -- the final league match, in the Coca Cola Cup, in Sharjah, against Australia, with India fighting for a final berth, and the Aussies hell bent on stopping them. 284/7, thanks to some wonderful batting by the likes of Mark Waugh, Ricky Ponting and Michael Bevan, meant that India had to get to 254 to pip the Kiwis on the run rate, and edge into the finals.

Remember how, in your article, you had mentioned the number of times Tendulkar had contributed little or nothing when India needed him to fire? This was one of those games when the team needed not just Tendulkar, but every single batsman, to click, and big time at that. And what happens? While Tendulkar watches at the other end, Ganguly goes for 17. Mongia makes 35. Azharuddin, coming in next, gets 14. Jadeja gets one. This, chasing 254 for a final berth.

Now throw your mind back to that time when you sat in front of your television screen, rivetted in place by one of the most awesome batting displays of recent memory. At the end of the 30 over mark, India were down and almost out, the score standing on 141/4 (the four batsmen back in the hut having contributed 67 runs to that total). An over later, the Sharjah ground is enveloped by a fierce dust storm, the players race back into the pavilion choking, gasping for breath.

When they come back, India's task has been made that much more difficult -- four overs had been knocked off the 50 permissible, 8 runs had been reduced from the target, and India to win needed 276 to win at 8.86 per over, or 246 to get to the final.

Sachin Tendulkar, batting 50 off 57 deliveries, steps up to the plate. And reduces not just you and me and several million fans like us, but the 11 Australians on the field as well, to the role of fascinated, enthralled spectators.

Remember how it went? Remember watching as Sachin single handedly took the score alonog, to 165/4 in 35; 205/4 in 40? Remember wondering if there were any limits to this man's abilities, as he smashed 92 more runs off 74 deliveries (Laxman contributed 20 in a partnership of 104, Tendulkar's last 37 runs came off 17 deliveries...), in conditions inimical to batting, to not only take India into the finals, but almost pull off an improbable win against all the odds -- stopped at the last hurdle not by any lack of ability, but by a completely misjudged decision by umpire Ian Robinson?

On that day, I am sure, you forgot all the little statistical quibbles, and applauded. You were not alone, were you, Arvind? All of India, all of Australia, applaued a demonstration of sheer dominance that has few parallels in cricket folklore.

Think back to that innings, and to what it meant to you and me and all of us -- pride. Pride, that we have amidst us one man who, no matter what the odds, could fight -- and brilliantly at that -- and never give up. One man who could fly in the face of fate, who could defy circumstance, who could single-handedly take on one of the best ODI sides in the world and bring it to its knees (in case it needs reminding, he was to do that yet again, two days later -- to single-handedly win the final against Australia).

Pride -- of the kind Tendulkar gave us that day -- is not something you will find in a book of statistics. It is not something you can calculate by cold numbers. Rather, it is something you have to look deep within your heart to find -- and if you can find it there today, it was because Tendulkar put it there, on April 22, 1998.

That is why Ajay Jadeja once said: "Ten years from now, my children won't be asking me, 'Papa, tell me how you played'; rather, they will ask, 'Tell me how it felt to play alongside the great Sachin'."

That is why, when I got to the end of your piece, I thought to myself: it doesn't matter whether Tendulkar is > or < than Bradman, Gavaskar et al. All that matters is that this young man, just 26 years of age, has given us back our passion, our pride.

If a Tendulkar didn't exist, Arvind, we might have had to invent him.

Much regards

Prem Panicker

http://www.rediff.com/worldcup99/india/opinion/2904prem.htm

This is an old article from the year 1999 just before(??) the cricket world cup.

[littlemaster1982]

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[ajithfederer]

sachin interview to HT
guys,this is an epaper,so cannot post the entire interview here

part 1 of the interview

http://epaper.hindustantimes.com/ArticleImage.aspx?article=10_11_2009_019_004&amp;mode= 1

& part 2 of the interview

http://epaper.hindustantimes.com/ArticleImage.aspx?article=12_11_2009_020_002&amp;mode= 1

After two decades of international cricket, what childhood memories come back to you most vividly?

Those images would be that of playing for India, before that would be playing with my friends in my building where I wanted to be the best. I was nine or 10 then, we played with tennis balls and I liked accepting challenges.

Challenges like?

I was the top-scorer in our age-group events and when I was 10, a couple of my friends challenged me to face a guy of about 22-23 without pads with a seasoned ball (a proper cricket ball). I straightaway said, `why won't I be able to do it, what's the big deal'! I faced him and managed quite well.

What was the atmosphere like at home?
Did they not mind your playing the whole day?


They gave me a lot of freedom, especially my father. My brother was instrumental in making everything possible.
Father was very understanding, he would give the green signal, but the ideas were definitely my brother's.

Did your father believe you were good enough to play for India?

He encouraged me. The first year of school cricket was not that big for me.
In the second year, I managed to score a hundred and I believed I was good enough...

Did you idolise anyone?

I was a huge (John) McEnroe fan and of (Viv) Richards and (Sunil) Gavaskar.

Why didn't tennis become an option?

All my friends and people from 0 to 45 watched Wimbledon. I remember them backing Bjorn Borg but I rooted for McEnroe.

Why then did you opt for cricket?

I don't know, I mean...maybe it was that one could manage to play together and cricket did not require a tennis court or whatever. Cricket just needed three stumps, bat and ball and you could play anywhere.


At what stage did you realise you could make it big and play for India?

When I scored my first inter-school hundred, I thought this is something special and if I can do something like this on a regular basis, then things can change.

Where did you get this confidence, even at that age -- to believe you would make it big and when just 16, the way you faced one of the best pace attacks ever in the world (Waqar, Wasim and Imran).

Yeah, I probably was just confident about my abilities and, as I said earlier, I like accepting challenges -- that could be one of the reasons.

At any point, when you were a child, did you think you wouldn't be able to make it to the Indian team?

While playing, I definitely did not think I wouldn't make it. I was not overconfident, but somehow I knew that one day I would play for India. It was just a question of when but I knew I would play for India.

Did you ever think that one day you would do to the world what you were doing to your friends in your backyard?

Honestly, I did not think that far. I felt I had to be considered as one of the top players to play this game.

When you failed in your debut, did you feel upset?

Definitely. I felt bad, started doubting my ability and started wondering `do I really belong here?' I felt I was too tense, too nervous. Everything fell out of place. I was not so sure.

Was that your first failure in life?

Yeah, I mean it was a different ballgame altogether. I mean you are going to play Ranji and then you are going to play top-class bowling in the world, Wasim (Akram), Imran (Khan) on helpful tracks. It was a fresh experience.

How did things change for you?

When I was picked to play the 2nd Test, I told myself, come what may, I will hang around...I'm not going to accept defeat, I'm going to stay there.
I spoke to a lot of guys in the team, they said, stay there for the first 20 minutes, thing would get easier, and it actually happened. I started feeling normal, my nerves started to calm down and I could see the ball better. My footwork was better; my state of mind was better.
After that, I scored 59 in my 2nd innings, which was the first innings of the 2nd Test. After that I believed `yes I can'. DID YOU KNOW Sachin would often play six hours of table tennis a day. He is ambidextrous and is a better left-hand player. THE LITTLE MASTER IN NUMBERS 13 Is the number of hours he would spend at daily practice in the nets while in school. 664 Is the stand between him and Vinod Kambli during an interschool game in 1988. 1st Batsman to be declared out by a third umpire (in 1992 against South Africa in South Africa).

http://www.orkut.com/Main#CommMsgs?cmm=23803&tid=5403183998348103802

[ajithfederer]

LM, You have more work. Those two links will be better if you upload them/ :lol:.

[littlemaster1982]

[html:c9866ce0fd]]http://epaper.hindustantimes.com/Web/Article/2009/11/10/019/10_11_2009_019_004.jpg?email=[/html:c9866ce0fd]

[littlemaster1982]

[html:57aa069f63]http://epaper.hindustantimes.com/Web/Article/2009/11/12/020/12_11_2009_020_002.jpg[/html:57aa069f63]

[ajithfederer]

LM :victory: :cool2:.

[VinodKumar's]

You still play with child-like passion

this is where he is :notworthy: ... 36 vayasu karar mariya irukaru ...

charismatic guy ...

[ajithfederer]

Sachin is one of world's greatest sportsmen

Ican't claim to be an expert on cricket. I've been involved in a couple of matches with Vodafone when we visited New Delhi and Melbourne; and while I used to play at school, I wasn't particularly good, so I'm not the best person to speak to about Sachin Tendulkar.

But having said that, I think I know enough about the game and its history and his career to know that he's an absolutely incredible cricketer - one of, if not the greatest, batsman in cricketing history.

In the same way that a racing driver has an extremely personal connection with his car, Sachin has that same, innate association with his bat and a cricket ball. When Sachin is batting, it's almost as if he can anticipate how to attack each shot before the ball has even left the bowler's fingers; he takes on shots with a feel that few others possess.

But that's not what makes him a great cricketer -- it's Sachin's belief, determination and passion for the game that truly marks him out as one of the sport's greatest superstars. He's always hungry for victory, he wants to win, and he wants to uphold the honour of India through even the toughest of situations. And that's great about him.

It was only when I visited India that I fully appreciated just how important cricket is to the country. In Sachin, the country has a superstar of whom it can be hugely proud - not only is he a national sporting hero, but he is also one of the world's greatest sportsmen.

(The writer drives for Vodafone McLaren Mercedes and won the Formula One championship in 2008)

http://www.dnaindia.com/sport/report_sachin-is-one-of-world-s-greatest-sportsmen_1310934

[ajithfederer]

I've never seen Tendulkar throw tantrums: Ganguly

Sumit Mukherjee, TNN 13 November 2009, 12:54am IST

What can I say about Sachin Tendulkar that has not already been said or written about? Isn't it enough to say that players of my generation have
been lucky to share the dressing room with him?

Having known him from very close quarters right from our days we used to play under- 15 cricket, I have marvelled at the manner in which he has built his career, admired his single-minded approach to batting and the way he has handled fame and fortune.

After I took over the captaincy from him in 2000, I have often benefited from his cricketing wisdom. In my book, there are three aspects to being Sachin Tendulkar: the batsman, the person and the superstar.

The batsman
Simply put, he is the best batsman that I have seen or played with or against. He is head and shoulders above the rest and there is no comparison. Having opened with him in over 200 ODIs and been at the other end of the wicket on hundreds of occasions, I've marvelled at his ability to play shots that lesser mortals would not even think of attempting. With a cricket bat in hand, Sachin is supremely confident. There is no better sight in cricket than Sachin in full flow.

The person
The best thing about Sachin is that despite scaling new peaks of popularity, he has both feet planted firmly on the ground. That's the reason he has not only survived for 20 long years as a top-level athlete but continues to prosper in all walks of life. In life as well as in cricket, Sachin always strikes the right balance. I have no doubt in my mind that he will continue to do the country proud with the bat for as long as he chooses to play.

The superstar
In a cricket-crazy country where everyone wants a piece of him, I have never seen Sachin throw tantrums, on or off the field. He is a role model for the youth and carries himself with dignity. He also has very deep-rooted values and stands by them. He is easily India's biggest sporting icon of his generation.
(As told to Sumit Mukherjee)

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/interviews/Ive-never-seen-Tendulkar-throw-tantrums-Ganguly/articleshow/5224626.cms

[Sourav]

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOICH/2009/11/13&PageLabel=17&EntityId=Ar01700&ViewMode=HTML&GZ=T

Sachin touched my feet and said, ‘you’re like my mother’. I was so moved
Like melody queen Lata Mangeshkar, Sachin Tendulkar too casts a spell on the audience. Like Lata, Tendulkar’s longevity, in his own field, is unmatched. Yet when it comes to each other, they are gushing fans, like millions of ordinary Indians. Bharat Ratna Lata pays rich tribute to the little champion in this TOI exclusive...
Ajay Naidu | TNN

TOI: Like yourself, there seems to be no limit to Tendulkar’s genius too. The entire country is celebrating his 20th year in international cricket. How do you look at this monumental achievement?
LATA: My heartiest congratulations to him. I have seen Sachin right from the time he made his debut as a sixteen-year-old. Since then, he has gone on to climb dizzy heights, he’s got married, raised a family, and somehow remained the same humble man throughout. It’s really amazing to know he has been around for 20 years. I greet him and his family. May God bless him and may he go on for another 40 years!
TOI:You have been an ardent admirer of the game, from Sunil Gavaskar to Sachin. What do you like about Tendulkar when he graces the crease?
LATA: Like Sunil Gavaskar, there’s a comforting thought that Sachin will hold the fort, that Team India is safe. Though each stroke is a stroke of genius, I have a distinct liking for his straight drive. I also admire the way he looks up to the heavens every time he completes a half-century or century. It means he is thanking God for blessing him, and that’s a great thing. Who can forget the 1999 World Cup, when he played on even though his father passed away midway through the tournament? Sachin took a break to attend the funeral and returned quickly to score a century, then looked up to the skies to seek his father’s blessings. It was a very touching and emotional moment for every Indian. The poignancy of that moment has stayed in the minds of all who watched that knock. I am no exception.
TOI: If you were asked to play favourites between Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin, who would you pick?
LATA: To be honest, it’s difficult to pick one. They played in different eras and both brought laurels to the country. Sunil had his own distinct style while Sachin is in a class of his own. Both are legends in their own right. Having said that, I think Sunil retired a bit early. And what else can I say about Sachin? The fact that Don Bradman, the greatest batsman ever, was reminded of himself while watching Sachin bat is the best tribute he can ever get.
TOI: Talk us through your first meeting with Tendulkar...
LATA: Although I don’t remember the first time, I remember having met him once at Raj Thackeray’s residence. That was on his birthday, on the 24th of April, which incidentally is also my father’s death anniversary. I got a call from Raj requesting me to come over to meet Sachin. Since it was his birthday, I asked Raj what gift I could get for the young batsman. I remember we all sat outside, chatting. I pre sented Sachin with an idol of Sai Baba. As I did that, Sachin touched my feet and said, ‘you are like my mother’. Usne mujhe maa ka dar ja diya. I was really moved.
TOI: He is passionate about your singing, and that of Kishore Kumar’s..
LATA: I know he likes to hear my songs and I feel humbled. He has also been to a cou ple of my concerts. But he never came up to me to say, ‘I am here.’ That’s his greatness. In fact, I didn’t notice him the first time he was there to watch me sing. The next time he came with his wife. I think it was in Mumbai or Pune My brother Hridaynath Mangeshkar informed me that Sachin was in the audience. Then I no ticed him and said ‘namaste' from the stage.
What I really like about Sachin is that de spite being a great player, he is so humble and down to earth. I know he has broken so many records, done the country proud and won so many awards. For doing all that and still con ducting himself respectfully all along, I think he deserves a Bharat Ratna. Why just a Bharat Ratna, I would like to honour Sachin with ‘Vishwa Ratna’! [tscii:20d7250eb8][/tscii:20d7250eb8]

[Sourav]

US & HIM
I sent him a congratulatory SMS & he replied instantly
SANIA MIRZA applauds India’s super bat

Thorough gentleman
The best thing about Sachin Tendulkar is that he’s completely rooted, down to earth, and a thorough gentleman. He’s probably the best thing to have happened to Indian cricket and maybe Indian sport as a whole. When he completed 17,000 runs in ODIs, I sent him a congratulatory SMS. He replied immediately. He’s obviously a champion, but despite everything he has achieved he remains a really gentle person.
First meeting
I think it was at a press conference. After that we chatted, and we’ve met quite a few times since. I’ve even played umpire for an exhibition tennis match that he was involved in and it was fun.
His achievements
I don't know if I want to rate any one of his achievements over the others. He has achieved a lot, and I think it would be unfair to rank it, simply because a lot of effort has gone into each knock.
That he has lasted this long on the international stage is fantastic. For years, I've been reading about how he shouldn’t play ODIs, and then he comes up with a knock like the 175 (in Hyderabad last week against the Australians) and silences everybody. I’m no expert on this, but it looks like he still has some good years of cricket left in him.
(As told to Prajwal Hegde)
http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOICH/2009/11/13&PageLabel=17&EntityId=Ar01704&ViewMode=HTML&GZ=T[tscii:7b2460b7a9][/tscii:7b2460b7a9]

[Sourav]

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOICH/2009/11/13&PageLabel=17&EntityId=Ar01705&ViewMode=HTML&GZ=T

DRESSING ROOM TALES
It was an honour to hear Sachin say I bat like him
So what if he’s scaled some peaks which have eluded even Sachin? VIRENDER SEHWAG remains the gushing wannabe...


Sachin Tendulkar is the god of cricket. He has motivated an entire generation to play the game. I remember watching Tendulkar bat in the 1992 World Cup in Australia and I was fascinated by the quality of his strokes. He was playing the cover drives, straight drives, backfoot punches, cuts and pulls all over the place. I got attracted to cricket because of him. I just tried to copy him. My aim was to bat like Tendulkar and play for my country.
He has been a role model for me and I’m blessed to have played with him for the last ten years. It was a great honour for me when Sachin said I bat a lot like him. It’s the best compliment I’ve ever received. It’s a big thing for me.
(As told to Ajay Naidu)
[tscii:b95702d8fb][/tscii:b95702d8fb]

[littlemaster1982]

20 not out (http://www.smh.com.au/news/sport/cricket/peter-roebuck/2009/11/07/1257247789373.html)

SACHIN TENDULKAR will celebrate 20 years as an international in a week's time. It's a heck of a long time and it has gone in the blink of an eye.

When Tendulkar first took guard in his country's colours, the Berlin Wall had just fallen, Nelson Mandela was behind bars, Allan Border was captaining Australia and India was a patronised country known for its dust, poverty, timid batsmen and other outdated caricatures.

In those days Tendulkar was a tousle-haired cherub prepared to stand his ground against all comers, including Wasim Akram and the most menacing of the Australians, Merv Hughes. Now he is a tousle-haired elder still standing firm, still driving and cutting, still retaining some of the impudence of youth but nowadays bearing also the sagacity of age.

It has been an incredible journey, a trip that figures alone cannot define.

Not that the statistics lack weight. To the contrary they are astonishing, almost mind-boggling. Tendulkar has a scored an avalanche of runs, thousands upon thousands of them in every form of the game. He has reached three figures 87 times in the colours of his country and all the while has somehow retained his freshness, somehow avoided the mechanical, the repetitive and the predictable. Perhaps that has been part of it, the ability to retain the precious gift of youth so that it is not swamped by the knowledge that time alone can bring. Alongside Shane Warne, Tendulkar has been the most satisfying cricketer of his generation.

The Indian master's feats are prodigious. He has scored as many runs overseas as in his backyard, has flogged Brett Lee at his fastest and Warne at his most obtuse, has flourished against swing and cut, prospered in damp and dry. Nor can his record be taken for granted. Batsmen exist primarily to score runs. It is a damnably difficult task made to look easy by a handful of expert practitioners. Others have promised and fallen back, undone by the demands, unable to meet the moment. Tendulkar has kept going, hunger unabated.

In part he has lasted so long because there has been so little inner strain. It's hard to think of a player remotely comparable who has spent so little energy conquering himself. Throughout he has been able to concentrate on overcoming his opponents.

But it has not only been about runs. Along the way Tendulkar has provided an unsurpassed blend of the sublime and the precise. In him, the technical and the natural sit side by side, friends not enemies, allies deep in conversation.

Romantics talk about those early morning trips to Shivaji Park in Mumbai, and the child eager to erect the nets and anxious to bat until someone took his wicket. They want to believe that toil alone can produce that straight drive and a bat so broad that periodically it is measured. But it was not like that.

From the start the lad had an uncanny way of executing his strokes perfectly. His boyhood coaches insist that their role was to ensure that he remained unspoilt. Sensing that he knew the game inside out, they were wise enough to leave him to his own devices, let him work it out for himself. There was no apprenticeship. Tendulkar was born to bat.

Over the decades it has been Tendulkar's rare combination of mastery and boldness that has delighted connoisseurs and crowds alike. More than any other batsman, even Brian Lara, Tendulkar's batting has provoked gasps of admiration. A single withering drive dispatched along the ground eluding the bowler, placed unerringly between fieldsmen, could provoke wonder even among the oldest hands. A solitary square cut was enough to make a spectator's day. Tendulkar might lose his wicket cheaply but he is incapable of playing an ugly stroke. His defence might have been designed by Christopher Wren. And alongside these muscular orthodoxies could be found ornate flicks through the on-side, glides off his bulky pads that sent tight deliveries dashing on unexpected journeys into the back and beyond. Viv Richards could terrorise an attack with pitiless brutality, Lara could dissect bowlers with surgical and magical strokes, Tendulkar can take an attack apart with towering simplicity.

Nor has Tendulkar ever stooped to dullness or cynicism. Throughout his wits have remained sharp and originality has been given its due. He has, too, been remarkably constant.

In those early appearances, he relished the little improvisations calculated to send bowlers to the madhouse, cheeky strokes that told of ability and nerve. For a time thereafter he put them into the cupboard, not because respectability beckoned or responsibility weighed him down but because they were not required. Shot selection, his very sense of the game, counts among his strengths. On his most recent trip to Australia, though, he decided to restore audacity, cheekily undercutting lifters, directing the ball between fieldsmen, shots the bowlers regarded as beyond the pale. Even in middle age he remains unbroken.

And yet, even this, the runs, the majesty, the thrill, does not capture his achievement. Reflect upon his circumstances and then marvel at his longevity. Here is a man obliged to put on disguises so that he can move around the streets, a fellow able to drive his cars only in the dead of night for fear or creating a commotion, a father forced to take his family holidays in Iceland because he might escape recognition in those parts, a person whose entire adult life has been lived in the eye of a storm.

Throughout he has been public property, India's proudest possession, a young man and yet also a source of joy for millions, a sportsman and yet, too, an expression of a vast and ever-changing nation. Somehow he has managed to keep the world in its rightful place. Somehow he has raised children who relish his company and tease him about his batting. Whenever he loses his wicket in the 90s, a not uncommon occurrence, his oldest asks why he does not ''hit a sixer''.

Somehow he has emerged with an almost untarnished reputation. Inevitably mistakes have been made. Something about a car, something else about a cricket ball and suggestions that he had stretched the facts to assist his pal Harbhajan Singh. But then he is no secular saint. It's enough that he is expected to bat better than anyone else. It's hardly fair to ask him to match Mother Teresa as well. At times India has sprung too quickly to his defence, as if a point made against him was an insult to the nation, as if he was beyond censure. A poor LBW decision against him - and he has had his allotment - can all too easily be turned into a cause celebre. Happily, Tendulkar has always retained his equanimity. He is a sportsman as well as a cricketer. By no means has it been the least of his contributions and it explains his standing in the game.

And there has been another quality that has sustained him, a trait whose importance cannot be overstated. Not long ago Keith Richards was asked how the Rolling Stones had spent so many decades on the road, made so many records, put up with so much attention. His reply was as simple as it as telling. ''We love it, we just love playing,'' he explained. And so it has always has been with Tendulkar. It's never been hard for him to play cricket. The hard part will be stopping. But he will take into retirement a mighty record and the knowledge that he has given enormous pleasure to followers of the game.

[littlemaster1982]

The Sachin I know (http://www.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/434224.html)

Harsha Bhogle

Sachin Tendulkar may have inspired others to write poetry but he batted in robust prose. Not for him the tenderness and fragility of the poet, the excitement of a leaf fluttering in a gentle breeze. No. Tendulkar is about a plantation standing up to the typhoon, the skyscraper that stands tall, the cannon that booms. Solid. Robust. Focused. The last word is the key. He loves the game deeply but without the eccentricities of the romantic. There is a match to be won at all times.

But Tendulkar too was a sapling once. And his brother Ajit sheltered him from the gale, kept him focused. Sachin looked after his cricket, Ajit looked after Sachin. Twenty-two years ago, I was asked by Sportsworld to do an article on this extraordinary schoolboy. It wasn't Sachin I had to speak to, it was Ajit. When the time for the interview came, at Ramakant Achrekar's net in Shivaji Park, Ajit was there with a cyclostyled copy of Sachin's scores. And Achrekar admonished me for spoiling his child, for fear that Sachin would get distracted.

The interview was done. Sachin was neither overwhelmed nor garrulous; indeed he was so limited with his words that you had to hold on to every one of them. It was sent to Sportsworld in Calcutta by courier (or was it just put into a normal post box?) and then came a request for two photographs. Again it was Ajit who produced them. When I got the cheque, I noticed they had paid me an extra 100 rupees for the photographs. They weren't mine but Sportsworld had a policy of paying for them and so I wrote out a cheque to Ajit for Rs 100. It was acknowledged and accepted gratefully. We lived in different times then!

It was also my first realisation that young men in the public eye needed to be sheltered so they could focus on playing cricket; that they needed an elder brother, or an equivalent, to put a gentle hand on the shoulder and, occasionally, lay one the back side. A lot of other young men today see Tendulkar's runs, eye his wealth, but their brattishness comes in the way of noticing his work ethic. For Tendulkar's life is not the story of extraordinary ability but of an extraordinary work ethic.

Twelve years later, on a cold evening in Bristol, preparing for a World Cup game against Kenya the next day, I saw him in dark glasses, fiddling around with his kit. Aimlessly, like he was searching for something to do. At most times he would be bounding around with energy, bowling off 18 yards, taking catches, shouting thoughts to other batsmen.

I approached him hesitantly, I couldn't see his eyes because they were shrouded by these huge dark glasses, probably the only time they were used to cover rather than to adorn, for he had just lost his father. I asked him if he would talk to us about coming back to play. He nodded his head and only briefly took the glasses off. His eyes were red and swollen; you could see he had been crying copiously. For the interview he put them on, and once the camera had stopped rolling, admitted he didn't want to return, that his mind was all over the place, that he felt anchorless. It was the only time he didn't want to play for India but he had been forced back by his family, aware that only cricket could help him overcome his grief. When he got a hundred the next day and looked heavenwards, some other eyes were moist. Even in his grief there was resolve, for he wanted that century. It might only have been Kenya but he was battling himself, not the bowlers.

Four years later he agreed to do an interview for a series of programmes I was then doing. Our producer thought we would make it special, and to our surprise and joy, Amitabh Bachchan agreed to introduce the programme. In the first break Sachin whispered, "That was a beautiful surprise." Little did he know there was more to come.

Sometime earlier he had told me he was a big fan of Mark Knopfler and we thought it would be great if we could get the great Dire Straits man to talk to us.

"I'm recording all night but immediately after that, before I fall asleep," Knopfler said, and somehow we persuaded Sachin to do the programme in the afternoon rather than in the morning. And when the moment came, we patched the line on and when I said, "Hello Mark," Sachin looked puzzled. A minute later his eyes lit up when he realised which Mark we had on the line. And then he was like a child, tongue-tied, fidgety, excited - much like most people are when they first meet Tendulkar. Even the stars can get starry-eyed!

And there have been moments of surprising candour. When asked, as batsmen tend to be, which bowlers had troubled him the most, he smiled an almost embarrassed smile and said, "You won't believe this." When probed, he said, "Pedro Collins and Hansie Cronje."

"In fact," he said, "I once told my partner 'Will you please take Hansie for me? I don't mind playing Allan Donald'"

Tendulkar's batting has been much chronicled over the years. Indeed, I believe he has been the most analysed cricketer in the history of the game. Yet he has found the urge, and indeed the solutions, to play on for 20 years. Now that is a landmark to be celebrated, not the many inconsequential others that we exploit for our own need. It has been fantastic having a ringside view of this journey, watching a cricketer, and a person, grow. But one thing hasn't changed. He still approaches every game like a child would a bar of chocolate, feeling happy and fortunate.

[littlemaster1982]

Is Sachin Tendulkar the greatest schoolboy cricketer ever? (http://www.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/434247.html)

Harsha Bhogle

Author's note: This piece was written 21 years ago for Sportsworld magazine (and was only retrieved thanks to Mudar Patherya, who was a young cricket writer then). Sachin Tendulkar was 15, a year and a half away from playing Test cricket and four months short of his first-class debut. I was not yet 27, in an advertising job out of business school, with one Test match and a handful of one-dayers on Doordarshan behind me. We were both looking ahead in our own spheres. What a time it was, it was, a time of innocence...

All of Bombay's maidans are a stage. Where every cricketer has a role to play. And his seems to be the blockbuster. Ever since he unveiled Act One early last year, audiences have been waiting, a little too eagerly at times, to watch the next scene. Sachin Tendulkar is only, so far, acting in a high-school production. Yet critics have gone to town. And rave reviews have not stopped coming in.

I guess it can only happen in Bombay. That a schoolboy cricketer sometimes becomes the talk of the town. Why, at the end of every day's play in the final of Bombay's Harris Shield (for Under 17s) everybody wanted to know how many he had made. For he does bat three days sometimes! And for all the publicity he has received, Sachin Tendulkar is really still a kid. He only completed 15 on 24 April. And is very shy. Opening out only after you have coaxed him for some time. As his coach Mr Achrekar says, "Aata thoda bolaila laglai" [He's started talking a bit now]. And it's then that you realise that his voice has not yet cracked.

His record is awesome. He has scored far more runs than all of us scored looking dreamily out of the window in a boring Social Studies class when we were his age.

For a prodigy, he started late. When he was nine years old. And it was only in 1984-85 that he scored his first school-level fifty. But 1985-86 was a little better. He scored his first Harris Shield hundred and played for Bombay in the Vijay Merchant (Under-15) tournament. And 1986-87 was when he blossomed. Still only 13, he led his school, Shardashram Vidyamandir, to victory in the Giles Shield (for Under-15s). He scored three centuries - 158*, 156 and 197 - and then in the Harris Shield scored 276, 123 and 150. In all, he scored nine hundreds, including two double hundreds, a total of 2336 runs.

By now everyone had begun to sit up and take notice. The beginning of the 1987-88 season saw Sachin at the Ranji nets. Once again the top players were away playing Tests and perhaps the Bombay selectors felt it wouldn't be a bad idea to give Sachin first-hand experience of a higher category of cricket. He was named in the 14 for the first couple of games, and manager Sandeep Patil kept sending him out whenever possible - for a glass of water or a change of gloves. All along Sachin probably knew that he was still at best a curiosity, and that while Bombay was giving him every blooding opportunity, he had to prove himself on the maidans.

And that is exactly what he did. Season 1987-88 was a purple patch that never ended. Playing in the Vijay Merchant tournament he scored 130 and 107 and then at the Inter-Zonal stage he made 117 against the champions, East Zone. Then in the Vijay Hazare tournament (for Under-17s) he scored 175 for West Zone against champions East Zone.

Then came the avalanche. A 178* in the Giles Shield and a sequence in the Harris Shield of 21*, 125, 207*, 329* and 346*! A small matter of 1028 runs in five innings! And in the course of that innings of 329* he set the much talked-about record of 664 for the third wicket with Vinod Kambli, who, it is not always realised, scored 348*. Perhaps the most fascinating of them all was the innings of 346*. Coming immediately, as it did, in the shadow of the world record, a lot of people were curious to see him bat. Sachin ended the first day on 122, batted through the second to finish with 286, and when the innings closed around lunch on the third day, he was 346*. And then came back to bowl the first ball. In April's Bombay summer.

But when did this story begin? Like all children, Tendulkar took to playing "galli" cricket. His brother Ajit was a good player and persuaded Mr Achrekar, probably Bombay's most famous coach, to look at him. Achrekar recalls, "When he first came to my net four-five years ago, he looked just like any other boy and I didn't take him seriously. Then one day I saw him bat in an adjacent net. He was trying to hit every ball but I noted that he was middling all of them. Some time later he got a fifty and a friend of mine, who was umpiring that game, came and told me that this boy would play for India. I laughed at him and said that there were so many boys like him in my net. But he insisted. 'Mark my words, he will play for India.' My friend is dead now but I'm waiting to see if his prophecy comes true.'

Tendulkar is taking first steps towards getting there. He discovered that his house, being in Bandra, would not allow him to be at Shivaji Park whenever he wanted. He now spends most of his time at his uncle's house, just off this nursery of Bombay cricket. When he is not actually playing, that is.

Quite often, he is playing all day; important because it has helped him build the stamina to play long innings. "I don't get tired," he says, referring to them. "If you practise every day, you get used to it."

And what about that world-record innings? "I could bat very freely then because my partner Vinod Kambli was batting so well that I knew that even if I failed, he would get enough runs for the side."

Isn't there a lot of pressure on him now? Everyone assumes he will get a big score? "Only in the beginning. Till I get set. Once I get set, I don't think of anything."

Wasn't he thrilled at being invited to the Ranji nets? "Definitely. After playing there I got a lot of confidence."

Everything in Tendulkar's life has so far revolved around cricket. Including his choice of school. A few years back he shifted to Shardashram Vidyamandir, only so that he could come under the eye of Achrekar. "It helped me tremendously because 'sir's' guidance is so good," he says.

Strangely his parents were never very keen about cricket. His brother Ajit says, "They were not very interested in the game, though they gave him all the encouragement. You see, in our colony all parents were training their children to be engineers and doctors. And they would say, "Gallit khelun cricketer hoto kai?" [You don't become a cricketer by playing in the alleys]. I am so happy he is doing well because now people think he is doing something."

The question that arises then, given all the publicity is: Just how good is Sachin Tendulkar?

"For his age, unbelievable," says Sharad Kotnis, Bombay's veteran cricket watcher. "He is definitely comparable to Ashok Mankad, who had a similar run many years ago. But remember Ashok had cricket running in his family and his father often came to see him play. I think Tendulkar's strongest point is that he is willing to work very hard."

Luckily for Sachin, there is a calming influence over him, just so he doesn't get carried away by this acclaim. His coach Achrekar knows exactly what he is talking about. "He is not perfect yet. Far from it. In fact, I would say he is not even halfway there. He still has a lot of faults, particularly while driving through the on, which is an indicator of a class batsman. He still has a long way to go, but what I like about him is his ability to work hard. I don't think we should get carried away by his scores. After all, one has to take into account the nature of the wicket and the quality of the bowlers. By his standards the quality of the bowling he faced was not good enough.

"His real test will come this year when he plays in the 'A' Division of the Kanga League. [Sachin will play for the Cricket Club of India, which for him has waived the stipulation that children under 18 are not allowed inside the Club House!] He should get 70s and 80s there and not just 20s and 30s; particularly towards the end of the season, when the wickets get better."

Achrekar, in fact, is quite upset about the publicity Sachin is getting. "People don't realise that he is just 15. They keep calling him for some felicitation or the other. The other day he was asked to inaugurate a children's library. This is ridiculous. These things are bound to go to his head. He will start thinking he has achieved everything. I hope all this stops so he can concentrate and work hard."

Yet both Achrekar and Kotnis agree on when they think Sachin will become a Ranji regular. "I think he should be playing the Ranji Trophy next year. I think it is unfair to compare him to the [Lalchand] Rajputs and [Alan] Sippys yet, but I think he should play next year," feels Kotnis. And Achrekar adds, "Inspite of what I said about him, if he maintains this kind of progress, he should play the Ranji next year."

Clearly the curtain call is still a long way off for Sachin Tendulkar. He has a lot of things going for him. Most importantly he is in Bombay, where the sheer atmosphere can propel him ahead. In how many cities would a 15-year-old be presented a Gunn and Moore by the Indian captain? And in which other city would the world's highest run-getter write to a 15-year-old asking him not to get disheartened at not getting the Best Junior Cricketer award?

Sunil Gavaskar wrote to Tendulkar to tell him that several years earlier another youngster too had not got the award and that he didn't do too badly in Test cricket. For him the letter from his hero is a prized possession. Another great moment was a meeting with him where "… he told me that I should forget the past every time I go to bat. I should always remember that I have to score runs each time."

He is in the right company. And the right environment. The next few years will show whether he has it in him the mental toughness to overcome the over-exposure. If it does not go to his head, surely there is a great future beckoning. This is really just the beginning and I will be watching this little star with avid interest for the next three years.

If he is still charting blockbusters, I'd love to do another review then.

[P_R]

:ty: LM

Great article


Sachin will play for the Cricket Club of India, which for him has waived the stipulation that children under 18 are not allowed inside the Club House! :lol:

Can imagine how it would have been.

I remember one of Madan's cartoons in 89/90 vikatan had Sachin rolling on the ground crying, while Kapil and others looked perplexed. "kuzhandhai naan dhaan bowling pOdavEnnu adam pudikkaraan."

[littlemaster1982]

I remember one of Madan's cartoons in 89/90 vikatan had Sachin rolling on the ground crying, while Kapil and others looked perplexed. "kuzhandhai naan dhaan bowling pOdavEnnu adam pudikkaraan."

:rotfl: :rotfl:

[Plum]

And what about that world-record innings? "I could bat very freely then because my partner Vinod Kambli was batting so well that I knew that even if I failed, he would get enough runs for the side."

mmm..secret of success. Not until the 2000's did he get this comfort in Indian test team - and not until recently in ODIs. And then there was Hyderabad...

[Plum]

I think it is unfair to compare him to the [Lalchand] Rajputs and [Alan] Sippys yet, but I think he should play next year
Ah! The benefits of hindsight...it is fun to read old articles now!

[Plum]

:ty: LM

Great article


Sachin will play for the Cricket Club of India, which for him has waived the stipulation that children under 18 are not allowed inside the Club House! :lol:

Can imagine how it would have been.

I remember one of Madan's cartoons in 89/90 vikatan had Sachin rolling on the ground crying, while Kapil and others looked perplexed. "kuzhandhai naan dhaan bowling pOdavEnnu adam pudikkaraan."

:lol: (Didnt he do exactly that in the hero cup?)

[P_R]

Hero Gup was the other way
Kapil IIRC wanted someone else to bowl and Azhar turned to Sachin.

Actually that kind of thing happened way earlier too. The first match I ever watched was in '91 Perth against WI. India play 4 bowlers and use up all of them ! WI need 5 to win with one wicket in hand. Sachin came in to bowl and the match ended up as a tie, with Sachin taking the last wicket.

[Kalyasi]

Hero Gup was the other way
Kapil IIRC wanted someone else to bowl and Azhar turned to Sachin.

Actually that kind of thing happened way earlier too. The first match I ever watched was in '91 Perth against WI. India play 4 bowlers and use up all of them ! WI need 5 to win with one wicket in hand. Sachin came in to bowl and the match ended up as a tie, with Sachin taking the last wicket.

Anderson Cummins....

India will score 126 and restrict WI also to the same score, am I right P_R?

[P_R]

Very same match
I don't know what was the idea in playing only four bowlers. It was not like Sachin was a regular part-time bowler then. (Medium face pOduvaaple). So I am guessing they didn't expect the innings to go on beyond 40 overs :lol2:

[Corleone]

Very same match
I don't know what was the idea in playing only four bowlers. It was not like Sachin was a regular part-time bowler then. (Medium face pOduvaaple). So I am guessing they didn't expect the innings to go on beyond 40 overs :lol2:

I remember Ravi shastri was the fifth bowler (and the only spin bowler in the side, India played with 4 pacemen-kapil, prabakar, srinath and banerji) and he was not used till the 40th over since India was defending just 126 and the wicket aiding swing and seam bowling.

After all the 4 pacemen finished their quota there happened a midwicket debate between azhar, kapil, srikanth and shastri on who should bowl the 41st over. The obvious choice was shastri, but azhar threw the ball to Sachin who was a medium pacer then and the rest is history.

[ajithfederer]

http://cricket.rediff.com/report/2009/nov/13/manoj-prabhakar-salutes-sachin-tendulkar.htm

[littlemaster1982]

Bradman wouldn't be Don if he had played for 20 years- David Frith (http://tinyurl.com/ykh2dxn)

Don Bradman played till he was 40. By then he was not a fit man. He had lost the war years and was never quite the same batsman after 1938. It is reasonable to suppose that had he been subjected to the intensive workload and travel of today's cricketers over the 20 years separating his first Test and his last (52 Tests only), he would not have averaged 99.94.

Just how many runs and centuries he might have amassed is anyone's guess -- in one-day cricket as well as first-class -- not forgetting T20. I'm sure he would have "had a ball" but the average must surely have suffered. The very fact that we are analysing the supreme Don alongside Sachin Tendulkar speaks volumes I think.

I first saw Tendulkar bat in the Old Trafford Test in 1990 when as a 17-year-old he registered his first Test century. It was a breathtaking performance by one so young and small. He won the Man of the Match award and was given a large bottle of champagne.

We heard him shyly tell the presenter, in his boyish voice, that he didn't drink! That hundred saved India and it ranks with a handful of brilliant performances by young cricketers such as Archie Jackson, who stroked 164 on Ashes debut in Adelaide in 1929.
If somebody had asked me in 1990 if this wonderful little batsman would still be around 20 years later, I would have been strongly inclined to say: "No chance".

I last saw him "live" in the Sydney Test in January 2004 when he made a small matter of 241 not out and 60 not out. India made 705/7 and Tendulkar put on 353 with VVS (Laxman). And Australia wondered what was going on. It was like Bradman was back, only playing for the wrong side.

I've watched Tendulkar many times since on television. He seems a permanent part of my life. His maturity was evident at the age of 17. Has anybody thought to check his birth certificate?!

The standard features of Sachin, I'd say, are his dignity and a lack of flashiness. What separates him from the rest, apart from his exquisite skill, is that dignity. The exhibitionists should think hard about what type of player enhances this wonderful game best.

Had Tendulkar been an Englishman it's hard to see how he could have broken into international cricket much before he was 20 or so. More young cricketers have been blooded by England's selectors than is generally realised but Brian Close, at 18, remains the youngest ever and I think Sachin might have had to hang around another couple of years had he not been an Indian.

That first Test century of his remains, I think, the most vivid memory for me -- allied with that Sydney double-century which provided a sort of completion of a wonderful pair of brackets -- though I'm glad to see him marching on still further.

I like his cover drive. It is the mark of class, and it's astonishing how one so diminutive can get over the ball and lash it through the covers. There is certainly a romanticism in his batting that amazes the purist in me. Today batsmanship is vigorous, aggressive and sometimes ugly and violent: but not from this little genius.

The writer is a formereditor of Wisden Cricket Monthly
--As told to Vijay Tagore

[ajithfederer]

[tscii:4851557cce]Sachin’s 20 years: Irfan recalls advice of a lifetime

Meanwhile... Bengal skipper Laxmi Ratan Shukla, expected to be fit for the Karnataka match, has been picked captain for the entire season


After helping his team Baroda finish with three valuable points against Bengal in their own backyard at Eden Gardens, Irfan Pathan is a satisfied man. And at this juncture of his career where he is trying to come back to the national side, Pathan can’t help but recall Sachin Tendulkar’s invaluable contribution towards shaping his career at the highest level.


“Playing cricket for 20 years is a great achievement. And Sachin’s contribution towards my game has been huge. I have many fond memories with Sachin,” Pathan told reporters after the Ranji Trophy match at Eden. “There are so many memories that are coming back. I can never forget one particular instance, which played a big role in my career down the years.”


The 25-year-old allrounder picked out an advice that Tendulkar had given him long back. “It happened towards the beginning of my international career. After he had good look at my bowling, I was discussing my bowling with him, I asked him what changes I needed to make. He clearly told me that I didn’t need to consciously try to get extra swing. He suggested that I bowl naturally, and my natural swing will do the rest, there was no need for extra effort at swinging the ball,” Pathan said.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sachins-20-years-irfan-recalls-advice-of-a-lifetime/541350/0[/tscii:4851557cce]

[Sourav]

‘I DON’T EAT. I DON’T ANSWER
PHONES. I DON’T EVEN MOVE WHEN SACHIN IS BATTING’
Wife ANJALI TENDULKAR is Sachin’s lifeline; he depends on her for almost everything. Here, for the first time ever, Anjali opens up about the pulls, pressures and delights of living with a legend...
Vinay Nayudu | TNN

TOI: How easy or difficult is it to be Mrs Sachin Tendulkar? How do you cope with the pressures?
ANJALI: For me, it's very easy because I've known Sachin for 19 years now. I understand him so well. So whether I am his girlfriend or his wife, it’s the same thing, just an extension of that bond. I don’t find it very difficult and I’m used to it. Maybe, it’s also because I’ve not known any other person in my life except Sachin. Of course, there are many challenges and difficulties to being his wife but the whole family, including my children, has learnt to deal with it.
TOI: Any regrets at all on the home front?
ANJALI: The only regret, even though we’ve learnt to cope with it, is that he’s not at home most of the time. I think even Sachin has realised this, now that the kids are growing up fast. Sara is 12 and Arjun is 10. We sometimes wonder where all the years have gone. Since he used to be away most of the time when they were growing up, now he tries to come home as much as possible. If a match gets over early, he’ll come home, stay overnight and then leave again in the morning. Though he’s trying his best to spend more time with the family, sometimes he’s not at home for birthdays, special occasions or even for the kids’ annual day at school. It matters a lot to the kids.
TOI: Is it true you can’t bear to watch Sachin live, and only see the recordings?
ANJALI: I don’t know where this came from. The fact is I watch every game, that too right from the start. Yes, I never go to the stadium but I watch it on TV. Actually, I have one particular spot in the house from where I can watch TV and also keep an eye on my Ganpati (Ganesha). I don’t eat. I don’t answer phones. I don’t drink. I don’t even move. I don’t reply to any sms until he’s out.
TOI: What is it about his batting that you admire the most?
ANJALI: I’m not a cricket connoisseur. I can’t talk about particular shots. What I like about him is that no matter how tense he is, or how much pressure there is on him, when he goes out to bat you don't see any of it. I've often asked him how it's possible not to get distracted while playing in front of thousands of screaming people. I do have friends whose husbands are also in highly stressful jobs, but they are not being scrutinised by the whole world every minute. So the way Sachin deals with the burden of expectations and doesn’t seem to get affected is what I admire the most.
TOI: Do you enjoy watching him bat? Is there any knock of his that you rate as the best, or is etched in your memory?
ANJALI: My problem is, unlike Sachin, who remembers each of his innings, each ball and how he got out, I don’t. Because when I am watching him bat, I’m so stressed and so focused that I just want him to do well, I cannot enjoy or remember much. For example, his 175 at Hyderabad has come in for huge praise, but I cannot say I enjoyed it. I was stressed out. But yes, I do remember that his Sharjah centuries were special. Then again, it is faint memory. I had had my first baby then and my attention was divided.
TOI: Do you lose sleep when he does well and the team does not, or vice-versa?
ANJALI: It’s much worse when he does well and the team doesn’t. I know how much it affects him because, for him, the country always comes first. To me it doesn’t matter whether he scores one run or 10 runs or even a 100. I’ll still be happy because I know he’s really trying hard. But I know how much it affects him when he does well and the team loses, like it happened in Hyderabad. It’s very upsetting. It was a terrible feeling for me when I got up the next morning. In fact, it was devastating. Had he not done so well and had the team still won, it would’ve made us all feel much, much better.
TOI: Does Sachin ever talk about the game with you? Or does he just shut himself out of all things cricket when he is with his family?
ANJALI: I think what he liked about me was that I knew nothing about cricket when I first met him. But then, me being me, I read everything about the game. I came to know all the fielding positions but he doesn’t like me discussing cricket at home. But at times when he is low or upset, I do talk to him about cricket. Again, it’s not the game but things related to it that we discuss.
TOI: Have you ever grown tired of waiting for Sachin to return from a tour?
ANJALI: It's always been like that. These days, whenever he goes on a long tour, we usually try and plan a short holiday with the kids. Maybe during the school vacation or something. There's no other option for us.
TOI: Don’t you regret the fact that Sachin's fame prevents him from being a normal father?
ANJALI: It’s been like this from the beginning, so you accept it. It’s part of life even for our children. They know their father cannot do certain things. So we take the trouble once every year and go somewhere where he can be a normal father. Like in London, he takes Arjun to the park to play. Even there people recognise him, but they don't mob him and give him his space.
TOI: Please go back in time to when you met Sachin for the first time...
ANJALI: (Laughs) We've not really told many people this. I first met him at the Mumbai airport when he returned from his first tour of England in 1990, after scoring his maiden Test ton.
In fact, when I first saw him at the airport, I didn't even know who he was. It was purely by accident! I was there to pick up my mother and Sachin was arriving with the Indian team. That’s where we saw each other for the first time... we had a courtship of five years and got married in 1995. We had got engaged a year before that in 1994 and that was in New Zealand.
TOI: Do you believe in destiny?
ANJALI: Yes, it is destiny and I believe in that.
TOI: Sachin has been known to go out in disguise sometimes. Did he ever use a disguise to meet you?
ANJALI: Yes he did, just once. We had gone to see the movie Roja. I was studying medicine then and a couple of my friends planned it. Sachin did try telling me that that it would be difficult, but I insisted that he come along. To make sure nobody recognised him, we even got him a beard. He wore specs as well and we went in late. We watched the first half of the film, but during the interval Sachin dropped his specs and people immediately recognised him! It was a bit of a disaster and we were forced to leave halfway.
TOI: You could have been a very successful doctor...
ANJALI: I loved medicine and a lot of people often ask me if I'm wasting my education. I don’t think so. Though I loved every moment of my studying days and my days at the government hospital, it then came to a stage when I realised that I could not be married to Sachin and also have a full-time career. It wasn't possible because he depends on me for almost everything. It was my decision. I thought I should be at home with him and make everything perfect for him.
In his childhood, brother Ajit did everything for Sachin, sacrificing his own interests. I thought I should do the same. Besides, mine would not have been a 9 to 5 job. I’m a paediatrician, so if there’s a patient calling me or someone admitted at odd hours, I have to make myself available. With Sachin not around and me with two kids at home, it wouldn't have been possible. I took a decision and I have never, ever regretted it.
TOI: How good is your Hindi?
ANJALI: (Smiles). Not as good as my English. But my Marathi is better as I converse with my mother-in-law in that language. Actually, my mother is English so we spoke the language at home, but I studied Hindi without tuitions till the tenth standard. At St. Xavier's in the XIth and XIIth class, I studied Russian. My children speak Hindi much better than both of us.
TOI: Have you ever dreamt of your son Arjun playing alongside Sachin?
ANJALI: Actually, I have thought about it but, realistically speaking, I don't think it's possible. If it ever happens it will be fantastic.
TOI: Are you aware there are emails being circulated with pictures of your new, under-construction shell house in Bandra? There are pictures of the interiors too...
ANJALI: Yes. They're all fake!
TOI: When will the house be ready for you to move in?
ANJALI: It will take one more year.
TOI: Can you tell us a bit about the new house? Will it look like a huge mansion or just a normal bungalow?
ANJALI: It will be a normal house. If you look at Mumbai and its space constraints, we are lucky to be having a nice home which will have everything Sachin wants. If he wants to go and play cricket with Arjun there is a garden, not a big one but there is one. There is a parking area for our cars down in the basement, room for Sachin's mother and the kids.
Sachin is very clear and sure about what he wants. A lot of things in the house are what he's always wanted. But we are in it together. Also, I'm the more scientific type, the more practical one. I'm only bothered about where the switches are going to be placed, where the TV connections are going to be, what the kitchen and bathroom layout is going to be. He's into the fancy and decorative side.
TOI: No swimming pool?
ANJALI: There is one lap pool on the terrace and a shallow one just for Sachin's fitness. A gymnasium will also be there.
TOI: Have you ever driven the Ferrari?
ANJALI: When Sachin got his Ferrari home I asked him to show me how to change its gears because they are near the steering and move with the fingers. To my surprise, he said, ‘You don't need to drive my Ferrari.' In fact, I needed to know because at times we need to move it when he's not around. It actually happened once and we couldn't move it. I've been longing to drive his Ferrari.
TOI: Any idea which is Sachin's favourite Lata Mangeshkar or Kishore Kumar number?
ANJALI: There are so many, I can't name one. He always likes listening to them. Initially, I had no knowledge about Hindi movies and songs, it's only after marriage that I began watching movies and now I really enjoy Hindi songs.
TOI: Do you have a big circle of friends and do you socialise much?
ANJALI: No, we have a close set of friends. They are either Sachin's longtime friends or my friends from the medical field. We don't get much time to socialise but we do go out for family dinners whenever possible.
TOI: What comes first in Sachin's life? Cricket, wife or family?
ANJALI: I think it was cricket first but now things have changed, which I feel is a natural progression. So now, it is both cricket and family.
TOI: Have you and Sachin ever thought about what life is going to be like after cricket, or how long he intends to play?
ANJALI: People often tell us that we ought to start thinking about what he's going to do after cricket. But I feel that when you are playing, you need to focus 100%. You cannot even think of what you'll do after cricket. So I always tell Sachin not to think about it. I tell him, ‘It doesn't matter, surely you'll find something to do, you have lots of interests.'
Also, maybe we can just take some time off and travel the world and then look ahead. I always insist that he should not worry about the future. At the same time, he will be at a total loss because his whole life has been cricket.



http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOICH/2009/11/14&PageLabel=20&EntityId=Ar02000&ViewMode=HTML&GZ=T[tscii:f1ea44f2ee][/tscii:f1ea44f2ee]

[Sourav]

http://cricket.rediff.com/slide-show/2009/nov/14/slide-show-1-the-little-masters-greatest-knocks.htm

http://cricket.rediff.com/slide-show/2009/nov/14/slide-show-1-sachin-tendulkar-special-quote-hanger-for-the-legend.htm

[MADDY]

TOI: Sachin has been known to go out in disguise sometimes. Did he ever use a disguise to meet you?
ANJALI: Yes he did, just once. We had gone to see the movie Roja. I was studying medicine then and a couple of my friends planned it. Sachin did try telling me that that it would be difficult, but I insisted that he come along. To make sure nobody recognised him, we even got him a beard. He wore specs as well and we went in late. We watched the first half of the film, but during the interval Sachin dropped his specs and people immediately recognised him! It was a bit of a disaster and we were forced to leave halfway.

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOICH/2009/11/14&PageLabel=20&EntityId=Ar02000&ViewMode=HTML&GZ=T

:goosebumps: :cry2:

[Murali Srinivas]

நவம்பர் - 15

இன்று உனக்கு வயது இருபது.

நான் என்றுமே அண்ணாந்து பார்க்கும்
எனதருமை இளவலே!

மகன் தந்தைக்காற்றும் உதவி இவன் தந்தை
என்நோற்றான் கொல் எனும் சொல்!

என்ற பொய்யாமொழிப் புலவரின் வரிகளின் உருவகமே!

நிலை உயரும் போது பணிவு வந்தால்
உயிர்கள் உன்னை வணங்கும்!

என்ற கவியரசரின் காவிய வரிகளுக்கேற்ப
வாழ்வை அமைத்துக் கொண்டவனே!

நூறு கோடி இந்தியர்களின் வரமே!

ஒட்டு மொத்த இந்தியாவின் சந்தோஷமே!

வாராது வந்த மாமணியே!

நீ மேலும் பல்லாண்டு ஆட வேண்டும் ! உனக்கு

நாங்கள் பல்லாண்டு பாட வேண்டும்!

அன்புடன்

[littlemaster1982]

20 years and still going strong 8-) Proud to be a fan, Thalaivaa :notworthy:

[ajithfederer]

[tscii:b2283c9380]Two days with a future legend: Sachin Tendulkar

The first thing Tendulkar did on turning 18 — on becoming a man — was to head to the local driving office to apply for a licence. It has been full speed ahead ever since


I wish I could have been fortunate enough to get a front row seat every time Sachin Tendulkar notched up a century, but under the circumstances I'll take what I get. In my case it was two days in the life of a cricketer who went on to transcend the game.

The otherwise manic city of Kolkata seems to notch up the madness in the month of April. Summer descends on the metropolis with all the vengeance it can muster against a passing spring - the humidity, smog and searing heat makes for a mind-numbing combination. Journalists prefer to stay indoors and work the phones for their stories.

I found myself doing the same. In my case it was a long-distance call to Mumbai trying to convince (I call it hustling) Sachin Tendulkar and his brother Ajit to give me time for an interview.

It was April 20, 1991, and the mercury was climbing steadily. My mission was to fly down to Mumbai in the hope that Tendulkar would give me an interview and an insight into his life. It was to be a glimpse into the life of a boy about to turn into a man on his 18th birthday on April 24. I had some kind of premonition that his life was about to change forever and before it did I wanted to archive a few normal moments of it.

Time is a four letter word for Tendulkar. It has an enormous price tag attached to it. It was hard to come by in 1991and it is equally difficult in 2009.

An hour later, buoyed by the fact that he could spare 30 precious minutes during a Ranji Trophy game, I took a two and a half hour flight to Mumbai on April 27.

Three days earlier our protagonist had turned 18, thus becoming eligible to drive a car through the pot-holed streets of Mumbai.

He may not look tall when he walks up to you but one cannot help but look up to him. Tendulkar wore his celebrity well. He did not seem to be buckling down under expectations.

The frills of his success as a cricketer had begun to emerge then — courtesy the power operated windows fitted to a blue Maruti 800. The tinted glass on the driver's side rolled down and a teenaged face with a mop of thick curly hair stuck his head out to study me with a curious and naked interest.

Then suddenly he stuck out a chubby paw to shake my hand. "Hi, I'm Sachin, how are you?" The grip was sure and firm. Test cricket's second youngest centurion had the clasp of a man.

The first question, after all the esoterics were over, seemed to beg itself. I asked him about the first thing he did when he turned 18. He explained in a halting tongue: "I went straight to the local driving office and applied for my license. I had already filled up my forms before my birthday. I'm just crazy about driving and cars..."

...Mumbai folklore now has it that when a certain Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar is in town the silence of the night often gets punctured by the howl of a Ferrari engine.

The story has remained constant but the car has been upgraded to a Lamborghini Diablo, or so I am given to believe. It's just a case of a man who drives out seeking the darkness and solitude of the night to be with himself and his thoughts.

In retrospect, Tendulkar had been incredibly generous. The 30 minutes we had slotted for the interview stretched to two days.

During this time he treated me to an impeccable Ranji Trophy knock of 88, which ended due to his own impetuosity rather than great bowling; an insight into his life and a glimpse of the simplicity with which he lived it, along with a family who never allowed him to forget who he was.

We drove through the streets of Mumbai and to his house talking about his cricket, his priorities, his family, his friends, his privacy, his music, his state-of-the art stereo system, and even the possibility of taking a sip from the magnum of bubbly that he was awarded after being adjudged man-of-the match for becoming the second youngest centurion in Test cricket against England at Old Trafford.

I couldn't help but wonder if he knew what he was going to be. It was a bit like Superman slowly coming to terms with the vast range of his powers and how best he could use them.

Today while pondering over the growth of Tendulkar one cannot help but wince at the enormity of what he has achieved. He has stood out for India during moments of victory but more importantly, he has sparkled in defeat, battling and scraping with the best of them to earn the respect of his opponents.

There are so many milestones in his career, but for me just a few stand out. His bowling (yes bowling!) at the death to Allan Donald in Kolkata. His air-dash to Mumbai when informed about the passing of his father and then returning to World Cup duty for India to score a century illustrated the steel in his character.

He looked up at the skies after that hundred and offered a silent prayer in homage. This has now become his trademark ritual after every milestone.

Back-to-back centuries

There were the two back-to-back centuries against Zimbabwe and Australia in Sharjah and the failed attempt to win a Test against Pakistan in Chennai after taking India to within 17 runs of the target.

The five or more occasions when he clawed his way into the nineties only to lose his wicket reminded us of how human he could be. But he took it in his stride.

More recently, he dazzled the crowds in Hyderabad with a scintillating 175 only to end up on the losing side.

The four run loss was heartbreaking but the symphony conducted by his art of batsmanship left the critics and the crowds in a trance. The stature of his innings gained prominence over the defeat.

Tendulkar has concealed the lines between greatness and genius. This has made criticism of him immaterial. He has made it evident that even in the second decade of a record-filled career he plays cricket for the sheer simplicity of it all.

To score runs and be part of a winning team that represents his country. To this end he is humble but, more importantly, he has humbled us.

"Something has changed," he told me excitedly when I asked him in 1991 about the transition he was making from young boy to hero. He found it difficult to explain the phenomenon. "I can feel it, but I can't quite place it," he confessed, his eyes and his brain were locked in a struggle for the perfect response before he gave up.

Today, all Tendulkar has to do is look around him to find the answer to that question. The world lies at his feet and the plains sometimes can be clearer when viewed from the mountain.

http://gulfnews.com/sport/cricket/two-days-with-a-future-legend-sachin-tendulkar-1.527563[/tscii:b2283c9380]

[ajithfederer]

A Tendulkar is born only once in a century: Dhoni

Ajay Naidu, TNN 15 November 2009, 12:39am IST

As a cricketer, Sachin Tendulkar's self-discipline and commitment to excellence is unmatched, says Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

When I was a kid, my fascination with cricket began and ended with seeing Sachin Tendulkar bat. The moment he got out, I would switch off the television. Among the many innings that will be etched in my memory forever are those majestic back-to-back hundreds against Australia in Sharjah (1998).

Soon, I started playing cricket with a tennis ball and I would try to imitate him. However, I must confess when I watched a video of my batting, it was like North Pole and South Pole! I laughed at myself for even thinking I could bat like Tendulkar.

When I made my India debut on the Bangladesh tour in December 2004, I was excited and nervous. It was a short tour but being able to share the dressing-room with my idol made it memorable. Being shy, I couldn't find the courage to speak to him and avoided eye contact as well. I was overawed.

Finally, it was Sachin himself who broke the ice and made me feel comfortable since he would be standing close to me - in the slips. Once I got to know him better, my admiration for him grew further. As a cricketer, his self-discipline and commitment to excellence is unmatched. As a person, he is humble and honest; his feet are still on the ground despite all the fame and fortune.

I was lucky to have Sachin Tendulkar at the non-striker's end when I got my first Test hundred. We were playing Pakistan in Faisalabad (2006). We were in a precarious situation when I walked in to bat; Shoaib Akhtar was firing on all cylinders. He was so quick that I had no clue about the first couple of balls. Sensing my nervousness, Sachin walked down the wicket and told me, "Play the way you always play, with a smile. Enjoy the challenge." Those inspiring words acted as a tonic. Shoaib pitched the next one short and I pulled it for a six over mid-wicket. That gave me a lot of confidence and from then on, I kept playing my shots, got my first century and took the team to safety.

As a sportsman and captain, I hate to lose. Tendulkar, now the seniormost citizen of world cricket, hates to lose too. The years have dimmed none of his passion for the game. He continues to give more than 100% and his schoolboy-like enthusiasm for the game is something I envy and admire. For the team he is the best available coaching manual. He keeps guiding everyone with his wealth of experience.

Critics needlessly go on talking about his retirement but the manner in which he keeps going about his business, I joke that I might well retire before him! That's how good he is even after two decades of international cricket. His quality knocks in the two finals against Australia (117 not out and 91) helped us win our only tri-series title in Australia (2008) on our last tour. Again, his hundred in the finals of the Compaq Cup against Sri Lanka in September this year was a quality innings. And he sliced a piece of history for India, scoring a brilliant 103 not out in Chennai (against England in December 2008) as he guided us to the fourth highest run-chase in Test history (387). His 175 at Hyderabad in the last Osne-day series against Australia was simply breathtaking. He seemed to have pushed the clock back by 10 years - such was the quality of his strokeplay.

Tendulkar continues to be a prolific run-getter for India and a great ambassador for the sport. Indeed, a player like Tendulkar is born once in a century. We all know that his dream of winning a World Cup is the only thing that remains unfulfilled. As captain of the Indian team, I hope that we win the 2011 World Cup for him. It will be a fitting tribute to a man who has given so much to the country.

[ajithfederer]

20 YEARS OF SACHIN

Sachin, greatness that goes beyond cricket

Published on Sat, Nov 14, 2009 at 20:58, Updated on Sat, Nov 14, 2009 at 21:37 in Sports section


Just when the Berlin Wall was being broken down 20 years ago, the cricketing world started talking about a boy wonder who would rise to be a cricketing colossus. Two decades in sport is more than a generation and Sachin Tendulkar carries on and on--not wanting to think about the day he would have to stop playing the game.


Everyone who writes about cricket has to write about Tendulkar. The two are inseparable entities. It clearly underscores the fact that he is one of the greatest cricketers and in modern day parlance an entertainer par excellence with the highest TRP rating because he scores runs by tons with relentless brilliance.


Tendulkar's greatest quality is--whatever he might say about his pre-match nervous energy--that he has an air of deliberate confidence before he goes in to bat that he is going to make runs. And make runs he did with regularity. This uncanny ability places him a cut above two of his contemporaries whose names are invariably taken in the same breath, Brian Lara and Ricky Ponting. But both admit that Tendulkar has something extra that makes him stand out.


The greatness of Tendulkar is that he spreads his skill through his teammates, lifting their morale and competence. Anyone who has played with him swears that he has benefited by his ability to transmit the knowledge about the game. Every player, who has shared with him the dressing room, struggles for words to describe the genius of the man. He is beyond their comprehension.


If ever a player has overshadowed him, for sheer class of batsmanship, it is V V S Laxman. After a record 353-run fourth-wicket partnership in the 2004 Sydney Test when Laxman hit 30 fours in his 178 to Tendulkar's 33 in his unbeaten 241, the master put the artistry of V V S in perspective.


Cricketnext Special: 20 years of Sachin

All you need to know about Sachin Tendulkar

Conundrum: Gavaskar greater or Tendulkar?

Playing with Sachin: ex-captains recall teammate


"When Laxman was playing those shots, I decided it was best to just watch and enjoy his batting rather than try to do what he was doing."


Tendulkar made quite a few subtle and not so subtle corrections in his batting from time to time to suit his physical ability. There are some hundreds of his wherein he chose to drag his second fifty inexplicably after reaching the first fifty in no time. He sought to justify that the bowling was of top class or that he was playing in the interests of the team. It is difficult to agree that any bowling could chain him.


Looking at the unabashed praise lavished at Tendulkar it may appear he has few failings, both as cricketer and person. None of his contemporaries or his huge league of admirers, including some greats of the game, seems to find any human weakness in him. This is quite unlike Don Bradman who was not spared by his teammates who found chinks in his persona even as they praised him sky-high as a cricketer. Sachin, his admirers say, is more humane and likeable, though as captain he was too stubborn, refusing to deviate from his pet fads.




Watching him these 20 years was one of the pleasures of making a living watching sport. Memories take one back to New Zealand in 1989-90, Tendulkar's second international tour after the debut one to Pakistan a couple of months earlier under a different captain. Those were the days when on tours there was not so much of nitpicking by the media and the teenager got all the protection he needed.


Seldom has a player caught the imagination of a country as he did on that tour. He was the talking point wherever people discussed cricket. "What's special about that kid," the cabbies wanted to know and "I can't imagine a 16-year-old facing Richard Hadlee who has taken 400 Test wickets," said an amateur painter as he sketched the ambience of Christchurch, the garden city with Gothic architecture in South Island, as a memento to be given to him.


Twelve years down the road in an interviewed at Harare, he was a confident young man. He knew what to expect from the media and how to sidestep uncomfortable questions. Asked about the two captains he played under, he would say he had played only under Azharuddin and it was too early to assess Sourav Ganguly. Anticipating the next question, he hastened to add that the '92 side was the best team he had played in.


The only time he was irked by criticism was when, in the aftermath of the World Cup disaster in the Caribbean two years ago, there were shrill calls in the media for his head. He took on coach Greg Chappell and the Indian cricket board asked him to show cause for his outbursts. Otherwise, he always let his bat do the talking and it silenced and shamed his critics.


He continues to make politically correct statements, though, for once, he did not mince words on Marathi Manoos, saying that he was a proud Maharashtrian, but an Indian first, and that Mumbai belongs to India.


Perhaps, Tendulkar from now on will be taken seriously when he speaks on subjects other than cricket.


(Veturi Srivatsa, the writer of this article is a senior editor at IANS. He can be reached at v.srivatsa@ians.in)

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/sachin-greatness-that-goes-beyond-cricket/105267-5-single.html

[ajithfederer]

India's spin legends hail Tendulkar's genius

2009-11-14 17:50:00

New Delhi, Nov 14 (IANS) India's spin bowling legends Saturday doffed their hats to little master Sachin Tendulkar, crowing over his discipline and work ethic which kept him fresh even after 20 years of international cricket and ahead of other talented players of his era.

On the eve of Tendulkar completing 20 years in international cricket, off-spinner Srinivas Venkataraghavan, who led India in two World Cups, called Tendulkar the 'greatest Indian batsmen of the last 40-45 years', while former Indian skipper and one of the greatest left arm spinners of the game Bishen Singh Bedi described him as a player who could have 'fitted into a team of any era'.


Cunning off-spinner of the 1960s and 1970s Erapalli Prasanna was wonderstruck at the way Tendulkar continues to dominate the bowlers even after playing top-flight cricket for so many years.


But what has made the spin troika unabashed admirers of the master is his approach to the game and dedication.


'For almost the entire length of his career he has been the number one batsman of the world. His discipline, work ethics have made him stand apart from other talented batsmen of his times. He is a colossus,' said Prasanna, who claimed 189 wickets in 49 Tests spread over 16 years.


Bedi said Tendulkar's longevity is the hallmark of a great player.


'Lasting 20 years in international cricket is an achievement in itself. The kind of fitness level, dedication and determination he has shown in two decades is unmatchable,' said Bedi who led India in 22 Tests and captured 266 wickets in 67 Tests.


To Venkat, Tendulkar is a 'captain's delight, a remarkable talent, with the right kind of temperament and attitude. He would have been successful in any era'.


Recalling the first time he watched Tendulkar while officiating as an umpire in a match between East Zone and West Zone at Pune in 1988, Venkat said: 'He scored 88. And seeing the drives he played, I turned to Dilip (Vengsarkar) and said 'He is Test material, boss'.'


'He compares favourably to, if not better than any of our past greats. And I say this keeping in mind the likes of Sunil Gavaskar and Vijay Hazare. He is the greatest Indian batsman in the last 40-45 years,' said Venkat, who picked up 156 scalps in 57 Test matches between 1965 and 1983.


Bedi said: 'We generally use the word great loosely. But Sachin is a genuine great.'

http://sify.com/news/India-39-s-spin-legends-hail-Tendulkar-39-s-genius-news-National-jlorORbaidh.html

[ajithfederer]

Playing with Sachin: ex-captains recall teammate

IANS

Published on Sat, Nov 14, 2009 at 21:07 in Sports section


New Delhi: Former captains K Srikkanth, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble felt they were the lucky few to have lead a team with Sachin Tendulkar in it.


On the eve of Tendulkar's 20th year in international cricket, the four former captains went ga-ga over the 36-year-old batting maestro.


They feel that to last 20 years in international cricket is a fantastic achievement and for that one has to have special qualities. Tendulkar had everything that made him the best in the world.


For Ganguly, Tendulkar will always remain special. During his five-year tenure as the India captain, Tendulkar and Ganguly formed the most exciting opening pair in the One-day Internationals (ODI) and they tore apart the best of bowling attacks.


"Fortunately I have played nearly 300 ODIs with him. It is not easy to share all the great moments I had with him. I congratulate Sachin on the fantastic achievement of playing 20 years for the country," Ganguly said.


Recalling his first interaction with Tendulkar, Ganguly said: "My first interaction with him was at the under-15 national camp in Indore. But before that I heard a lot about him because he was making news even then."


Incidentally, Dravid, who was also in the same camp, said that Tendulkar was always a step ahead of others of his age.


"He was always special. The fact that he has lasted 20 years in international cricket is a big achievement in itself. He has fulfilled the expectations of a billion fans and has done it regularly for many years," Dravid told IANS.


"He is very chatty in the dressing room and he is an outgoing person. He has contributed a lot to the game. Personally I feel privileged to be able to play for such a long time with him, a legend," he said.


Kumble concurs with Dravid.


"It is amazing to see the way he has lived up to the expectations of the nation, how he has carried the burden of expectations of millions of people. He has managed to deliver almost every time he has been expected and that shows his consistency and commitment. He has also managed to maintain his image on and off the field and that is what youngsters should learn from him," he said.


Srikkanth, Tendulkar's first captain, recalled the turbulent times in which Tendulkar played in his debut series in Pakistan.


"The players and the cricket board were on a collision course over players' contract. Before the Karachi Test a tense Sachin came to me to share his feelings. I assured him that he was too junior to get into any trouble and asked him to play freely. The rest is history," he said.


What surprised Srikkanth was the ease with which Tendulkar handled leg-spinner Adbul Qadir, who then was the best in the world.


"Sachin stepped out twice and hit Qadir for two consecutive sixes. I was at the other end and asked him to be careful since Qadir was the best spinner then. Sachin just raised his hands and told me 'boss just be relaxed. I am fine.'" he said.

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/playing-with-sachin-excaptains-recall-teammate/105269-5.html

[ajithfederer]

[tscii:0729d0235c]When Sachin appealed for Lagaan’s Bhura: Aamir Khan

You will be surprised to know that I have seen Sachin bat against the best bowlers at the Cricket Club of India (CCI) even before he played for India

Aamir Khan
Posted On Saturday, November 14, 2009 at 09:38:20 PM

You will be surprised to know that I have seen Sachin bat against the best bowlers at the Cricket Club of India (CCI) even before he played for India. I clearly remember, Dilip Vengsarkar had come to the Indian team nets with a 14-year-old. After the nets he asked the boy to pad up and handed over a brand new ball to Kapil Dev.

Kapil thought Dilip was trying to play a prank and he bowled some dollies to the kid who looked visibly upset. Dilip went to Kapil and insisted that he should bowl at his normal speed. Kapil, reluctantly, bowled some quick balls but the boy faced all of them with great confidence. Now he was happy.

Kapil’s ego had been hurt. After all, how can a 14-year-old handle him so easily? He marked his run-up and bowled some nasty balls. But the lad faced them with supreme confidence. We were stunned.

After the session, Dilip told Kapil, “This is the wonder boy I was talking about. His name is Sachin Tendulkar.” “Goodness me,” said a startled Kapil. “At this age he seems so matured. You are right; he is special.” All of us were tracking his progress, primarily through newspapers. Less than two years since that amazing net session, Sachin was awarded the India cap. Our career started almost at the same time.

Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak was released in 1988; Sachin made his international debut in 1989.

I first met him when he was invited to give the muhurat-shot clap for our new film Avval Number. He was very shy and far too polite. Since then we have nurtured a special friendship. I would like to narrate two stories which are close to my heart. We were in the final stages of Lagaan and were in need of some sound bytes. You usually hear two kinds of noises in a packed cricket stadium. One is a giant roar when something spectacular happens. The second is a deafening silence when something goes unexpectedly wrong.

An India-Australia match was played at the Wankhede Stadium. I called Sachin so that he could get us approval from the right authorities to record sound bytes when the match was on. Sachin promptly got us the consent. The stadium was full and we got the bytes we dearly wanted. When we listened to the track, we had to cut almost 80 per cent of the footage. The reason? When Sachin is on the field spectators will continuously chant: Saaaachin, Saaaachin.

It was not possible to use those sound bytes given that Sachin was not playing any role in Lagaan. Before its release I invited him for a private screening. It was an amazing scene: Sachin watching Lagan and I watching him. I was dying to see his reactions. The film rolled on and when Bhura took his first wicket in the film, Sachin unwittingly lifted his left hand and appealed: “How’s that.”

I was relieved. That was it; I knew we were on the right track. I felt confident that the cricketing part in the film was just fine and the chances of success bright. I was invited for the Indian Premier League final (of its first edition) at the DY Patil Stadium. I was damn lucky since I got a seat next to Sachin. During the course of the match I asked him about the possible bowling changes. He explained the situation and predicted who would be bowling next. The change was made and the same bowler, who he had foreseen, came in to bowl next. For the next half an hour he was reading the game like an open book. He was only making an accurate prediction of the bowling changes; he was spot on with his views on field placement. He could even sense what shots the batsmen would play. It was unbelievable. I was stunned by his observations, his knowledge of the game, and the way he read the minds of the opposition. Completing 20 years in international cricket is a great achievement. I think his single-mindedness, dedication, passion for the game and his values have made this possible. His enthusiasm remains undimmed. Even after reaching this stage, he is so simple and humble. He is still fighting fit and motivated too. Let us enjoy watching the legend for a couple of more years at least.

http://www.bangaloremirror.com/article/71/2009111420091114213820765354c3691/When-Sachin-appealed-for-Lagaan%E2%80%99s-Bhura-Aamir-Khan.html[/tscii:0729d0235c]

[ajithfederer]

Time to stop talking Tendulkar
Sharda Ugra
New Delhi, November 14, 2009


All around us today all of India is talking a language called 'Tendulkar'.


His twenty years has led to actors delivering lines, singers hitting notes, academics offering profundities, colleagues offering praises over partnership, coaches delivering theories, friends telling their tales.

Yet, most of his admirers remain unknown. They climb trees to look into a stadium, push the one ahead of them to grab a cheap seat, stand on the street shifting from one foot to another, duck down security barriers, run along the team bus to catch sight of him. When they see him, they become the single biggest sound in cricket.

Today, it is they who are smiling silently. If they are merely distant fringes of his life, flecks seen from behind his sunglasses, he is at the centre of theirs. Because every time Tendulkar sets off to the crease, he takes with him the only thing they own - their pride. And today, that is bursting. Twenty years on, the batsman of their dreams is still there - and he remains real.

In his twentieth year, Tendulkar has of course been turned into a monument, a deity. As India stretched itself through the 1990s and into the new millennium he went from Cherub-Face to Funky-Haircut, prodigy to big brand. He owns the Ferrari and a Mike Knopfler guitar hangs on a wall in his house. He is thought of as so valuable now they will cut trees to produce some 35kg piece of furniture about him and call it a book.

But Tendulkar is where he is because when it comes to what he does, he has hung onto the most ordinary of descriptions. He is truly precious because he has remained the working man. Sure, his work happens to be visible and public. Sure, it attracts and seduces India, sending a country's blood pumping. Yet to him, it has remained his craft, his trade, his soul and he has given it his complete absorbtion. It is the quality that has made him the batsman he is. Not his eye, his timing, not even his gleaming, polished talent. Skills and gift could take him a distance, but only his mind in cricket and his heart towards it, could have lasted twenty years.

When he bats, everyone watches. He reaches a demographic which the movie star and the politician would envy but will not ever possess. Male and female, young, middle-aged and old, business mogul and the man who polishes his shoes, students, teachers and drop outs, Indians in every corner of the country and the nooks and crannies of the world. When he had his tennis elbow injury, a room in his house piled up with medicines, oils, plasters, bandages, supports, sent by his fans from everywhere.

In the time Tendulkar wrote the story of his career, he has given us ours. Pradeep Ramarathnam, a multinational executive in Bangalore today, thinks that Tendulkar brought sons and mothers closer. And in a way, God as well. In the 1990s, Ramarathnam's mother who never followed cricket, watched Tendulkar with him, amazed by the young batsman's age and mastery. Whenever Tendulkar arrived at the crease, Ramarathnam was told to rush off and pray for him. It was his mother's way of teaching him the prayers, but the son believed it was his way of ensuring Tendulkar didn't get out early. Well, he hasn't.

Every fan has a personal Tendulkar story about the man's presence that has nothing to do with chance meetings.

The twenty-year anniversary has led to a wild outbreak of festivities in the media with Tendulkar probably sitting through more interviews in the space of a few weeks than he has done in two decades. It is his twentieth year, but actually his 21st season.

Think about it, it is in those seasons he has made his name, reputation and those towering records and he's already crossed twenty. The meticulous man would probably have noted 2008-09 as No. 20 passing by. That slipped out of the rest of our thinking and even statisticians didn't send out alerts. It didn't matter. Tendulkar turned up from South Africa and sent out his: 175 in Hyderabad that sent TV ratings and India's pulse racing.

So never mind talking Tendulkar. As season 21 continues after the celebrations of Year 20, all that must be felt is contentment. All that must be experienced is enjoyment, all that must be appreciated is presence. It is what Sachin Tendulkar has given us all.

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/70882/Top%20Stories/Time+to+stop+talking+Tendulkar.html

[ajithfederer]

[tscii:6d62f2d55b]Once-in-a-century player: Muralitharan
S. Dinakar

Tendulkar has coped with the pressures and expectations in an incredible manner

Maestro Sachin Tendulkar will complete 20 years in international cricket on Sunday. The 36-year-old batting legend will be the first Indian cricketer to achieve the feat.

Tendulkar made his debut as an immensely talented 16-year-old against Pakistan in Karachi on November 15, 1989.

"You only get to see one Tendulkar in a life-time. In the next 100 years, you will not witness another Tendulkar. He is once-in-century-player," said international cricket's most successful bowler Muttiah Muralitharan here on Saturday while interacting with the media.

India meets Sri Lanka in the first Test of the three-match series at Motera from Monday.

And Muralitharan will be up against a cricketer who is only 39 runs short of a mind-boggling 30,000 runs in international cricket.

Tendulkar has most runs in Tests (12773 runs in 159 matches at 54.58) and ODIs (17178 runs in 436 matches at 44.50). His 42 Test hundreds and 45 ODI centuries are more than anybody else in the game.

"He can make runs even when he is 44 years old because his technique is so good. It is this combination of technique and temperament that has made Tendulkar such a great cricketer," said Muralitharan, the leading wicket-taker in Tests and ODIs, with 783 and 512 scalps.

Krishnamachari Srikkanth, Tendulkar's first captain, said the teenager's confidence coming into the team for the series in Pakistan, in 1989, was astonishing. "All I told him was that he would play all

four Tests. I just wanted him to feel secure."

Srikkanth, the chairman of the National cricket selection panel, marvels at Tendulkar's accomplishments. He recalls some of the batsman's epic innings. "I can never forget his 114 at Perth in 1992 in Australia. I played that Test. The pitch sported large cracks andthere was both bounce and lateral movement. Tendulkar played cracking shots off either foot. He has enormous character."

The former India captain then talks about Tendulkar's three immortal efforts at Chepauk. "His 155 not out against Australia in 1998; a match-winning innings was very special. He took guard outside the

leg-stump, opened up his stance and pulled Shane Warne out of the rough. The innings showed how well he could adapt. His 136 against Pakistan in 1999 was an epic innings that saw him play through shooting back pain. Sadly, India lost in a thrilling finish. Last year, his unbeaten 103 during a match-winning fourth innings chase against England on a tricky wicket was vintage Tendulkar."

Sri Lankan batting giant Mahela Jayawardene highlighted Tendulkar's hunger and commitment. He also dwelt on Tendulkar's ability to play in all conditions. “There is nothing that he lacks. He is technically solid, is hard to break and can concentrate for long periods,” saidthe Sri Lankan.

Indeed, Tendulkar's away Test record of 7165 runs in 90 matches at 54.28 is an exemplary one. In Australia, where a batsman often has to cope with extra bounce, Tendulkar's solid back-foot play has fetched him 1522 runs in 16 Tests at 58.53.

In England, where a batsman has to rely on front-footed play and sure judgment in the corridor to counter the lateral movement, Tendulkar has 1302 runs in 13 Tests at 62.00.Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara pointed out that Tendulkar continued to enjoy the game. "He has the hunger and the desire.

Tendulkar has come back from injuries. Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting are technically sound while Brian Lara can very exciting to watch."

Former India paceman Javagal Srinath, who shared a wonderful chemistry with Tendulkar said, “He has been incredible. I am proud that I played cricket with him. You must realise that during all these years, he has had virtually no private life.”

Tendulkar's career has been a saga sacrifice.


http://beta.thehindu.com/sport/cricket/article48812.ece?homepage=true[/tscii:6d62f2d55b]

[ajithfederer]

[tscii:a70a3f7bf2]He has permeated a nation's collective consciousness effortlessly
Kunal DiwanR. Narayanan

An inescapable product of life in the public eye is the division of popular opinion. One cannot please everybody all the time, and only a few famous people command the universal admiration of an audience whose primary characteristic is its fickle nature.

Even fewer personalities permeate into the collective consciousness of a country as effortlessly as Sachin Tendulkar has India’s. Living out more than half his years on earth under the scrutiny of an obsessive audience, Tendulkar has been a sign of hope and a shoulder of strength under the brunt of expectation.

The little master’s appeal has transcended demarcations of class, caste, gender and geography. And any discussion, at least in this country, on the great man is likely to take one and one course alone — of affection, admiration, deification and deference.

Here’s what cricket fans have to say:

Dr. R. Ramanujam (45), Ophthalmic surgeon: Tendulkar is a rare combination of a supremely gifted player and a down-to-earth human being. The way he has carried himself is an example to others. He has survived for so long due to his passion for the game and his single-minded dedication. He’s easily the all-time superstar of Indian cricket.

Favourite knock: 136 against Pakistan, Chennai Test, 1999.

Naman Sharma (25), Operations Manager in a Multi-National Company: Tendulkar is the only reason I watch cricket. There was a time when I changed channels the moment he got out. Twenty years on he’s still going strong… it has been an unbelievable career. It is difficult to imagine an Indian cricket team without him.

Favourite knock: 98 against Pakistan, Centurion, 2003 World Cup.

Renjith Jose (40), Businessman: Even though I prefer football to cricket, I take the time to tune in as long as Tendulkar is at the crease. Cricket is slow-paced, but watching the master blaster is something special. There is a sense of personal involvement in whatever he does, and very few sportspersons can lay claim on that kind of following. A career of such integrity and consistency under such pressure deserves double the credit.

Favourite knock: 241 not out against Australia, Sydney Test, 2004.

Akshay Ramaseshan (24), Management Professional: I was lucky to be part of the generation that grew up on Tendulkar’s exploits. My first memory of watching a televised match is Sharjah, 1996, where he scored a hundred against Pakistan and India posted its first total in excess of 300. What he has come to signify for India goes beyond the purview of mere sport.

Favourite knock: 103 not out against England, Chennai Test, 2008.

Lakshmi (33), Homemaker: I began to like cricket more after I started watching Tendulkar. He’s undaunted by any bowler and never allows anybody to get under his skin. I also admire his ability to perform under pressure. I hope he continues till the 2011 World Cup and wins it for us.

Favourite knock: 143 versus Australia, Sharjah, 1998 (to help India qualify for the final).

C. Murugan (21), Parking attendant: I first watched Tendulkar when he made a century against Kenya in the 1999 World Cup. He had lost his father just a few days earlier, but came back for the sake of the country. He’s a true patriot. Tendulkar doesn’t bother even if a bowler sledges him and that’s what I like most about him.

Favourite knock: 186 not out against New Zealand, Hyderabad, 1999.

Sai Shashank (11), Student: I admire Tendulkar’s character. Though he’s aggressive as a batsman, he looks very friendly as a person. Despite achieving so much as a player, he’s very humble. He has played for 20 years because he likes the game a lot and dreams about it all the time.

Favourite knock: 175 versus Australia, Hyderabad, 2009.

http://beta.thehindu.com/sport/cricket/article48818.ece[/tscii:a70a3f7bf2]

[ajithfederer]

[tscii:c9d75a4d8c]INCREDIBLE JOURNEY
R Kaushik

Into his third decade on the international stage, Sachin Tendulkar still stands tall, writes R Kaushik


It’s hard to believe that it has been 20 years! Twenty years ago, global warming was as unheard of as global terrorism, Steffi Graf was still ruling the women’s tennis world, Australia hadn’t taken even tentative steps towards dominating the cricket world. Twenty years ago, Michael Jackson was the universal pop icon, the Berlin Wall had just crumbled as East and West fused, Roger Moore was still James Bond 007, licensed to kill.
Twenty years! A lifetime, and more!

Twenty years to the day, in Karachi on November 15, 1989, a teenaged genius, baby faced but tough as nails, shot on to the international cricketing stage, cuddly and adorable, with a broadsword for a bat and earmarked for greatness, even if his first Test match provided little evidence of what was to come. Twenty years on, in the era of Twenty20 cricket, Sachin Tendulkar continues to stand tall, wowing audiences worldwide even in the supposed autumn of his career with masterpieces that only he can construct.
For 20 years now, Tendulkar has entertained and exhilarated, thrilled and excited and, naturally enough, more than occasionally disappointed and dismayed. For 20 years, he has had a nation eating out of his hands, controlled the mood of a billion people, put a smile on hardened faces, instilled hope and joy and belief in moments of despair and distress. And he has done all that with humility and grace, respectful of the love and expectations of his people but always with his feet on the ground, his head firmly on his shoulders.

Not even Sachin Tendulkar, one suspects, knows how he has managed that. Yes, the strong middle-class values he was exposed to from a very early age, courtesy a grounded professor-father who set the example by deeds rather than words, helped. Yes, the presence of a stabilising influence in a doctor-wife played its part. Even so, how does one explain the remarkable balance, the extraordinary command of situations, the mastery of emotions?

Tendulkar is what Tendulkar is today not merely because he has scored almost 30,000 international runs, is closing in on a hundred international centuries or because he owns almost every batting record conceivable. He isn’t loved and revered and adored and looked up to only because he has passed the longevity test and lasted the rigours of the international game for two decades now. It’s as much for how he has done it, as for what he has done, that the 36-year-old is held in such high esteem – by his peers, by his contemporaries and his predecessors but most of all, by a nation that simply can’t have enough of him.

Nobody else in India – not Shah Rukh Khan, not even Prime Minister Manmohan Singh – has had so much riding on his shoulders for such a long period of time. The intense scrutiny, the enormous adulation, the overwhelming pressure of expectations, the complete absence of any privacy – all these and more could so easily have broken even strong-willed men. It’s in the subliminal ease with which Tendulkar has taken everything in his stride that he is in a class of one.

Perhaps, we are going overboard? Is Tendulkar greater than the men who guard our frontiers, who keep their focus and their concentration and discipline through bitterly cold nights so that we can sleep in peace? Is he more special, living as he is in the lap of luxury well earned through his command over his chosen craft, than the common man simply because he has a gift that very few have, but in only a sporting arena which seldom makes the difference between life and death?

Tendulkar will be the first, as he indeed did in the aftermath of 26/11, to say no, emphatically. It is, though, well worth remembering that the first time a collective smile broke out on a billion faces following the Mumbai terror attacks of last year was when Tendulkar scripted an incredible run-chase in the Chennai Test against England. And spontaneously dedicated it to the people of Mumbai as well as the men and women who fought tirelessly to keep the terrorists at bay.

His evolution from an exciting teenager to the bulwark of the Indian batting, from a shy, tongue-tied young man to the senior statesman, has directly reflected in his growth from an intrepid attacker of bowling attacks to a more mature and controlled batsman. Even today, he will occasionally roll the years back, bow to the boy still lurking inside him and tear the best apart; for the most part, he has however swapped the broadsword for a rapier, the bludgeon for a scalpel, making large-scale compromises necessitated by an injury-ravaged body and the inevitable passage of time.

Time. Not even for Sachin Tendulkar will time stand still, much as most of India would wish for it. Not too long into the future, he will hang up his boots and bat, even if he will never ever ride away into the sunset. There is time yet to savour his successes, to commiserate with his failures, to celebrate his commanding presence. Many happy returns, Sachin!

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/35886/incredible-journey.html[/tscii:c9d75a4d8c]

[ajithfederer]

[tscii:93bd370168]A once-in-a-century star: Sachin
14 Nov, 2009 0841hrs IST TOI Crest

Setting a field to a Tendulkar in full flow is a captain’s nightmare. The deafening noise makes it impossible to communicate with the fielders and the bowlers look demoralised. On his day, he can take a game away from the opposition very quickly


The first time I saw Sachin Tendulkar play, I had all the time in the world to study him and analyse his technique. I had been dropped from the Australian side, and was watching him on television as he was on his way to scoring a remarkable century in Perth. The schoolboy with an unruly mop announced himself as a special talent to the world, on one of the fastest pitches, against a very good pace attack.

The last time I watched Sachin bat was last week, when he was on his way to a spectacular 175, and once again I felt that I was watching a player who comes but once in a century. It can be said that he is the Bradman of our times, and I do feel privileged to have played a lot of cricket against him.

Sachin always brought with him an amazing sporting presence. It was a captain’s nightmare to set a field when he was in full flow. It was akin to getting stuck in a tornado - the noise made it impossible to communicate with the fielders, the bowlers looked demoralised and you could sense that Sachin himself was delighted at the disarray he created in the opposition. Whether in India or elsewhere, there were always enough fans to create a deafening din whenever he was at his best.

On his day, Sachin could take a game away from under your nose very quickly. His uncanny ability to find gaps, his running between the wickets and his sheer presence at the wicket were unsettling for the opposition. Sachin rarely got into verbal duels, and soon we too realised that sledging him only helped strengthen his concentration and resolve. No wonder then that some of the most talkative Australians went quiet when Sachin was in the middle. There have been occasions when he did indulge in some chat himself, but on the whole he was quiet, focussed and seriously tough.

Like many cricketers who were involved in that tournament, my favourite Sachin knock came in Sharjah, in what is now known as the ‘sandstorm innings’ . Not only did he singlehandedly get his team into the finals, he then went on to try and win the game from an impossible situation. Allan Border was standin coach for that series, and I remember him saying that that knock was one of the best he had witnessed. He soothed our frayed nerves by adding that the good news was that Sachin had peaked too early and that he would not make a big score in the final.

The final was on Sachin’s birthday, and he scored 140-odd and won the tournament for his team. Those two knocks were gems - works of pure genius.

Sachin has always been a favourite with Australian crowds and has the unreserved respect of Australian cricketers because he possesses many traits that we respect and value among sportsmen. He is fiercely competitive, never backs off from a contest, never gives up, but is always fair. His innate decency has always shone through his ruthlessness on the field. For most of his career, he’s wanted to dominate the bowler and stamp his supremacy on the opposition.
Importantly, he’s always been a team man and he still has a word of advice for everybody, even the pace bowlers. A big reason why his wicket’s so prized is because the opposition knows that his teammates feed off his good form. There’s always that little extra bit of joy when they see his back. We always sensed that once we take him out of the game, his teammates tended to lose some of their spirit. This might not be the case today, but for a decade, getting Sachin early was the key to beating India.

Today, Sachin is at the summit of a monumental career, in terms of runs, years and milestones. However, none of this would have captured the imagination of a billion Indians if it were not for the personality of Sachin. I will not claim to know him well, but in our limited interactions, he comes across as a shy, decent, humble person. He has a small circle of friends and generally keeps to himself. He has always conducted himself exceptionally in public life, which must not be easy. I know that Sachin has learnt to embrace the pressure and expectations that 1.2 billion fans place on him. He seems to thrive on their goodwill, and has rarely mentioned it as a burden. More creditably he has taken the criticism and backlash that follows a poor run of scores with dignity, never letting frustration or doubt creep in.

Sachin’s love for the game is still palpable, his hunger for run remains unquenched, and it’s really up to him to decide when to hang up those gloves.

As a contemporary, I feel that he has fulfilled his destiny as a batsman in ample measure, and if I have any criticism it’s that he did not give his leg breaks any importance. I always thought he could spin the ball a lot more than many regular spinners, and could have claimed a 100 Test sticks if he had put his mind to it.
Two decades of cricket is testimony not only to his talent, but also to the dedication and time he has devoted to his fitness. He is the best judge of how long he can carry on, but I personally feel he does have another two to three years of cricket in him - his fans can rest easy, the run machine still has some fuel left in there!

87
Total number of Sachin’s international centuries. Among current players, his 42 Test tons are ahead of Ricky Ponting’s 38. South African Jacques Kallis has 31, while Rahul Dravid is the closest Indian with 26 centuries. No one seems likely to catch up with Sachin’s 45 ODI hundreds, though. Ponting and Lanka’s Sanath Jayasuriya are way behind with 28 each. Will the Little Master reach the magic three figures before he calls it a day?

http://m.timesofindia.com/PDATOI/articleshow/5229323.cms[/tscii:93bd370168]

[littlemaster1982]

An India-Australia match was played at the Wankhede Stadium. I called Sachin so that he could get us approval from the right authorities to record sound bytes when the match was on. Sachin promptly got us the consent. The stadium was full and we got the bytes we dearly wanted. When we listened to the track, we had to cut almost 80 per cent of the footage. The reason? When Sachin is on the field spectators will continuously chant: Saaaachin, Saaaachin.


:notworthy: :notworthy:

[ajithfederer]

Sachin most entertaining cricketer of his generation: Roebuck

PTI 14 November 2009, 04:28pm IST

NEW DELHI: Paying rich tribute to Sachin Tendulkar, who completes 20 glorious years in international cricket on Sunday, noted columnist Peter Roebuck described the champion Indian batsman as the "most satisfying cricketer of his generation".

Roebuck said along with retired spin wizard Shane Warne, Tendulkar has been the cricketer who has given enormous pleasure to followers of the game wherever it is played.

"It has been an incredible journey, a trip that figures alone cannot define. Not that the statistics lack weight, they are astonishing, almost mind-boggling. He has scored an avalanche of runs in every form of the game, reached three figures 87 times, and all the while has somehow retained his freshness, somehow avoided the mechanical, the repetitive and the predictable," Roebuck wrote.

"Perhaps that has been part of it, the ability to retain the precious gift of youth. Alongside Shane Warne, the Indian master has been the most satisfying cricketer of his generation," he said.

Stating that even West Indian batting great Brian Lara does not get as much adulation as Tendulkar does, Roebuck said what made the Indian more enjoying was the simplicity in his execution.

"Over decades it has been Tendulkar's rare combination of mastery and boldness, blend of the sublime and the precise that has delighted connoisseurs and crowds alike. More than any other batsman, even Brian Lara, Tendulkar's batting has provoked gasps of admiration," Roebuck wrote.

"Viv Richards could terrorise an attack with pitiless brutality, Lara could dissect bowlers with surgical and magical strokes, Tendulkar can take an attack apart with towering simplicity. From the start he had an uncanny way of executing his strokes perfectly. Tendulkar was born to bat," wrote Roebuck about Tendulkar who made his international debut in Tests against Pakistan on November 15, 1989.

Touching upon the pressure on Tendulkar faces from a demanding billion fans whenever he went out to bat, Roebuck described the Mumbaikar as "proudest possession of India".

"And yet, the runs, the majesty, the thrills, does not capture his achievement. Reflect upon his circumstances and then marvel at his feat. Here is a man obliged to put on disguises so that he can move around the streets, a fellow able to drive his cars only in the dead of night for fear of creating a commotion, a father forced to take his family to Iceland on holiday, a person whose entire adult life has been lived in the eye of a storm.

"Throughout he has been public property, India's proudest possession, a source of joy for millions, an expression of a vast and ever-changing nation. At times India has sprung too quickly to his defence, as if a point made against him was an insult to the nation, as if he were beyond censure. A poor lbw decision can all too easily be turned into a cause of worry," Roebuck wrote.

"Happily Tendulkar has always retained his equanimity. He is a sportsman as well as a cricketer. By no means has it been the least of his contributions, and it explains his widespread popularity."

Roebuck felt even today Tendulkar still has the freshness of his youth days which was visible in his masterly 175 against Australia in Hyderabad.

"Tendulkar has been playing top-class cricket for 20 years and he's still producing blistering innings, still looking hungry, still demolishing attacks. From his first outing to his most recent effort, a stunning 175 in Hyderabad, he has been a great batsman. Longevity counts amongst his strengths. Twenty years! It's a heck of a long time, and it's gone in the blink of an eye," he wrote.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/top-stories/Sachin-most-entertaining-cricketer-of-his-generation-Roebuck/articleshow/5230456.cms

[ajithfederer]

Saturday 14th November 2009
Cricket greats pay tribute to Sachin

Some of the world's greatest cricketers have heaped encomiums on Sachin Tendulkar as he reaches another milestone in his career.

Former Australian skipper Steve Waugh paid him the ultimate tribute by calling him the "Bradman of our times".

A day before completing 20 years of international cricket, Tendulkar's peers doffed their hats to the batting genius, recalling their association with him.

"The last time I watched Sachin was last week when he was on his way to a spectacular 175 and once again I felt that I was watching a player who comes but once in a century. It can be said that he is the Bradman of our times and I do feel privileged to have played a lot of cricket against him," Waugh said.

Considered a ruthless and aggressive captain, Waugh said even he had a nightmarish time setting his fielders whenever Tendulkar marched in to the crease.

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"Sachin always brought with him an amazing sporting presence. It was a captain's nightmare to set a field for him when he was in full flow. It was akin to getting stuck in a tornado -- the noise made it impossible to communicate with the fielders.

"The bowlers looked demoralized and you could sense that Sachin himself was delighted at the disarray he created in the opposition. Whether in India or elsewhere, there were always enough fans to create a deafening din whenever he was at his best," he said.

The man who called sledging mental disintegration, Waugh said the tactic never really worked in Tendulkar's case.

"On his day Sachin could take a game away from under your nose very quickly. His uncanny ability to find gaps, his running between the wickets and his sheer presence at the wicket was unsettling for the opposition.

"Sachin rarely got into verbal duels and soon we too realised that sledging him only strengthens his concentration and resolve. No wonder then that some of the most talkative Australians went quiet when Sachin was in the middle."

Sachin Tendulkar in pics

Waugh also lauded the way Tendulkar conducted himself off the field and said he admired the composure with which the Indian handled expectations of a cricket-mad nation.

"His innate decency as always shone through his ruthlessness on the field. For most of his career, he has wanted to dominate the bowlers and stamp his supremacy on the opposition. He has always conducted himself exceptionally in public light which must not be easy.

"I know that Sachin has learnt to embrace the pressures and expectations that 1.2 billion fans place on him. He seems to thrive on their goodwill and has rarely mentioned it as a burden," he said.

Former West Indies captain and batting legend Vivian Richards said there are few better role models in modern cricket than Tendulkar.

"When he is full flow, the mild-mannered boyish cricketer can look extremely intimidating. If there is a resonance, I find of myself in his batting, it is in that intent that he communicates," Richards said.

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Comparing Tendulkar and Brian Lara, Richards said, "If I were to make a distinction between Brian and Sachin, it would be to point that Sachin was a more committed individual. He was more consistent in his commitment to the team. Sachin is also the more disciplined cricketer between the two and perhaps that is why he is still around, 20 years after his international career."

Former Pakistan captain Imran Khan said Tendulkar is way ahead of contemporaries like Inzamam-ul Haq when it comes to keeping himself focussed on the game.

"Over the years Sachin has remained remarkably consistent and has more records than anybody I can remember. His talent and versatility are unquestioned which is why the only question that rankles is why he did not win enough games for his team?

"Very often he has taken his team to the brink of a famous win before getting out. If there is one area Sachin is ahead of his contemporaries, it is focus. Inzamam-ul Haq was possibly more gifted but Sachin was more successful due to his commitment and focus."

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly said Tendulkar's ability to adapt to the varying conditions was his biggest strength.

"His biggest strength as a batsman is his adaptability.

"And that is something really. really amazing, something so special," he said.

Former Pakistan captain and batting great Javed Miandad said he always advises the youngsters to follow in the footsteps of Tendulkar.

"He loves cricket and with his hardwork, focus and commitment he has truly become a outstanding ambassador for the sport at a time when commercialism is so rampant," Miandad said.

Former Pakistan leg-spinner Abdul Qadir, whose duel with a young Tendulkar in an ODI at Peshawar in the 89' series is part of cricketing folklore, said the champion batsman was far from finished and would continue to break many more records.

"I think Tendulkar has outdone all the other greats with his hunger for the game which is amazing," Qadir said.

Tendulkar hit Qadir for three sixes in an over in the Peshawar game at a time when the leg-spinner was at his peak.

"That was a time when I was at my best and even the best batsmen had second thoughts coming out to hit me. I remember I kept on goading him to hit me and he took the challenge and came down to strike me cleanly. It was amazing. I knew instantly this was someone special," he recalled.

Inzamam-ul said Tendulkar was a gentleman personified who never allowed fame to get over him.

"What has impressed me the most about Tendulkar all these years is his humble and simple nature. I never saw him ever let the fame and adulation he enjoys get to his head," Inzamam said.

Want to know all about numbers on the field? Ask our own stats guru Rajesh Kumar. Send in your queries to fanspeak@espnstar.co.in

http://www.espnstar.com/cricket/international-cricket/news/detail/item352943/Cricket-greats-pay-tribute-to-Sachin/

[ajithfederer]

20 Years Later
From Boy To Saint

The media, as always and like everyone, wants a piece of him, and Tendulkar knows it's part of the deal, goes through the inquisition with immeasurable patience, trying to ensure that everyone's happy
Rohit Mahajan

Sachin Tendulkar, man in black, seemed like lamb to slaughter on Friday afternoon.

Tendulkar first played for India 20 years ago - on November 15, 1989. Big round figures, preferably divisible by 5, make all of deliriously happy, and Tendulkar is happy, and he knows he'll make a lot of people happy by simply chatting with them.

That's the reason that the media interaction that was supposed to be cozy to intimate has turned chaotic and noisy; Tendulkar didn't have the heart to turn away mediapersons who simply dropped in when they heard that the big man was going to chat. "He said he just cannot turn people away, certainly not today," says an anxious Sangeeta Kuriakos, managing the event for World Sports Group.

Tendulkar wore black - black jeans, black shirt, shiny black shoes which more informed viewers thought were Italian. He wore a black belt with a big, flashy silver buckle that sported what seemed to look like a skull.

The media, as always and like everyone, wants a piece of him, and Tendulkar knows it's part of the deal. He went through the inquisition with immeasurable, saint-like patience. He was asked the same questions ten times by different reporters, and by different TV crews. We grew to feel sorry for him. He spoke for hours, and, it seemed, with eagerness - it seemed that he didn't want to cause anyone to be disappointed that he wasn't candid or excited in the "exclusive" chat with his or her news organisation. It seemed he was trying to ensure that everyone went away happy, trying to ensure that everyone got something exclusive, even if it was just a tiny bit of information, emotion or even gesture.

Some of us sat through many of the interviews. I heard Tendulkar talk about his first Test innings about 10 times. "I felt was totally out of place," the master said exclusively, 10 times to 10 reporters separately.

Another 10 times, with passion drawn from I don't know where, Tendulkar said: "I got some great advice, you know. The general feeling was that I was playing too many shots."

"I was told that I had to work hard, hang in, for the first 15 minutes, and things would change," Tendulkar said with a twinkle in his eye each time.

Coffee was brought in, tea was brought in, water was brought in. Tendulkar looked at his watch, looked at the harried looking journalists who were in for a word or two from the bosses for not getting an exclusive. Maybe he knew what folks might feel after waiting for hours going away without him telling them his story exclusively. Tendulkar stood up, stretched his legs, walked about the small hall, and then he sat down, saying: "All right, let's do it."

He tried and managed to make everyone he talked with feel special. (He told me: "I can't write like you", though I'm quite certain he'd be much better at it if he wanted or tried.)

So, what was the turning point in his career?

As I wearily walked out of the room, feeling sorry for the great little man, I heard him say with warmth and even thrill: "My innings of 58 or 59 odd in the second Test. I'd decided that I was not going to go off the park. I was going to fight it out..."

And so the story went, and so the master went on as the evening went.

http://outlookindia.com/article.aspx?262851

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[tscii:4a682f5db7]Tendulkar has taken the game to a different level

Vijay Lokapally

He was awesomely talented and ambitious, nursing a dream to play cricket, to play at the highest level. When he did, he just set benchmarks that took the game to the next level.

A performer born to craft runs, win battles single-handed and conquer hearts. Never slack at the crease, never short of drive, fighting to the last drop.

Failures only meant motivation, source of strength to strive for success. He shared celebrations with the nation but grieved silently. Every defeat was a personal blow but a win meant Sachin Tendulkar was aglow.

The Wanderers, Dec. 13, 1992, is vivid. The one-day match over, the Indian team, soundly beaten, was limping back.

From the comfort of the press box one saw Tendulkar take off suddenly, chasing a burly South African supporter. That night he would have outpaced the fastest man on earth. He closed in on the prankster and brought him down in a flash. Soon he was joined by Ajay Jadeja and a scuffle ensued. A few blows and the South African lay flattened. Our man emerged triumphant, mission accomplished in style. I asked why the fuss?

For this, a livid Tendulkar pointed to his India cap. He was just 19. He is much mellowed, and, much mature now. But can outrace anybody if he were to snatch his India cap.

Disrespect and impudence are not known to this mighty cricketer. Not even for the bowlers he slays.

Magnificence is embossed in his deeds. He is the only man in contemporary India who can bring the nation to a stop.

Milestones


Milestones, incidentally, have no place in Tendulkar’s dictionary. Comparisons make him laugh. Don Bradman was so different from Sunil Gavaskar, Viv Richards from Barry Richards, and Tendulkar from Brian Lara. “He bats left-handed. I bat right-handed. Where is the comparison”, Tendulkar once said. For the record, Tendulkar rates Lara better. If you ask Lara, he says Tendulkar is better.

Such sportsmen are rare. He is measured in his reactions, not the one to bring disrepute to the game, not the one to hurt someone.

Well, he even makes his runs in a manner that the bowler is rarely offended. You don’t mind bowing to a master, do you? If the master is Tendulkar, you cherish the punishment too. “You get him, you get the match”, was how Wasim Akram once put it. This was in the early 90s when India had one of the most compact batting line-ups in the world. Get a man and get the team. That is what transpired on many occasions. It actually hurt Tendulkar.

“No point in individual conquests if the team loses”, was his view. It has not changed. He did not cut the cake to celebrate his 17,000 runs even as the world raved about his 175 at Hyderabad. He must have shed tears in silence. Just as he did at Barbados the night India failed to make 120 to win the Test.

On the same tour, in 1997, he smelt a rat when India lost a one-dayer at St. Vincent. He chose to remain silent.

He has enriched the game with his presence. “Shining jewel of India”, was how the great Bishan Singh Bedi once described him.

What makes him so special?

Technical excellence, consistency, loyalty, passion, one can go on. The weight of his bat, grip, balance, range of strokes, divine cover-drive, silken flicks one can just go on. The more you see him, the more you admire him, the more you revere his deeds.

Tendulkar’s longevity is a tribute to his devotion to the game. Talent was innate but he honed his cricket with hard work. The shots were perfected from his desire to be the best.

http://www.hindu.com/2009/11/15/stories/2009111556371800.htm[/tscii:4a682f5db7]

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[tscii:30db94afa3]A stupendous sojourn

Nandita Sridhar

For two decades, Sachin Tendulkar has made the complicated seem simple. In his inimitable manner, he has protected his genius from eccentricities and imbalances, remarkably keeping his head even while acknowledging his gifts.

Benefiting from hindsight, allusion and the sheer heft of his achievements, it might be safe to assume that Tendulkar had ‘arrived’, as a 16-year-old, when he coped with Wasim Akram and Waqar Younus in his debut series against Pakistan.

His first century, against England at Old Trafford in 1990, proved he wasn’t just guts, grit and a youthful abandon of all that seemed cautious. There was poise, maturity and a remarkable control over offside shots on the backfoot — without needless lavishness.

Two years later came his 114 at the WACA. On a wicket made for deeds of technical heroism, the teenagerproduced a knock he rated as one of his best Test innings.

Two years after his first ODI hundred, Tendulkar during the 1996 World Cup, found his dazzling batting had earned him the vocal, emotionally charged relationship with his fans that lasts till date

The champion batsman’s rough captaincy stint and his being made the ‘Wisden Cricketer of the Year’ in 1997 preceded the much-hyped Tendulkar-Shane Warne 1998 showdown, in which neither ego would allow the sub-plot of a contest purely of skills.

Heartbreak in Chennai


Only one ego could survive, and in that series, Tendulkar left the great leg-spinner admittedly scarred. A year later, Tendulkar experienced his most emotional defeat — against Pakistan in 1999 in Chennai. Indians were used to defeat, but few this agonisingly close.

Tendulkar’s stream of major milestones began in 2001 when he reached 10,000 ODI runs. But the one he would cherish more was achieved a year later, when he overtook Sir Don Bradman’s tally of 29 centuries.

Bradman, who claimed Tendulkar’s batting reminded him of his own, would’ve agreed that Tendulkar had left the greatest behind; but was some way off from reaching his own peak.

For most Indian fans, a peak moment of sorts happened in the 2003 World Cup. Only one match, and more likely, only one shot existed — the brief but exhilarating plot of a layered rivalry struggling to retain its edge, a World Cup stage, a super-quick beast steaming in, and the repartee — the slightest movement, the obscene bat-speed and the six over backward point. Tendulkar needn’t have bothered with anything else…even the Player of the Tournament.

In contrast was the double hundred at Sydney a year later. Tendulkar was determined to be determined. There were 241 runs at the SCG in Steve Waugh’s farewell Test, but no cover drives. It was a strange sight, and acceptance came at a price.

Acceptance meant recognising that his experiences had re-aligned his approach towards self-preservation. Acceptance meant that watching Tendulkar bat purely for itself and marvelling at its ability to rise above context would have to change. It was a milestone innings both for the great man and for his fans.

Surpassing Sunny


Runs came at a less hectic pace, but the records poured in. In 2005, Tendulkar became the fifth in Test history to score 10,000 Test runs. He would soon go on to become India’s highest run-getter and thereafter, assure Sunil Gavaskar’s world record 34 centuries made way for his 35th, against Sri Lanka at the Kotla.

Overcoming surgeries and difficult periods, the great man readied himself for the biggest one — the highest run-aggregate. Against Australia at Mohali in 2008, Tendulkar steered a Peter Siddle delivery to third man to better Brian Lara’s word record and scaled one final major peak. It is to cricket’s benefit that Ricky Ponting is close behind, pushing him to raise the bar further.

Tendulkar’s has been a unique sort of appeal — one that’s not characterised by flamboyance or the romanticised temperamental deficiencies of some of his contemporaries; nor is it the grudging kind, reserved for bland run accumulators.

His appeal lies in the premise of his batting — which is to remove frills and frolics from scoring runs. However mind-boggling the shot, however unmatched the technique, there is a simplicity, clarity and a forthrightness to his manner that comes through distinctively. Truly, he’s made it look simpler than it has been.

http://www.hindu.com/2009/11/15/stories/2009111556401800.htm[/tscii:30db94afa3]

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[tscii:6cd0e08d06]Chepauk Tendulkar’s happy hunting ground

November 14th, 2009 - 5:55 pm ICT by IANS -

New Delhi, Nov 14 (IANS)

Chepauk in Chennai has been Sachin
Tendulkar’s happy hunting ground, though he scored his highest Test score, 241 not out, at the Sydney Cricet Ground (SCG).
From nine Test matches at Chepauk’s M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, Tendular has hit five centuries in aggregating 876 runs to average 87.60 with 165 against England in 1993 as his best.

But Tendulkar had his share of disappointment, too, at Chepauk. In 1999, his valiant 136 went in vain as India chased 271 runs against Pakistan. Once he fell at the doorstep of victory, the remaining batsmen failed to get the remaining 17 runs needed to win and India lost the Test by 12 runs.

Saqlain Mushtaq dismissed Tendulkar at 254 and the last three wickets fell for four runs. It was also perhaps the first time his teammates saw him crying in the dressing room for not being able to finish the job.

Outside India, the Sydney Cricket Ground has been closer to his heart.

In 2003-04 series, Tendulkar got his highest Test score, 241 not out, in the first innings against Australia in the fourth and the final Test. In the second innings he made an unbeaten 60 and became the only cricketer to score 300 runs without being dismissed in a Test match in Australia.

The following is the list of grounds where Sachin has aggregated 600-plus runs:

Ground M I N.O. Runs H.S. Ave. 100 50 0

Chepauk,Chennai 9 14 4 876 165 87.60 5 1 2

Wankhede,Mumbai 8 14 - 734 148 52.42 1 6 -

Nagpur 6 9 2 679 201* 97.00 3 1 -

Sydney 4 7 4 664 241* 221.33 3 1 -

Delhi 8 15 1 643 122 45.92 2 3 1

Kolkata 9 16 2 637 176 45.50 1 5 1

Some interesting facts:

Most centuries at one venue: 5 at Chepauk

Most centuries at one overseas venues: 3 at Sinhalese Sports Club, Colombo; 3 at SCG

Most runs at one venue: 876 (ave. 87.60) in 9 at Chepauk

Best average at one venue: 266.00 (266 runs in 2 matches), at Bangabandhu National

Stadium, Dhaka; 221.33 (664 in 4 matches) at Sydney, SCG

Read more: http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/sports/chepauk-tendulkars-happy-hunting-ground_100274767.html#ixzz0WrkzEnEV
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[tscii:7db865b13d]The Sachin Experience

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It is impossible to outgrow Indian sport’s most celebrated

Boy Wonder, writes Nirmal Shekar

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Some time in the future, neuroscientists will perhaps have the answer. But right now it is impossible to say why there are distinctly different kinds of emotional reactions among Indian cricket fans while watching a) Sachin Tendulkar and, b) Other players.

The effect produced by a Sachin masterpiece — such as the against-all-odds 175 against Australia at Hyderabad recently — appears to be unique.

This is equally true of a Sachin failure. He doesn’t just botch paddle-scoops, he plunges an entire nation of a billion-plus people into a prolonged spell of mourning. As Roger Federer said of himself, Sachin has “created a monster.”

Moulding our moods


It is almost as if, as a people, we believe that we are as successful or unsuccessful as Sachin is. We owe him our ecstasy; equally, he is the cause of our despair. It is quite possible that the maestro activates a reward/punishment system in the cricket fan’s brain that might be inaccessible to the lesser mortals of Indian cricket.

If you believe that this is a lot of mumbo jumbo, then take time off from watching Sachin and, instead, watch people watch him on television or in the stands. It won’t take long for you to see the truth.

To be sure, there is no reference here to a particular brand of atavistic frenzy that all of us are familiar with — situations where a fired-up Tendulkar was leading run-chases and Team India was flirting with greatness against Pakistan or Australia. We will take no notice of such evolutionary excess baggage. The visceral anxieties of emotionally immature sports fans are not worth our time.

Nationalism and sport make for an explosive mix. It didn’t take Hitler and the Berlin Olympics (1936) to prove this; it goes back to the very beginnings of our shared group identities.

‘Peak experience’


But persist and see farther when Sachin is on song and you will slowly see the difference. Study a fan’s face carefully as she goes through something similar to what Abraham Maslow described as “peak experience,” even as the master makes room for a leg glance with the exquisitely refined sense of balance befitting of a Baryshnikov; or composes a consummate cover drive that Walter Hammond might have approved of. What the face registers on those occasions is nothing quite like what it might when anyone else is in action.

Awe? Admiration? Reverence? Or, is it an almost indescribable feeling that you are in the midst of something that is truly transcendental?

Whatever it is, this much is certain. If you have gone through the experience, you would be able to recall it even many, many years later.

There is a simple reason for this. When you watch Sachin at his best, the ego dies. This is not said in a mystical sense. It is not the oneness-with-the-universe phenomenon that spiritual seekers crave. It is a very material thing. The beautiful simplicity of his batting makes for an experience that shatters your ego in a sudden explosion of humility.

“Hey, someone is actually doing this,” you whisper to yourself, suddenly aware of your own smallness even as it hits you, yet again, that the feat is way beyond ordinary mortals. Watch Sachin when he bats as he did in Hyderabad and you will know all about this feeling as you are carried to hitherto untrodden peaks of sports-watching experience.

“We outgrow love like other things. And put it in the drawer,” wrote the poet Emily Dickinson.

It has been impossible to outgrow Indian sport’s most celebrated Boy Wonder. When it comes to Sachin, at no point in our lives have we been able to say, “Ah, I’ve been there. I’ve done that.”

New vistas


He has made sure that there is always some place else to go to, there is always something new to experience vis-À-vis his batting. After two long decades marked by remarkable changes in the game, that sense of wonder — Wow, how does he do it? — has not taken leave of us.

When Sachin was packing his bags to go on his maiden overseas tour — surely, he didn’t need to worry about a shaving kit — to Pakistan in 1989, the Berlin Wall was still in place; reports appearing in these pages were mostly being typed on manual typewriters; apartheid was still in force in South Africa; and Pete Sampras hadn’t yet won his first Grand Slam title.

Through 20 glorious years — although some of them were not quite as glorious as others — as participants in one of the country’s most popular cultural rituals, Tendulkar-watching, we have noticed that his genius has been malleable enough for each of us to try and shape it to fit our own fantasies, our own imagination. Of course, as Samuel Taylor Coleridge pointed out, there is a difference between the two.

Your Sachin is a slightly different athletic/aesthetic package from your neighbour’s…and so it goes on and on. No matter all this, we are all agreed on one thing: Sachin’s astonishing achievements have created a new national benchmark for excellence over the last 20 years.

Peter Pan of world cricket


In recent years, we have seen him struggle, we have seen him play and miss, we have seen him fail more often. But an ageing Sachin seems impossible to imagine, perhaps because the image would render futile our own longing for immortality. Wrinkles, grey hairs and all, he is still the golden boy we first got to know of all those years ago.

Children born when he made the first of his record 42 Test centuries — a brilliant, unbeaten 119 at Old Trafford in 1990 — are now old enough to cast their votes in an election. In the event, it is time to toast the old boy again.

The Sachin Experience — there is nothing quite like it in the history of Indian sport.

http://www.hindu.com/2009/11/15/stories/2009111556421800.htm[/tscii:7db865b13d]

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[tscii:d61741f5ab]Preserving Tests is real tribute to Sachin

Pradeep Magazine, Hindustan Times
Email Author
November 14, 2009
First Published: 23:22 IST(14/11/2009)
Last Updated: 23:30 IST(14/11/2009)

In an age which seems to have a pathological dislike for anything that is time consuming and considers Test match cricket a long-drawn boring affair if not downright waste of time, the celebration of Sachin Tendulkar’s longevity should come as a surprise. It also makes one realise that the times we live in, there is little possibility of any player surviving for two decades. It is an age which believes that immortality can be and should be achieved in an instant.

We are living in a society which believes that the longer we linger, the shorter our memories will get. Those who can acquire knowledge and skill in a second are the ones who will rule this earth. Wisdom has nothing to do with years spent in learning, but just a day spent in mastering the intricate skill a sportsman needs to display his genius.

When Tendulkar says he is sure that Test match cricket will not lose its primacy ever, he is speaking for all those who value those subtle skills which can only be acquired over a long period of time spent in learning and hard labour.

But when he says, “who knows what will happen in the next 20 years” he is articulating the fears of all those who believe that the market forces will not let the longer version of the game survive.

In times to come, people will probably consider his playing for more than two decades a far greater achievement than all the wonderful skills he has unleashed in Tests.

All the runs and centuries he has scored have a value in a particular context and when the attention span of people is getting shorter and shorter, or so we are being told, people may not have the time to remember all his incredible feats.

In the surfeit of “cricketainment” where we might one day find one or two slots reserved for film stars in the IPL teams, who will have the time to reflect and savour gripping duels between the master of the willow and the wizard of the ball.

The Warne-Tendulkar contests are possible in time and space, which only a Test arena can provide. If a time ever comes when the shorter version of the game will be the only force propelling the sport and cricket will become only a consumer item, how will Tendulkar be remembered?

Obviously his one-day records will count for everything. His real legacy, something which he cherishes the most, is in the longer version of the game.

And if India values him, they should do everything to preserve Tests and not let corporates, masquerading as sports lovers, turn cricket into a consumer brand. That is the biggest tribute we can pay him.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/columnscricket/Preserving-Tests-is-real-tribute-to-Sachin/476492/Article1-476521.aspx[/tscii:d61741f5ab]

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Indian sportsmen hail Tendulkar

IANS

Posted on Nov 14, 2009 at 15:06

Tags: India, Sachin Tendulkar, cricket


Hyderabad: Petrol-heads in India believe that Sachin Tendulkar's keen interest in motor sport, especially Formula One, makes him an ideal ambassador for Indian motor sport, though it would mean an uncertain wait since the national icon, who completes 20 years of international cricket on Sunday, has no thoughts of retirement at the moment.


Speaking to IANS, Vicky Chandhok, the chairman of Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India's racing commission, said: "I have met Sachin a few times in recent years and was struck by his deep knowledge of the sport. I would say he is anything but a casual Formula One fan, and come to think of it, he will make an ideal brand ambassador for Indian motor sport."


Pointing out that Tendulkar's love of motor sport was very apparent, Chandhok said: "He has more than a passing knowledge of the race strategies and such intricate matters that are part of Formula One. Sachin follows my son's (Karun) racing career and of course, for all his achievements, he is so humble and down to earth."

Chandhok believes that Tendulkar has plenty left in the tank. "I suspect he is waiting for someone who can replace him and would like to continue until such time. Of course, nobody can ever fill his slot and his records will stand the test of time. He is anything but history and I am convinced, after his 175 in Hyderabad the other night, he has another four years of top level cricket left in him," Chandhok added.

"I would say Sachin Tendulkar is the Michael Schumacher of cricket. There are a lot of parallels between the two in terms of the amazing records they have set in their respective sport," he said.

Meanwhile, India's top rally driver, Gaurav Gill of Team MRF, recently recounted his meeting with Tendulkar at a get-together. "I spent a few minutes with him and I was amazed by the kind of questions he threw at me. Even you media guys haven't asked me such questions! He wanted to know about various driving techniques like left-foot braking, car set-up, etc.


"Our conversation was frequently interrupted, but each time he came back to me with more questions. For his iconic status, he is such a humble person and I would always remember those precious moments I spent with him."


Multiple World billiards champion Geet Sethi, who enjoys an iconic status in cue sport and has been playing at the international level for over two decades, said he has not met another sportsperson as focused as Tendulkar.


"I met him about five years ago when I was called to give a talk to the Indian cricket team. We exchanged a lot of ideas and views and I was struck by his calmness which I think is his greatest asset. We are all humans and prone to distractions.


"But the difference with Sachin is that he is able to blank those distractions and that I think is the secret of his longevity. I mean, playing at that level and with such consistency is phenomenal," opined Sethi.


Reigning World billiards champion Pankaj Advani said: "I have met him only once, when I was a kid and got his autograph at the Bangalore airport. However, Sachin is an inspiration to all Indian sportspersons and an excellent role model. I would say that he has fully tapped his potential and made the best use of the talent given by God."


Former Davis Cup captain Ramesh Krishnan felt that it was the passion for the game that drives Tendulkar and his ability to isolate himself from the surroundings made him so much more special.


"I met Sachin briefly in Chandigarh, but have been following his performances on and off. He has been able to maximize the God-given talent to insulate himself from all that is going on around him. And to be playing at the top for 20 years is outstanding," said Ramesh.


Karun Chandhok, presently in England to finalise his racing programme for the 2010 season said that Tendulkar was one of his kind and belongs to a special category of personalities who have consistently performed at the highest level over a period of time.



"For me, the sign of a legend in sport is someone who is able to consistently perform at the highest level of their sport for a long period in time. Michael Schumacher, Pete Sampras, Lance Armstrong and Roger Federer are perfect examples of that, and there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Sachin is in that category.


"I can't say that I know Sachin very well. We met at a few Grand Prix races and have kept in touch a little bit after that. However, there are a couple things that come across within the first five minutes of meeting the man. Firstly, his incredible humility. I mean, he is the greatest Indian sportsman of my generation and the way he still has his feet on the ground with absolutely none of the prima donna attitude that you read about with the younger players is something special and a rare quality that any person, in any field can learn from him.


"The other thing that struck me was just how knowledgeable he was about motor sports. By the questions he asked and the details he spotted, you could see that he is more than just a casual fan who turns on F1 on the TV once every two weeks and then forgets about it. It is a great endorsement for us to have a true legend of sport as a supporter," Karun said.

http://cricketnext.in.com/news/indian-sportsmen-hail-tendulkar/45139-13-single.html

[ajithfederer]

Sachin helped forge the New India
TOI Crest 14 November 2009, 08:54am IST

The only time he ever seemed worried was when he was captain. A good leader nurturing a young team, he was never given the benefit of doubt and quit
to focus on his batting

Like all Indians, I am very proud of Sachin Tendulkar. It gives me a lot of happiness to see this lovely person complete 20 years of international cricket. It is not easy playing for so long and I can vouch for it after being 14 years on the trot at the international level myself.

It speaks volumes of the man's determination, his hunger for playing the sport. After the Hyderabad game, someone asked him - I can't remember who - what keeps him ticking, or what kept him motivated. He very rightly said that he cared playing for India. It said a lot. This is the simple reason why he has survived 20 years of international cricket. This is why he has survived the grind, the pressure, the expectations, the ups and downs, the happiness of being successful and also the sorrows of being unsuccessful at times.

The first time I saw this champion was in Indore at an under-15 national camp under Vasu Paranjape. He had a lot more hair than he has now; in fact, his hair resembled that of Sri Sathya Sai Baba. Although he has lost it over the years wearing the Indian helmet and carrying the burden of expectations, his smile and the satisfied look on his face still remains the same. He just loved batting then. He would bat for hours in the nets and Mr Paranjape had to literally pull him out because other players too had to practice.

Even back then, at that early age, he used a bat that weighed nearly three pounds! I had heard a lot of praise about him even before I came to the camp, but when I saw him in Indore, I knew this kid was special and would play for India for a long, long time. As they say, talent is what you are born with; but it does not necessarily mean automatic success. But this man used it to the hilt.

After making his debut at 16 against Pakistan, he has gone from strength to strength to become the greatest batsman of the modern era. I have a huge fascination for Brian Lara, being a left-hander myself, but I would still put Sachin slightly higher than him.

He came from a very ordinary middle-class background - his father was a professor - so his values were pretty straight and simple and that was one of his strengths and the reason that his feet were rooted to the ground. That is also why he could achieve what he has done today.

My first overseas ODI tour was in 1991 to Australia, and it was there that I got to share a room with Sachin. He had an outstanding series, and it was from Australia that his name really took off as a player. What amazed me was that he would stay up all night before he was to bat watching TV, and still go and score runs the next day. I asked him why he kept awake, why he didn't try to sleep. He replied that he was very nervous and equally desperate to go out and bat, that his adrenaline would not allow him to sleep and I found that amazing! I made my Test debut on the 1996 tour to England and for the first time, had a big partnership with him at Trent Bridge, where we both went on to get hundreds. It was a treat, admiring his innings from the other end. I also admired the intent with which he wanted to learn Bengali. Sadly, that is one thing he hasn't been able to do despite knowing me for 15 years. Thankfully, there has been no such problem with his batting. It has gone from better to best every season.

His biggest strength as a batsman is his adaptability. I clearly remember that he scored a hundred against South Africa in Cape Town with a completely different initial movement while playing their fast bowlers. I asked him about it after his innings, pointing out that I hadn't seen him move that way before, nor did I see him do so in the nets on the eve of the Test. He told me that he decided to do it only when he took guard that day. And that is something really, really amazing, something so special. Not many batsmen would do that, especially when they are taking guard to the likes of Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock. Not only did he do it, but he also got a fantastic hundred. For sheer adaptability, I would rank it among one of his many bests.

The only time I saw Sachin a bit worried was when he became captain of India. I always felt that a captain is only as good as the team; he became captain of a very young team and required more time from the selectors. He always seemed to be under the pressure of delivering as captains are, but he should have been given the benefit of doubt for nurturing a young team.

I know a lot of captains will be judged on their success rate, but to me he was the best captain I played under. My game blossomed under him because I was able to see his faith in my ability and that is very important for a young player. When a captain gives you that much confidence you will feel like giving everything for him and that's why he was so special to me. When he resigned from the job since he felt it was affecting his game, I believed he had taken the right decision.

My memories of sharing nearly 200 games with him will always be special. There was a time when we knew exactly what the other was trying to do while batting together. Once I became the captain, we had a core group which included him, Anil (Kumble) and Rahul (Dravid). Our main goal was to try and take Indian cricket forward and he played a very important role in that. Our overseas performance improved tremendously. We were always considered a strong team at home but a soft one overseas, but with the support of John Wright we really made great progress as a team. A lot of India's success now or in the past few years has been because of that start in 2001. His recent knock of 175 in Hyderabad just speaks volumes of his hunger, and his desperation to play the 2011 World Cup.

We had a terrible World Cup in 2007, and that is something that will haunt my mind forever. We had the team, but we couldn't deliver. But Sachin will have another chance and I know he desperately wants to make amends in the World Cup at home. He has carried the baton of Indian cricket, shouldered the responsibility for the last 20 years. I wish him good luck for whatever time he is left with in this sport. He is good enough to call it a day as and when he wants to and it would be most fitting to do so by winning the 2011 World Cup. He is a champion, easily the best of the modern era and a world title will be the ideal gift for him and the cricket-loving public.

Sachin will remain a role model for every cricketer, and not just for his cricketing ability. It's his mental attitude which every Indian cricketer should try to emulate. PMG

12,773

Sachin's aggregate runs from 159 Tests. The next best is the now-retired Brian Lara with 11,953 runs from 131 Tests. Among active players, Ricky Ponting has 11,345

1,676

Sachin has hit the maximum number of fours in Test cricket. Brian Lara is second with 1,559 fours

17,178

Sachin towers over the rest with this haul from 436 ODI games. Jayasuriya with 13,377 is a distant second

1,872

Sachin has hit the most boundaries in ODIs too. Jayasuriya, with 1,492 fours, is second

7

He also holds the record for the most number of calendar years with 1,000-plus ODI runs -1 ,894 runs in 1998 being the highest

AGE 17, MUMBAI 1990: Turning out for practice at the Wankhede Stadium, ahead of the tour to New Zealand

AGE 15, MUMBAI 1988: Striking a confident pose even back then, during his Harris Shield days playing for Shardashram Vidyamandir

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/top-stories/Sachin-helped-forge-the-New-India-/articleshow/5229337.cms

[ajithfederer]

'Dark chapter' of match-fixing should remain closed: Sachin

PTI 13 November 2009, 08:21pm ISTMUMBAI:

He has spoken at length about each and every important aspect of his 20-year glorious career but the match-fixing saga that rocked cricket
world in 1999 is one episode Sachin Tendulkar prefers not to talk about.

As Tendulkar completes his 20 years in the game on Saturday, the Indian batting maestro wants to cherish sweet victories and says that 'dark chapters' should remain closed.

"That's a dark chapter and I don't want to reiterate on that on this occasion," he told a packed media meet.

"I (would) thought something which was fascinating. The series that we played against Australia (2000-01 which India won 2-1 coming from behind) immediately after that.

"It was a three-Test series and five ODIs. The Test series got over in the final half an hour (in Chennai which India won to clinch the rubber). Also the One-day series was decided literally in the last 30 or 35 minutes.

"All these were instrumental in bringing back the crowds to the stadiums and we as a team performed really well in that series and we sort of started a new chapter, something that I was looking forward to. The closed chapter, better to keep it closed," he said.

The match-fix saga had an impact on Indian cricket also as life bans were imposed Mohammed Azharuddin and Ajay Sharma by the Cricket Board in the wake of the CBI report on the scandal. Five-year bans were handed to Ajay Jadeja and Manoj Prabhakar as well.

Fondly remembering his on-field battle against Australian spin-legend Shane Warne, Tendulkar revealed how he prepared himself for the intriguing contest.

"In my previous nine years in international cricket I had never faced a leg spinner bowling from round the wicket and in 1998 I prepared myself by asking my Mumbai Ranji Trophy colleagues to bowl round the wicket into the rough.

"In Chennai I asked Siva (Laxman Sivaramakrishnan) to do the same. All these things helped in me getting used to these angles," he said.

Tendulkar was so dominant while batting against Warne that the Australian later wrote that he was having nightmares of the Indian batting great hitting him all around the park.

Tendulkar also remembered how a stiff neck suffered by opener Navjot Singh Sidhu on the tour of New Zealand in 1994 was instrumental in him becoming an opener in the ODI format.

"I was vice captain of the team and I asked Azhar (the captain) and (cricket manager) Ajit Wadekar to give me one chance to open and then I would not ask them again if I failed," he recalled.

Tendulkar hit a quick-fire 82 while opening with Ajay Jadeja.

"It helped me grow as a cricketer, to go out and face the new ball," he added.

[ajithfederer]

A 16-year old boy still lives within me: TendulkarNDTV

Correspondent21:05 IST, Friday, November 13, 2009 (New Delhi)

Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar, who will complete 20 long momentous years in international cricket, on Friday said his hunger for runs never died at any stage.

"The day I wore my India cap my most memorable moment. I was on cloud 9. The dream was to play for India. Nothing bigger than that. Very fortunate to be living that dream. Walking in the playing eleven the journey began there."

Sachin accepted the fact that his first tour in 1989 was not easy.

"45 days, party time, first tour. Wearing a moustache and lipstick, it was a party time. But the cricket in Pakistan was very tough."

"From 1989 thing have changed, T20, TV umpires. The most noticeable change is because of T20. It's forcing batsmen to try new things with Test and ODI cricket. And now we see a lot more results in Test cricket", said the milestone man.

Tendulkar said he changed his batting style according to changing times.

"Along with time I've changed too. I've tried to make myself a better cricketer. Always believe there has to be a purpose when I practice. It's a never-ending process. You need to be on your toes."

The ace batsman also took the opportunity to thank his family and the kind of support he as been bestowed with.

"Its a lot of hard work. There are a certain things that all sportsmen have to follow. For me, I was very lucky to have my family. My mum fed me well, my dad supported me and my brother guided me. I represent my family. I'm there alone when I go out there. But I have great support. That's why I've managed to stay out there for so long. And for that I also have to thank people of this country."

"I've not made any effort to stay humble. It's just my upbringing. Nobody in my family got carried away by my success. That is where my family made sure my feet were on the ground."

"My brother Ajit contributes to my learning the most. He knows my batting more than any other person. I also seek Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri's advice."

He also thanked God and fans for showering blessings upon him.

"God's been kind. I've worked hard. And support and wishes have helped."

The Little Master, who is known for his amicable behaviour on and off the field, said aggression should help one in progressing.

"Aggression should be inside, not on the outside. Aggression should help you, not the opposition."

On captaining Team India again, Tendulkar said, "Everything's working just find. I'm happy to play the mentoring role. It doesn't matter who's captaining the side as long as we're all contributing for India's cause."

David Boon was also one of those who gave the young Sachin some useful tips.

"David boon I met is Australia in 91, I hadn't played the West Indies fast bowlers. We were playing a triangular series in Australia. And I'd watched boon so I thought I should pick up tips from him."

Sachin mentioned the fact that he went through special training to face the legendary bowler Shane Warne.

"I prepared differently for Warne. I asked all my colleagues to keep bowling round the wicket in the rough outside leg stump. L Siva also helped in the process."

When asked to pick either Warne or Muralitharan as his favourite, the ace Indian batsman said, "I think anyone who goes past 500 or 600 wickets. Both are match winners and fabulous bowlers. I can't choose."

When asked about his most memorable on-field moment, Sachin recalled his first series and said, "When I got hurt by the Younis bouncer in Sialkot, I clearly remember. A lot of people get shattered when you get injured. I've been hurt before on my nose. So the fear of getting hurt was not there. I decided I'm not going to move."

Sachin expected to get selected before Pakistan series in 1989 but his studies came in his way.

"I remember Raj bhai was the chairman(of the selection committee). We were playing semis against Delhi. There were talks that I would go to the West Indies (before pak series). But Raj bhai very clearly told me that I had to give my SSC exams and would not be selected."

When asked about match fixing and its impact, Sachin said, " It was a dark phase. What was fascinating was the series we played against Australia right after. Both these series were instrumental in bringing the crowds back."

Sachin's respect for bowlers only increased with every passing game

"Nothing is easy. I want to prepare to the best of my ability. I was always confident. I won't take anything for granted.

"I felt earlier I could hit every ball. But after playing international cricket it taught me to be more selective, build and innings and to respect a bowler."

Having completed 20 years in international cricket, Sachin said his teenage years of cricket is still in him.

"Cricket lives in my heart. Somewhere still a 16-year-old boy lives within me. I don't have to make an effort to be enthusiastic."

Sadness is what surrounds the legendary batsman when he does well and team doesn't at the same time.

"You feel bad. I have done well. You want to win as a team. You may have done well as an individual and you want to do celebrate but the team hasn't done well."

Sachin stated 2003 World Cup innings against arch-rivals Pakistan as one of his best innings.

"2003 world cup innings against pak was one of the biggest matches of my life. Also my first series. After my first Test match I asked myself, do I really belong here?"

http://cricket.ndtv.com/cricket/ndtvcricket/storypage.aspx?id=SPOEN20090116646

[ajithfederer]

[tscii:c1755f0dd9]Sach is life
Aabhas Sharma / New Delhi November 14, 2009, 0:11 IST

Twenty years ago, at sixth place in the batting order, the 16-year-old Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar walked across the National Stadium in Karachi and straight into every Indian’s heart and history.
Perhaps it was his youthful age that first caught the fancy of a country then devoid of sporting heroes, and turned him into a national obsession.

The years have rolled by and with idol-worship, his demigod status, hysteria of epic proportions and harsh criticism, he has seen it all. The country has changed beyond recognition since that fateful November 15, 1989. Yet he himself has remained unchanged. A perfect ambassador for the country, a hero to young and old, a man who is not allowed a single bad day at the office, he holds so much power that he can bring an entire nation to a standstill.

Two decades have passed since Tendulkar entered the Indian psyche. From day one he was looked upon as a phenomenon. Lesser men would have crumpled under the pressure he has lived with. “I have seen God and he bats at number four for India,” say fan-lofted banners in cricket stadiums — even when he is not playing.

At other times the same worshippers have been brutally unforgiving. One of the most shameful days in the history of Indian cricket was the day he was booed — at, of all places, Wankhede Stadium. But all is forgotten when he bats, delivering millions of smiles to his billion fans. Perhaps it is apt that he wears a jersey with the word “Sahara” plastered on the front. Because that’s what he has been for 20 years.

This is not another attempt to write a tribute to India’s greatest sporting hero. Finer words have been written about the man. Instead we recall some of the moments, stories and relationships that have played their part in shaping the life and times of Sachin Tendulkar.

FIRST COACH
Ramakant Achrekar is one of the most gifted cricketing coaches in India, and he has given the country one of its biggest sporting gifts. Like the shishya, the guru too remains humble about the role he has played in shaping this glittering cricketing career. “When I first saw him, it was clear that he had this immense hunger for doing well at whatever he was doing,” Achrekar says. The coach is not surprised by Tendulkar’s accomplishments. “He is a once-in-a-generation player, but the most important thing is that he has kept his feet firmly on the ground.” For any other man in Tendulkar’s position, that would probably have been impossible.

FIRST SCHOOL
Everybody in Dadar knows where Shardashram Vidya Mandir is. It’s not his first school, it’s the place where his cricketing journey began. It’s a mere coincidence that I end up asking its directions from a little boy in a school uniform. “That’s Sachin’s school,” he says enthusiastically, before adding “and mine.” The sense of pride is as evident in others associated with the school. The guard at the gate says he’s even had “tourists” coming to see the school which Tendulkar attended as a child. The teachers have changed since those days, but even the new ones drill into schoolchildren the idea that they have a legacy to live up to.

FIRST FRIEND
It’s a well-known fact that Vinod Kambli and Tendulkar were thick as thieves in their boyhood. But Atul Ranade, a former first-class cricketer, has known Tendulkar from his kindergarten days. “There has been no change in him in the last 30 years,” Ranade says. “He’s still the same guy who cared about his family and cricket with a single-minded focus.”

Ranade recalls that the young Tendulkar was a prankster. Once he applied a balm on Ranade’s eyes and then pretended to be asleep. To compound the practical joke, Tendulkar handed Ranade a toothpaste to wash away the balm! Ranade adds, “He has never been intimidated by anyone, and even as a kid he was quite a bully.” Long-suffering bowlers around the world will vouch for that.

FIRST CAPTAIN
Krish Srikkanth is proud of many things in his career. The 1983 World Cup win, the fact that he played a considerable amount of cricket for India. But one thing he remembers with particular pride is that he was the leader of the pack at the time when Tendulkar made his debut. “We were all aware about this young curly-haired boy’s exploits in domestic cricket,” he recalls.

But no one, it seems, knew how good the prodigy actually was. Though shy and reserved, Srikkanth says, there was not an iota of fear in Tendulkar’s eyes. “In those days, a 16-year-old visiting our biggest foes was completely unheard of. He is a special, special cricketer and a wonderful man. His dedication to the game of cricket and country is exemplary.” We won’t see another Tendulkar for years to come, he says.

FIRST CENTURY
One urban legend has become part of the Tendulkar folklore. An old man sitting in the stands at Old Trafford cricket ground in Manchester applauded Tendulkar’s first century. “Ladies and gentlemen, this is the best batsman to have graced the cricketing field,” the old man is said to have said. “And unlike you, I have seen Bradman bat.”

Tendulkar was 17 when he scored his first century. Manoj Prabhakar was on the non-striker’s end, and says he had the best seat in the town. “Such maturity on young shoulders was breathtaking to see. He wasn’t fazed by anything,” he says.

Prabhakar was also his opening partner when Tendulkar scored his first century in limited-overs cricket. He recalls that there was no case of nerves as the youngster approached his hundred. “I just told him to carry on and he would reach the magical figure.” Little did he know then that many such magical numbers would be attained in the future.

FIRST AD CAMPAIGN
An ad for Band-Aid was the first one Tendulkar ever did. It was the Pepsi campaign, however, which put him on the A-list of celebrity endorsers. Ad-man Prahalad Kakkar says Tendulkar is a highly committed performer. He has no airs, is always on time and pays attention to details, says Kakkar, who has done a few ads with the cricketer.

There was one occasion, though, where Tendulkar refused to shoot until the script was changed. In the ad in question, Tendulkar is shown hitting the ball with a stump in time with the jingle, which goes “Ae Sachin aaya re bhaiyya”. This was the modified version of the ad. The original ad showed bowlers bowling to him and Tendulkar hitting the bowlers all over the park with a fly swatter. Tendulkar refused to shoot the ad, saying, “The commercial would indicate that I am bigger than the game.” Kakkar says Tendulkar’s humility “has left me spellbound”. You are not alone, Mr Kakkar.

FIRST DUCK
You can judge a person’s greatness when he is down, when some people make hay while the star’s sun temporarily ceases to shine. No one had heard of first-class cricketer Bhuvneshwar Kumar Singh until January 11, 2009, when he entered the history books by becoming the first bowler ever to dismiss Tendulkar for a duck in domestic cricket. “I will always cherish that moment,” he says. Though he was also part of the Royal Challengers IPL team, Singh’s claim to fame remains that duck. “He has only gotten out for duck just once, so it is a very special feeling for me,” says this bowler.

FIRST INTERVIEW
“I just want to play cricket.” Those words, uttered in a squeaky voice, still echo in the heads of Indian cricket fans. Tom Alter interviewed Tendulkar for that programme. He remembers a boy who was supremely confident about his abilities. “He was shy, but confident and not at all nervous.” It was clear to Alter that he treated all the fuss as part of being a cricketer.

“Remember that this was all when he was 15 and he wasn’t the phenomenon he has grown into,” says Alter. There were rumours that the cricketer was going to be picked for the West Indies tour of 1988-89. Yet Tendulkar was unfazed. “He said he was ready to face the fearsome West Indian quicks, and I was thinking ‘Boy, do you realise you are still 15?’” There’s something about adolescence which gives you that feeling that you can conquer the world. Tendulkar, however, actually did.

FIRST BUSINESS VENTURE
When Tendulkar’s — the restaurant — opened in Colaba about seven years ago, the trend of celebrities having their own branded eateries was not as well-established as it is now. Tendulkar’s is not operational at the moment, but it used to be a shrine for Tendulkar devotees. The idea for the restaurant was Tendulkar’s own, but he set it up in partnership with Sanjay Narang.

I remember having had a meal there once and having gotten a number of tidbits of information about the famous owner. The recipes included his favourites, and the cricketer offered a lot of inputs in the décor of the space as well.

Though Tendulkar later opened another café, called Sachin’s, that too was shut after a cool response from the public. It’s still not clear whether Tendulkar’s has closed permanently. Stand-alone restaurants in India have, in general, not had an easy time.

FIRST INJURY
The term “tennis elbow” entered the vocabulary of Indian cricket fans in 2004, when Tendulkar was diagnosed with the injury. Many fans rushed to query their doctors about how it happens and, more importantly, how long it takes to recover. Orthopaedic specialist Dr Anant Joshi treated Tendulkar. He recalls how his patients suddenly wanted to learn more about tennis elbow!

Joshi, who was then BCCI’s medical consultant, says that patience is the one thing which Tendulkar has in abundance. “He was anxious but knew that these things take time.” Tendulkar, says Joshi, is one of the most hard-working cricketers he knows, “Never shying away from extra training sessions, and he knows how his body responds to minor niggles.”

FIRST BOWLING SPELL
The 1993 Hero Cup will always be remembered for Sachin Tendulkar the bowler. In the semi-finals against South Africa, India was in a spot of bother. Then-captain Mohammed Azharuddin recalls that it was a gamble to throw the ball to Tendulkar for the last over. Needing six to win, putting in a part-time bowler could have backfired.

“Not even once did he say ‘Don’t give me the ball’,” says Azhar. “[He] was confident that he would lead us to victory.” Both Azhar and Tendulkar would have been crucified if the gamble had not paid off. “As a captain,” says the captain, “you always had confidence that Sachin would deliver, be it with the ball or bat.”

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/sach-is-life/376349/[/tscii:c1755f0dd9]

[littlemaster1982]

A tribute by Anil Kumble

What keeps him going? He just hates losing!

Sachin and I came into Indian crickt at around the same time, a seaon apart perhaps. There was just one difference -- he had to prove everyone right and I had to prove everyone wrong!

It had always been predicted that he would be destined for greatness, that he would go on to be the highest runscorer for India, beat every batting record there was to beat, create history. He did all that and more.

Speaking from the vantage point of having done almost 20 years of international cricket myself, it just isn't easy.

Managing your time, your body and the expectations of millions, it takes a toll.
But Sachin's dealt with it all with grace and determination. For instance, take his battles with injury. Shoulder, elbow, groin back... you name it, he's had it.

Let me give you a little insight into injuries. The coming back process is painful and time-consuming and you need to have an unshakeable desire to succeed. You go through one rehab, two, three but where do you call the line?

Some injuries take two months, some four, some stay on as constant niggles and others become more serious as you keep playing. You manage it all, often live with the pain and just focus on your game. Sachin's done that right through.

Sachin has this uncanny ability to take in, analyse and assess things very quickly, much faster than others. That therefore, gives him more time to play a shot. That's why he's No 1.

And he's enjoying himself. The last three-four years especially, he's been really enjoying his cricket and it shows in the way he interacts with the team.

In terms of his preparation, he's always seriously involved. If there are a couple of innings where he's not scored, or if he feels he's not hitting the ball well, he invariably spends extra time working on whatever's wrong.

The other thing is that despite who he is, he's always ready to listen to any advice. He's often gone up to a rookie and asked if he could look at his batting -- he has no hang-ups whatsoever.

So what keeps you going through 20 years of playing a sport? Simply that when you go onto that field, you want to excel. I felt that way and I know Sachin does too. You put him in gully cricket, any cricket, even a TT match -- he doesn't like losing.

You also have to shut out the burden of expectations and opinions about yourself. It is a no win situation. At low times, under-fire, you ask yourself this: Am I giving a 100 per cent? If you are, forget about the rest. It gets to you but you need to look ahead. The more you react to things people say, the more you feel like saying `I've had enough'.

Sachin clearly hasn't, even through all he's faced as the man who's the answer to a billion prayers. I also think what keeps him going is an unwavering pride in performance and an ability to put the team's cause before his own.

When I decided to call it a day after almost 20 years in the game, it was a decision born purely out of the fact that my body couldn't take it. Sachin was one of the first guys I told. I went to him and said, "My time has come". He said `No, you can't quit, you can play a bit more'. I had to convince him that I couldn't go on.

Finally, to stay on top of your game, to be able to handle everyone -- players, teams, public and sponsors -- wanting a piece of you, you need lots of support. He's had that in a wonderful, supportive family. They've been the key.

[ajithfederer]

'Proud' Maharashtrian Sachin says Mumbai belongs to all Indians

Press Trust Of India
Mumbai, November 13, 2009
First Published: 21:36 IST(13/11/2009)
Last Updated: 00:00 IST(14/11/2009)

Even as politicians in Maharashtra like Raj Thackeray are increasingly using the "Marathi Manoos" card, iconic Mumbaikar Sachin Tendulkar on Friday walked a middle path and said the financial capital belonged to India.

"Mumbai belongs to India. I am a Maharashtrian and proud to be a Maharashtrian, but I am also an Indian," said Tendulkar to a specific query at a media meet here on the eve of completing 20 years in international cricket.

Tendulkar made his international debut against Pakistan in the first Test at Karachi in 1989 and is all set to play his 160th Test against Sri Lanka at Ahmedabad, the venue of the first Test of a three-match series, on November 16.

[littlemaster1982]

India's proudest possession (http://www.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/434360.html)

By Peter Roebuck

Tendulkar has gone two decades being a blend of the sublime and the precise, incapable of ugliness or of being dull; and those are among the least of his achievements

Sachin Tendulkar has been playing top-class cricket for 20 years and he's still producing blistering innings, still looking hungry, still demolishing attacks, still a prized wicket, still a proud competitor. He has not merely been around for two decades. From his first outing to his most recent effort, a stunning 175 in Hyderabad, he has been a great batsman. Longevity counts amongst his strengths. Twenty years! It's a heck of a long time, and it's gone in the blink of an eye.

The Berlin Wall was taken down a week before Sachin Tendulkar first wore the colours of his country, Nelson Mandela was behind bars, Allan Border was captaining Australia, and India was a patronised country known for its dust, poverty, timid batsmen and not much else. In those days Tendulkar was a tousle-haired cherub prepared to stand his ground against all comers, including Wasim Akram and the most menacing of the Australans, Merv Hughes. Now he is a tousle-haired elder still standing firm, still driving and cutting, still retaining some of the impudence of youth, but nowadays bearing also the sagacity of age.

It has been an incredible journey, a trip that figures alone cannot define. Not that the statistics lack weight. To the contrary they are astonishing, almost mind-boggling. Tendulkar has a scored an avalanche of runs, thousands upon thousands of them in every form of the game. He has reached three figures 87 times in the colours of his country, and all the while has somehow retained his freshness, somehow avoided the mechanical, the repetitive and the predictable.

Perhaps that has been part of it, the ability to retain the precious gift of youth. Alongside Shane Warne, the Indian master has been the most satisfying cricketer of his generation.

Tendulkar's feats are prodigious. He has scored as many runs overseas as in his backyard, has flogged Brett Lee at his fastest and Shane Warne at his most obtuse, has flourished against swing and cut, prospered in damp and dry. Nor can his record be taken for granted. Batsmen exist primarily to score runs. It is a damnably difficult task made to look easy by a handful of expert practitioners. Others have promised and fallen back, undone by the demands, unable to meet the moment. Tendulkar has kept going, on his toes, seeking runs in his twinkling way.

In part he has lasted so long because there has been so little inner strain. It's hard to think of a player remotely comparable who has spent so little energy conquering himself. Throughout, Tendulkar has been able to concentrate on overcoming his opponents.

But it has not only been about runs. Along the way Tendulkar has provided an unsurpassed blend of the sublime and the precise. In him the technical and the natural sit side by side, friends not enemies, allies deep in conversation. Romantics talk about those early morning trips to Shivaji Park, and the child eager to erect the nets and anxious to bat till someone took his wicket. They want to believe that toil alone can produce that straight drive and a bat so broad that periodically it is measured. But it was not like that.

From the start the lad had an uncanny way of executing his strokes perfectly. His boyhood coaches insist that their role was to ensure that he remained unspoilt. There was no apprenticeship. Tendulkar was born to bat.

Over the decades it has been Tendulkar's rare combination of mastery and boldness that has delighted connoisseurs and crowds alike. More than any other batsman, even Brian Lara, Tendulkar's batting has provoked gasps of admiration. A single withering drive dispatched along the ground, eluding the bowler, placed unerringly between fieldsmen, can provoke wonder even amongst the oldest hands. A solitary square cut is enough to make a spectator's day.

Tendulkar might lose his wicket cheaply but he is incapable of playing an ugly stroke. His defence might have been designed by Christopher Wren. And alongside these muscular orthodoxies could be found ornate flicks through the on-side, glides off his bulky pads that sent tight deliveries dashing on unexpected journeys into the back and beyond. Viv Richards could terrorise an attack with pitiless brutality, Lara could dissect bowlers with surgical and magical strokes, Tendulkar can take an attack apart with towering simplicity.

Nor has Tendulkar ever stooped to dullness or cynicism. Throughout, his wits have remained sharp and originality has been given its due. He has, too, been remarkably constant. In those early appearances, he relished the little improvisations calculated to send bowlers to the madhouse: cheeky strokes that told of ability and nerve. For a time thereafter he put them into the cupboard, not because respectability beckoned or responsibility weighed him down but because they were not required. Shot selection, his very sense of the game, counts amongst his qualities.

On his most recent trip to Australia, though, he decided to restore audacity, cheekily undercutting lifters, directing the ball between fieldsmen, shots the bowlers regarded as beyond the pale. Even in middle age he remains unbroken. Hyderabad confirmed his durability.

And yet, even this, the runs, the majesty, the thrills, does not capture his achievement. Reflect upon his circumstances and then marvel at his feat. Here is a man obliged to put on disguises so that he can move around the streets, a fellow able to drive his cars only in the dead of night for fear or creating a commotion, a father forced to take his family to Iceland on holiday, a person whose entire adult life has been lived in the eye of a storm. Throughout he has been public property, India's proudest possession, a young man and yet also a source of joy for millions, a sportsman and yet, too, an expression of a vast and ever-changing nation. Somehow he has managed to keep the world in its rightful place. Somehow he has raised children who relish his company and tease him about his batting. Whenever he loses his wicket in the 90s, a not uncommon occurrence, his boy asks why he does not "hit a sixer".

Somehow he has emerged with an almost untarnished reputation. Inevitably mistakes have been made. Something about a car, something else about a cricket ball, and suggestions that he had stretched the facts to assist his pal Harbhajan Singh. But then he is no secular saint. It's enough that he is expected to bat better than anyone else. It's hardly fair to ask him to match Mother Teresa as well.

At times India has sprung too quickly to his defence, as if a point made against him was an insult to the nation, as if he were beyond censure. A poor lbw decision- and he has had his allocation- can all too easily be turned into a cause celebre. Happily Tendulkar has always retained his equanimity. He is a sportsman as well as a cricketer. By no means has it been the least of his contributions, and it explains his widespread popularity. Not even Placido Domingo has been given more standing ovations.

And there has been another quality that has sustained him, a trait whose importance cannot be overstated. Not long ago Keith Richards, lead guitarist with the Rolling Stones, was asked how the band had kept going for so long, spent so many decades on the road, made so many records, put up with so much attention. His reply was as simple as it as telling. "We love it," he explained, "we just love playing." And so it has always has been with Tendulkar. It's never been hard for him to play cricket. The hard part will be stopping. But he will take into retirement a mighty record and the knowledge that he has given enormous pleasure to followers of the game wherever it is played.

[ajithfederer]

[tscii:429ce72267]Six Sachin specials to savour

Raakesh Natraj

— Photo: PTI

PLEASURE AND PAIN: Sachin Tendulkar has produced many a memorable knock even if the cause has been a lost one.

An introduction to a list of Sachin Tendulkar’s best knocks, especially one so short, cannot but sound apologetic or disclaimer-ish and this is no exception.

A few of these essays have come to define his persona, some make their case on the strength of the opponent, some on the context, and some on the sheer mastery that seem to mark the occasion as one that was especially put there to call it forth.

Test Knocks

155 not out, v Australia, Chennai, 1998

The Australians arrived in Chennai after a typically belligerent bask in the media lights. In the second innings, after Sachin started in compelling fashion, Warne decided to come around the wicket, setting off one of the most scrumptious contests of the modern era.

Never before, and rarely since, has Sachin taken on a bowler with such a show of truculence, over such an extended period of time and with such devastating effect. That day the Birnam wood in the hands of Sachin moved and the regent of spin bowling was invincible no more.

136, v Pakistan, Chennai, 1999

Braving a crocked back, Sachin constructed an innings of pure batsmanship to carry India to within an excruciating 17 runs short of an improbable win, only to be dismissed for an epic, lyrical 136.

The knock on a last day’s pitch against Saqlain, Wasim and Waqar at the peak of their powers ought to rank very highly, but what was remarkable was that it elevated spectatorship to a plane beyond the dross aspects of winning and losing, even if just for a few moments.

114 v Australia, Perth, 1992

Showing rare maturity, control and technical mastery for an 18-year-old, Sachin scored his third Test century, against a pace battery that consisted of McDermott, Hughes, Reiffel and Whitney on a WACA wicket that offered steepling bounce. A chafed Hughes is supposed to have walked up to his captain and said “this little pr*** is going to get more runs than you, AB.”

ODI knocks

175 v Australia, Hyderabad, 2009

Chasing a humongous score, Sachin had no option but to employ the long handle. The glide, the impish upper cut, the artful deflection and the paddle sweep were immixed with booming drives and trenchant pulls.

98 v Pakistan at Centurion, World Cup 2003

Pakistan had made a competitive 273 and Sachin promised himself before he went in to bat ‘If I see it, I will hit it.’! The fourth ball of Shoaib Akthar’s first over was deposited over backward point for a six and the next two were gracefully dispatched for boundaries. He was seeing them all right.

Cramp notwithstanding, Sachin galloped to 98 of 75 balls before Akthar felled him with a snorter.

140 not out v Kenya at Bristol, World Cup 1999

The relationship between a player and the public is oftentimes tenuous. India waited, anxious, unsure, desperate and fumbling to reach out, to make sure that Sachin Tendulkar, who had returned a day after his father’s funeral, was all right. When he completed his hundred and looked at the heavens, and looked for a second longer, an equanimity that had been tragically disrupted was restored, the hesitancy overcome. The nation partook in the moment of solidarity, wordlessly.

http://www.hindu.com/2009/11/15/stories/2009111556431800.htm[/tscii:429ce72267]

[littlemaster1982]

Vengsarkar pays tribute (http://www.espnstar.com/cricket/international-cricket/news/detail/item352296/Vengsarkar-admires-Sachin%27s-humility/)

"What I admire about Sachin is his humility, respect for elders and the passion for the game that he has retained even after so many years and after achieving so much in cricket. He has not changed at all," former India captain Vengsarkar said in praise of the master batsman who made his international debut on November 15, 1989.

The former chief selector told PTI that he had his first look at Tendulkar's precocious talent during the 1988-89 series against New Zealand when he invited the prodigiously talented schoolboy to the Indian team's net session.

"I had heard about his exploits (in schools and junior cricket) in 1988-89 when I was India captain and Vasu Paranjpe (former Mumbai cricketer) told me I must make it a point and see him play. We were in the middle of the series against New Zealand and I invited Sachin for the nets," Vengsarkar recalled.

"I was very impressed after seeing the way he batted against Kapil Dev, Chetan Sharma, Maninder Singh and Arshad Ayub at the nets and the same evening the Mumbai selectors met and picked him to play his first Ranji Trophy tie against Gujarat. He played very well and went on to make a hundred (100 not out) in his first game," the former middle-order stylist said.

"Then he got picked for India. At that time we never thought he would score so many thousands of runs or play for 20 years for the country," Vengsarkar said.

Vengsarkar was emphatic that the 36-year-old batting genius, scorer of 12,773 runs in Tests and over 17,000 runs in ODIs, is the best batsman ever to play for India.

"I can definitely say he has been the best batsman produced by India, not only for the sheer number of runs he has scored but also for the pace at which he has got those runs which has given the bowlers enough time to bowl out the opposition," said the 53-year-old former captain.

Vengsarkar remembers very well the brilliant hundreds scored by Tendulkar as his India teammate in England and Australia at Manchester, Sydney and Perth and said even at that age he had a very mature head on his shoulders.

"As a teammate, I have seen him score his first 100 that saved the Test for India against England (119 not out at Manchester in 1989-90 series) and the hundreds he scored against Australia (on his first tour in 1991-92) at Sydney (148 not out) and Perth (114 out of 272)," he said.

"They were amazing innings and even at that young age he showed a lot of maturity. He was also physically strong. We knew then that he would go on to achieve bigger things in cricket," he said.

One of Tendulkar's best innings in domestic cricket was a blistering near-ton he scored against Haryana in the Ranji Trophy final in 1990-91 at the Wankhede Stadium when Vengsarkar was the team captain.

"I can also never forget his blistering innings of 96 against Haryana (led by Kapil) in the 1990-91 final at the Wankhede Stadium when we chased 350-plus runs in 65 overs and were down to 30-odd for three. It was an amazing knock, one of the best I have seen," he gushed.

Mumbai lost that match by a heart-stopping two runs after they made a great effort to chase the target (355) by riding on Tendulkar's early pyrotechnics and Vengsarkar's brilliant unbeaten knock of 139 on virtually one leg.

[littlemaster1982]

...how we wonder what you are

HIS EYES give it away. Behind the public reserve is an animated man. THE AFFECTION AND SUPPORT from the cricket fans of the country was immense.

You need people to share your success and I have more than a billion people. That is more than enough for me.

Sukhwant Basra
MUMBAI:

Somewhere, far removed from his public face, frolics the real Sachin Tendulkar. Perhaps that man is not reserved, modest or always in control. Under the glare of the arc lights it seems to peek hrough once in a while -- in the form of a blazing sil ver belt buckle that's almost as wide as his hand, or the shiny black crocodile skin shoes that match the buckle twinkle to shine. The flashy Tendulkar inhabits a private world; facing his nth press conference, he is decidedly bland. There's an u nderlying restlessness to the man sitting in the chair. His neck bobs all the time-- back and forth and sideways with a distinctive tendency to flop towards the right shoulder.

Then, it's all stretched out when responding to a question that has him more animated than most. Its all very bird-like.

Sometimes hawk, largely dove.

The left hand's steady with the microphone grasped. The right is whirring about with fingers splayed when he gropes for the correct words and lies limp when the query refuses to excite him. The shiny-shoes-clad feet begin to move as an answer drags out. In the hour plus that he faced a volley of questions, they have done a full tap dance circumambulating the space under the table. They, after all, are free from scrutiny under the wood. There, they can frolic a bit.

The man who terrorises bowlers with temerity, refuses to hold eye contact with a questioner for the length of a retort.

After all, those eyes are the most naked bit in the shell that he cocoons within. The warmth is there, the vibe is positive but the armour is always up. Just, the eyes are a giveaway. They glaze over at a controversial poser, sparkle with boyish humour at questions that amuse and come alive when he is talking pure cricket.

The focus of a mind that spells 175 even at the age of 36 is clear in the way he streams out all the background commotion. It is white noise. He does not ask for long questions, which are actually a series of them woven into one, to be repeated. He reels off the answers. Just that the answers have been accumulating over 20 years. It's the same stuff over and over again.

"Every individual should respect another... whatever you say or do you have to think twice," he says to a query on why he has never lashed out with angry words. That attitude doesn't make great copy but perhaps that's exactly why he makes a great cricketer.

"Cricket lies in my heart. I enjoy playing cricket. It comes naturally. It is my life and I enjoy every moment of it." There's a robotic one-dimensional aspect to his subservience to his God. Something that does not allow him to rest easy on the last great knock. "Others talk about the last game, I think about the next one."

Perhaps someday Tendulkar will let his guard down and speak his mind without being too bothered about the ease of others. He may yet take on the toughest of posers and rip through them with the abandon only his willow flashes as of now.
"People have appreciated me the way I am. Why change what you are when people anyway like you the way you are?" Perhaps someday he will get over the bit that he has to be liked by everyone and allow a peek into his private world -the place where he is all human and no superstar. Perhaps.

(The interaction was organised by the World Sports Group, who manage Tendulkar)

[littlemaster1982]

[tscii:146a7051d5]A tribute by Sir Viv Richards (http://www.bangaloremirror.com/article/71/2009111420091114214402843bb8cec61/I-have-enjoyed-watching-Sachin-bat-Vivian-Richards.html?pageno=1)

Sunny (Sunil Gavaskar) hung his shoes in 1987, and Sachin Tendulkar emerged in the international cricket scene in 1989. I envy Indian cricket’s fortune as they have had two batting legends (back to back) in Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar.

For a number of years, I have enjoyed watching Sachin bat. He has got a perfect blend of defence and aggression. I also admire his ability to score runs in both forms of the game. I distinctly remember one interaction between us. The 2007 World Cup was a disaster for the Indian team. They lost to Bangladesh – it was just one bad day and suddenly the Indian team was under tremendous pressure. Eventually, they lost to Sri Lanka and were thrown out of the tournament. Now they had to face the wrath of one billion Indian fans.

A friend of Sachin told me that he was in a state of shock and feeling depressed. He wanted me to have a chat with him. I was more than happy to do so. During the course of the next match in Antigua, I got a phone call from Sachin. We had a hearty chat for almost half an hour.
I told Sachin that he was already a legend and that he should not pressurise himself to perform in every match. I said, “Sachin whenever you are going in to bat, do not expect that you should play a match-winning knock. At this stage of your career your role in the team is more than just a player. You should be a mentor to the team, a guide to the younger players.”

I also bluntly asked him, “Are you sure in your mind about why you are playing now?” He told me that his body was holding up and he was not merely going through the motions. His motivation to perform at the highest level was still there. He is so honest in whatever he does. He proved that his hunger to perform at the highest level was still there when he played some great knocks during the Indian team’s tour to Australia (2007-08 series). He scored two centuries in the Test series. Furthermore, he helped India win the triangular ODI series.

I admire Sachin as a person too. He is so polite; his mannerisms are heart-touching. He is a living legend and a wonderful role model for world cricket.
[/tscii:146a7051d5]

[littlemaster1982]

Time to stop talking Tendulkar (http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/70882/Top%20Stories/Time+to+stop+talking+Tendulkar.html)

All around us today all of India is talking a language called 'Tendulkar'.

His twenty years has led to actors delivering lines, singers hitting notes, academics offering profundities, colleagues offering praises over partnership, coaches delivering theories, friends telling their tales.

Yet, most of his admirers remain unknown. They climb trees to look into a stadium, push the one ahead of them to grab a cheap seat, stand on the street shifting from one foot to another, duck down security barriers, run along the team bus to catch sight of him. When they see him, they become the single biggest sound in cricket.

Today, it is they who are smiling silently. If they are merely distant fringes of his life, flecks seen from behind his sunglasses, he is at the centre of theirs. Because every time Tendulkar sets off to the crease, he takes with him the only thing they own - their pride. And today, that is bursting. Twenty years on, the batsman of their dreams is still there - and he remains real.

In his twentieth year, Tendulkar has of course been turned into a monument, a deity. As India stretched itself through the 1990s and into the new millennium he went from Cherub-Face to Funky-Haircut, prodigy to big brand. He owns the Ferrari and a Mike Knopfler guitar hangs on a wall in his house. He is thought of as so valuable now they will cut trees to produce some 35kg piece of furniture about him and call it a book.

But Tendulkar is where he is because when it comes to what he does, he has hung onto the most ordinary of descriptions. He is truly precious because he has remained the working man. Sure, his work happens to be visible and public. Sure, it attracts and seduces India, sending a country's blood pumping. Yet to him, it has remained his craft, his trade, his soul and he has given it his complete absorbtion. It is the quality that has made him the batsman he is. Not his eye, his timing, not even his gleaming, polished talent. Skills and gift could take him a distance, but only his mind in cricket and his heart towards it, could have lasted twenty years.

When he bats, everyone watches. He reaches a demographic which the movie star and the politician would envy but will not ever possess. Male and female, young, middle-aged and old, business mogul and the man who polishes his shoes, students, teachers and drop outs, Indians in every corner of the country and the nooks and crannies of the world. When he had his tennis elbow injury, a room in his house piled up with medicines, oils, plasters, bandages, supports, sent by his fans from everywhere.

In the time Tendulkar wrote the story of his career, he has given us ours. Pradeep Ramarathnam, a multinational executive in Bangalore today, thinks that Tendulkar brought sons and mothers closer. And in a way, God as well. In the 1990s, Ramarathnam's mother who never followed cricket, watched Tendulkar with him, amazed by the young batsman's age and mastery. Whenever Tendulkar arrived at the crease, Ramarathnam was told to rush off and pray for him. It was his mother's way of teaching him the prayers, but the son believed it was his way of ensuring Tendulkar didn't get out early. Well, he hasn't.

Every fan has a personal Tendulkar story about the man's presence that has nothing to do with chance meetings.

The twenty-year anniversary has led to a wild outbreak of festivities in the media with Tendulkar probably sitting through more interviews in the space of a few weeks than he has done in two decades. It is his twentieth year, but actually his 21st season.

Think about it, it is in those seasons he has made his name, reputation and those towering records and he's already crossed twenty. The meticulous man would probably have noted 2008-09 as No. 20 passing by. That slipped out of the rest of our thinking and even statisticians didn't send out alerts. It didn't matter. Tendulkar turned up from South Africa and sent out his: 175 in Hyderabad that sent TV ratings and India's pulse racing.

So never mind talking Tendulkar. As season 21 continues after the celebrations of Year 20, all that must be felt is contentment. All that must be experienced is enjoyment, all that must be appreciated is presence. It is what Sachin Tendulkar has given us all.

[littlemaster1982]

[tscii:2b833535de]He has been mentored by Sachin Tendulkar since his debut in South Africa when he scored his first hundred while batting with the maestro and has since formed one of the most devastating opening pairs in world cricket. Here’s Virender Sehwag’s very special tribute to his hero.

When you two bat the synergy is excellent. What do you guys discuss while batting?

We enjoy each other’s games, have fun in the middle and push each other on. When I play a good shot Sachin speaks to me and often tells me that he knows I can hit more of such shots and I do the same. We just stay focussed and enjoy our time out there in the middle.

Sachin is a legend, isn’t he? For 20 long..

(Sehwag interrupts)

He is not simply a legend. He is God. He is the god of cricket and it has been an absolute privilege to be able to share the dressing room with him and play with him.

Talk a bit about the famous centurion partnership in the 2003 World Cup in SA?

Pakistan had scored 273 and the Indian dressing room was completely quiet. Sachin was only listening to music and wasn’t even talking to anyone. When the umpires walked out to the middle I went up to him to tell him that we need to go out and we did so. The moment we stepped out to the middle he said he would take first strike. This was because Wasim Akram was bowling and I hadn’t faced him before. In the very second over he tore into Shoaib Akhtar and hit the fantastic six over point. He followed it up with three boundaries and we raced off to a blistering start. The Pakistanis were abusing us in Hindi and I urged him to continue hitting them. That was our retort for their behaviour. Also, let me say that the hit over slip or point is a stroke I learnt from Sachin and have used it ever since.

Sachin has now said that he will play the 2011 World Cup. Your thoughts.

Why only 2011 he is fit enough to even play the 2015 World Cup. See his innings in Hyderabad. He fielded for 50 overs and then came out to bat and played for 47 overs. Not many Indian players have been able to do that over the years. He still practices more than any youngster and he is fit enough to play for many years. After practice Gary throws balls at him for over 40 minutes and he continues to knock them around. His dedication is infectious. Off the field he is a fun-loving guy. He loves playing video games and enjoys going to the movies with us. I am fortunate to be able to spend time with him and it is fantastic that he will play the 2011 World Cup.

He is Sachin’s best buddy. He has been presented with eight bats by the master over the last two years and thinks Sachin was well capable of picking 350 wickets had he been a bowler. Sachin completing his 20 years in international cricket is a very special occasion for this sardar from Jalandhar. Harbhajan Singh shares his views about Sachin.

Bhajji, Sachin completing 20 years is a special moment for you as well. Isn’t it?

Absolutely it is. And to remain at the very top for all these years makes it all the more special. He is an extraordinary man and a truly great friend who I can turn to at any point in time in my life.

Tell me about your first meeting with Sachin?

I met him for the first time in Jalandhar. India was playing Sri Lanka and I was asked to come and bowl at the nets to the Indian batsman. By the time I reached the ground the practice session was over. Sachin came out and spoke to me for two minutes. It meant the world to me.

Tell me about sharing the dressing room and anything in particular that you have learnt from him?

I have learnt a lot from him both on and off the field. Off the field I’d only eat Indian food when we travelled out of India. Sachin was the one who told me not to restrict myself to makai ki roti and chicken (laughs). He has introduced me to a wide range of cuisines and I have now learnt to adapt to all conditions and palettes. On the field I learnt the outswinger from him ,which I use if I have to bowl early in the innings. I have picked many wickets with this ball. He is blessed. I haven’t seen many who can spin the ball as much as he can. Had he wanted to be a bowler he could easily have picked 350 wickets. Not many remember that it was Sachin with the ball who won us the famous Kolkata Test in 2001 against Australia. The two of us bowled in tandem and he picked up three crucial wickets on the last day of the match.

Did he give you anything after that special performance of yours?

He gave me a pair of spikes. Had it been today I’d have asked for his Ferrari! But those spikes are invaluable for me. Over the last two years he has given me 8-9 bats of his own. I have been batting with them ever since and my batting has improved considerably over the last couple of years.

Sydney remains a Test match I must ask you about. Did it help you during monkeygate that Sachin was out there with you?

Of course it did. Had Sachin not been there the situation could have gone completely out of control. He was a calming influence and did much for me all through the controversy. He is a special man and I wish him all the best with everything he does even after he retires from the game in a few years.[/tscii:2b833535de]

[littlemaster1982]

[tscii:df1047bc8e]Sachin makes time stand still.

In a sport that specialises in the manufacture of instant stars and transient celebrities, Tendulkar is the real thing. Even now, twenty years Sachin after his debut, there's always a sense of occasion every time he comes to the crease, no matter the game, no matter the place

Many tributes to Sachin Tendulkar. This month will begin with a recollection of one of his epic innings. I wish to cite one of the shortest. It was in Melbourne, my hometown, on Boxing Day 2003. It was a day rich in entertainment, containing a Virender Sehwag century full of eye-popping strokes. Seldom, however, have I sat in a crowd so obviously awaiting one player, and when Tendulkar appeared they radiated happiness and contentment, bursting into heartfelt applause. Tendulkar at the MCG? Delayed Christmas presents come no better.

Except that it was all wrapping and no gift. Tendulkar feathered his first ball down the leg side, and was caught at the wicket — a miserable way to fall for any batsman, in addition to being a lousy anti-climax . The crowd had hardly ceased cheering than it was compelled to resume, cheering Tendulkar off, and the feeling afterwards was almost devastation. You could hear the sibilance of conversations, as connoisseurs ruminated that cricket sure was a funny game, and fathers tried explaining to sons that even the greats had bad days. About three overs later, three spectators at the end of my row got up and left. It was mid-afternoon , Sehwag was still mid-spectacular , and they left. This was not what they had come for, and they would accept no substitute. I had to stay — it was my job — but I could easily have followed them. The hollow feeling persisted all day.

When it comes to communicating Tendulkar's place in cricket history to future generations, I suspect, this is what will be most significant, and also the hardest to convey. In the twenty years of his career, international cricket has changed unrecognisably: elaborate and ceremonial Test cricket has been usurped, economically at least, by the slick, shiny celebrity vehicle of Twenty20.

Yet even now, Tendulkar makes time stand still: every time he comes to the wicket, no matter the game, no matter the place, there is a sense of occasion. It needs no pop music, no cheerleaders, no word from his many sponsors. He is announced by his accumulated excellence, the effect somehow magnified by his tininess: little man, big bat, great moment. His entry could not seem more dramatic if he was borne to the crease on a bejewelled palanquin by dusky maidens amid a flourish of imperial trumpets.

This, moreover, has been the case almost for longer than one can remember. I first saw Tendulkar bat live in England in 1990. He looked so young, so small, like a novelty item on a key chain. Any sense of frailty, however, was quickly dispelled; instead, there was a sureness of touch, not just impressive but altogether ominous. You told yourself to remember him this way; you wanted to be able to say you were there; he was going to be good, so good. By the time he first toured Australia eighteen months later, he simply oozed command. All that held him back, and it would be a theme of his career, especially abroad, was his sorely outclassed team.

Sometimes, this looked almost eerie. Ten years ago in Melbourne, India and Tendulkar played a Test at the MCG. To distinguish between the two was only fair. India were terrible, a shambles. Kumble dropped the simplest catch imaginable from the game's second ball and took 2-150 ; Dravid batted more than three and a half hours in the match for 23 runs; Laxman and Ganguly failed twice, the latter playing on to Greg Blewett, of all people.

Tendulkar batted as if on a different pitch, to different bowlers in a different match. Shane Warne came on in front of his home crowd with Australia in the ascendant. Tendulkar promptly hit him into that crowd beyond mid-off . Brett Lee, in his debut Test, bowled like the wind. Tendulkar treated him as a pleasant, cooling breeze. The follow-on loomed, apparently unavoidable. Tendulkar guided India past it, toying with Steve Waugh's formations, making the fielders look as immobile and ineffectual as croquet hoops.

Had it not been for his ten teammates, Tendulkar could have batted until the crack of doom. As it is, he had to rest content with 116 out of an otherwise bedraggled 238. And this wasn't just an innings; it was, at the time, a synechdoche of Indian cricket. No matter where he went, Tendulkar was the main event, preceded by acute anticipation, followed by grateful wonder, seasoned with sympathy, that such a flyweight figure had to bear such burdens.

There is no discussing Tendulkar, even in cricket terms, as batsman alone. He is also, of course, Indian cricket's original super celebrity; as Pope wrote of Cromwell, ‘damn'd to everlasting fame' . In this sense, he has been preternaturally modern, at the forefront of developments in the culture of stardom in his country, with his telephone-number television entanglements and sponsorship deals, and his reclusive private life. Without Tendulkar's prior demonstration of cricket's commercial leverage, Lalit Modi and all his works would have been unthinkable.

What's truly amazing, nonetheless, is that the simulacrum of Tendulkar has never overwhelmed the substance. He has gone on doing what he does best, and has done better than anybody else in his generation, which is bat and bat and bat. Like Warne, albeit for different reasons, cricket grounds have been a haven for him: in the middle, he always knows what to do, and feels confident he can do it. Life is full of complications and ambiguities; cricket by comparison, even shouldering the expectations of a billion people, is sublimely simple.

Tendulkar's fame, then, is of an unusual kind. He is a symbol of change, but also of continuity. What's astonishing about his batting is not how much it has changed but how little. He set himself a standard of excellence, of consistency, of dominance, and challenged the rest of Indian cricket to meet him up there. Gradually, in the 21st century, albeit not without setbacks, stumbles, financial excesses and political wranglings, it has. His presence now is an ennobling one. First it was his excellence that rubbed off; now it is his integrity. Cricket today specialises in the manufacture of instant stars, temporary celebrities, glorious nobodies. Tendulkar acts as a kind of fixed price or gold standard. To choose a well-loved and well-worn advertising catchline, he is ‘the real thing' .

In his sheer constancy, in fact, Tendulkar unwittingly obscures just how completely cricket has been transformed, to the extent that it is almost impossible to imagine his fame being replicated. Who in future will play international cricket for twenty years, losing neither motivation nor mastery? Who in future will master all three forms of the game, capable of spontaneous spectacle and massive entrenchment alike? Who in future will excite us simply by walking onto the field, just a man and a bat, and disappoint so seldom? Recalling how shocked, even grief stricken, was that crowd in Melbourne six years ago as Tendulkar's back was swallowed by the shadows of the pavilion, I find myself brooding anxiously on the thought of what it will be like when he disappears for the last time.

[/tscii:df1047bc8e]

[littlemaster1982]

Sachin fit to be an ambassador:Ali Bacher (http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/70671/Mail%20Today%20Stories/Sachin+fit+to+be+an+ambassador.html)

I met Sachin for the first time when South Africa played their first ever One- Day International on Indian soil at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on the 1991 tour. He scored 62 to win the game for India. I remember walking into the Indian change room to say well done to him. I have followed his progress since and have met him many, many times.

Sachin is one of the greatest players the world has seen. But the most important thing for me is Sachin Tendulkar the person. His feet are on the ground, he's humble, he's respectful, and he never boasts about his achievements.

He came to South Africa for medical treatment a few years ago. It was a Sunday and I took him out for lunch along with Lee Irvine, a great friend of mine who played Test cricket for South Africa along with me. After we dropped Sachin off, I remember Lee saying to me he could not believe the chap was so humble.

He is an icon; he's a superstar. I have huge admiration for Sachin.

If it was left to me, I would tell him ' Sachin, when you finish, I would like you to be the game's ambassador'. He is the ideal ambassador for world cricket and I would recommend him as strongly as I can. Not so much as to promote the game, but to promote the ethos, the culture and the good things about the game - what you do and what you don't do; what you say and what you don't say. He is a fantastic individual.

A couple of years ago, I went to see Ratnakar Shetty ( BCCI's chief administrative administrator) and after he dialled Sachin's number I spoke to him. I told him, ' The last time I came here ( Mumbai) I went to your shop ( restaurant) to buy memorabilia for my eight grandchildren'. That night when I went to my hotel, I found there was stuff from him for my grandchildren, unannounced.

He's an extraordinary person.

I have no doubt that the media worldwide has tried to find skeletons in his cupboard. And I am sure they fished and fished, and found nothing.

They can't expose anything about him.

I also remember watching Sachin take on Shane Warne in a series in 1998.

Warne came around the wicket and he smashed him. But the best knock that I have ever seen him play was in the Cape Town Test match on the 1996 tour of South Africa. I remember Allan Donald taking the second new ball and, boy, and he slaughtered him. Donald was coming down the hill with the wind behind him. New ball, fast and furious, and Sachin would cover drive him, straight drive him, on drive him.

Then, Brian McMillan bowled one short and my nephew Adam Bacher dived and caught him one- handed. He was absolutely brilliant. It was the best I have ever seen him play. He scored 169.

He's an all- round player and he has got all the shots. The chap is one of the greats of all time.

[ajithfederer]

[tscii:7f57c852b8]Challenges change with time: Sachin Tendulkar

The one and only Sachin Tendulkar (saluted as a “consummate artist” by another living legend, Amitabh Bachchan) spoke to The Telegraph for well over an hour in the lead up to completing 20 years of international cricket, on Sunday. It has, of course, been an incredible career marked by achievements.

Here go excerpts from the interview

Q What’s the India of your dreams?

A (Pauses) One where everybody has clean water to drink... Where everybody has access to education, right from childhood... For me, both are critical issues...

How do you look at the India of 2009?

I’m not disappointed with the way things are, I know those in authority are making an effort... There’s no point sitting back and criticising for the sake of doing so... An effort is being made to change India for the better and I’m appreciative of that... I’m the positive sort and like looking at the positive side. Sure, one would like to have certain things in place, but I do realise that doing so could take time. It may not be easy... The question is whether India is heading in the right direction... It is.

What, for you, would be a nightmare-like situation?

India being hit by natural calamities.

Your vision...

I’d like all citizens to have the basic amenities of life... Nobody, ideally, should be deprived... I’m not talking of the big things, like cars or hi-fi music systems, but clean drinking water and education... You could add health care.

Is there an Indian you’ve admired?

Certainly somebody who made India her home, Mother Teresa... Throughout her life, she helped those whom others would shun... She made a difference to the lives of so many.

Did you get to meet her on one of your visits to Calcutta?

I couldn’t and that remains a regret.

Are you interested in politics?

No.

But you do vote, don’t you?

I exercise my right, that’s it.

So, there’s no chance of you going the way of an Imran Khan or an Arjuna Ranatunga?

(Laughs) Not at all!

Generally, how do you see life?

I consider myself fortunate... Blessed to have been part of the family I belong to... I like giving something to others, which is why you found me endorsing The Joy of Giving Week. As I’ve told you, nothing is ever too small to give. What matters is supporting a cause from the bottom of your heart... A shirt or a pair of shoes may not mean much to you, but would be like gold to somebody who needs that pair of shoes or that one shirt...

Just how much should icons be doing for the lesser privileged?

Look, it has a lot to do with how an individual feels about the whole thing, the way he sees his role (in society)... It can’t be that somebody has to compel an individual to do something. It has to come from within, not otherwise.

You’ve often interacted with terminally ill children. Have those experiences left you very distressed?

Yes... Each time that I’ve met them, I’ve come away feeling how lucky I am... Often, we take things for granted and just wait to complain about this or that... Yet, the terminally ill children have no complaints, despite probably having only weeks or months to live... I’ve always been moved... Meeting such children makes one appreciate the importance of good health, of not being handicapped in any way.

Would an Imran, who has built a cancer hospital in Lahore, score higher marks than cricketers of equal stature because of that one achievement?

I wouldn’t club the cricketing and non-cricketing sides together...

You were part of the Indian team which visited the hospital on the 2005-06 tour of Pakistan. Anything you remember off hand?

I remember it as a very fine facility where even the common man can get himself treated... Imran’s done an absolutely incredible job.

Now, for some cricket-specific questions... On the eve of his 60th birthday, in July, Sunil Gavaskar picked Kapil Dev and you as India’s “greatest” cricketers. Your thoughts?

Makes me feel special... Mr Gavaskar was an idol.

In your book, where would Gavaskar rank?

Without a doubt, he’s one of our best... I’d rate Rahul Dravid very highly, too, as also Anil Kumble.

How should greatness be measured?

(Pauses) One has to judge a player’s contribution to the team... It can’t be about having one terrific series or one very successful tournament... One has to judge over a period of time, take the consistency into account.

You continue to show the passion of somebody making his debut, not one around for 20 years. What, indeed, makes you tick so phenomenally?

Passion... The hunger for runs comes out of enjoyment... I continue to live my dream, which was to play for India... I have a responsibility to do well and carry the team on my shoulders... It’s not a small responsibility, but I’ve never felt burdened... Never thought that I’ve had to make sacrifices to get to where I am.

The motivation, therefore, comes from within?

It does... I don’t need an external factor to motivate me.

One target, it seems, is 15,000 Test runs...

Not a target... If it has to happen, then it will.

You’re already close to 13,000 in Tests. Would 15,000, then, be a driving force, so to say?

I wouldn’t look at it that way... I’ll keep playing, keep doing my job... If I’m destined to get there, I will. My job is to give my best shot (not aim for records).

When will you start focusing on the 2011 World Cup?

Can’t say...

Twenty years ago, how long did you expect to play?

If you’d phrased your question differently and asked me, on the second day of my Test career when I’d got out for 15, just how long would I be playing, my answer would’ve been that the first Test would also be my last! I felt out of place, everything was new... I recall (manager) Chandu Borde spent quite some time talking to me and that made me feel better. The intensity of international cricket was so much more different.

You’d been so tired after the first day (November 15) that you went off to sleep on returning to your hotel room...

(Grins) I did, yes, for a couple of hours... That first day, in such a different environment, had left me drained.

Over the past 20 years, cricket has seen a number of changes. Your take?

Well, because the number of matches have increased, it’s more demanding physically... Some of the changes were needed, they’ve been important.

In terms of skills, is it that today’s cricketers have to be more skilful?

Even earlier, one needed to have the skills... That, surely, hasn’t changed much... But, yes, the quality of the equipment has changed. That’s progress.

Okay... Let me put it this way: Is surviving more challenging in 2009 than it was in 1989?

Twenty years ago, there were different challenges... The challenges and expectations change with time and differ from one level to the other. One has to stay focused and adapt to the changing demands.

Isn’t there a fear that T20 will produce rather mediocre cricketers?

But T20 demands that some batters come and just throw their bat around... If somebody does well, that way, then I don’t have a problem... At the end of the day, we’re talking of the same ball and bat... I don’t see why anybody should have a problem if somebody becomes a hero in a matter of seconds or minutes... You may not remember who holds the record for the marathon, but you’ll know about (Usain) Bolt... There’s space for all forms and each has its challenges... So many dream of playing for India, but you’ve got to be realistic, as well... Very few actually get to realise that dream and, if some can make a career out of T20, with one of the (IPL) franchises, then so be it... They will be able to look after themselves and their families.

Exclusively T20, then, is a viable option...

Absolutely... As I’ve said, somebody may never get to play for India, but could live his passion through a T20 career (in the IPL)... T20 has become hugely popular and will help globalise cricket... Will help increase viewership, expand the market.

But the easy money could actually ruin some cricketers, isn’t it?

(Pauses) There’s a downside to any positive... Surely, how one acts and behaves is in the hands of that person alone... Why blame the IPL? What makes you believe Test cricket cannot spoil a player? I don’t wish to go into details, but there have been instances of that...

Test cricket, though, remains supreme...

Of course, it’s the No.1 form. Has been so, still is and will remain at the top. Test cricket requires more imagination, better planning, sharper execution.

Are you in favour of four-day Tests and such matches being played under lights?

I’m for five days... Test cricket is a challenge and that challenge should be over that many days... As for day-night Tests, the balls could well be an issue... Day-night cricket should first be attempted at the first-class level.

You’ve suggested a change for the 50-over ODIs...

A bit of imagination is needed to take it forward... Indeed, people are putting their heads together.

Aren’t you disappointed that the Deodhar Trophy has been dropped by the Board this season?

Yes... Having said that, the Board introduced the Corporate Trophy, instead... I see that as a good move, for companies can only field permanent employees... Employment opportunities have opened... It’s a win-win situation and I’d like to compliment the Board.

Your advice for this generation?

The young players should live their dream... The desire to play for India fired me up... It should drive today’s generation, too... I’d say don’t look for big things straightaway... Work towards and on the small things and climb from there.

What goes into the making of a successful individual?

A dream... Then, the desire to chase that dream and to make it happen... Honesty towards the job, a sense of commitment... Vision, too, is needed. You can’t guarantee X or Y is going to be successful, but if the attributes are there, then there’s every chance that X or Y would end up being so.

How do you think the millions will remember you, once you’re through with cricket?

Not only as a record-breaker... I guess they will also remember me as somebody who inspired the next generation to take to cricket in a big way... Personally, I see that as my biggest contribution.

At any point, have you thought of what you could be doing after retiring?

No.

What if India hadn’t won the 1983 World Cup, inspiring you to make a career out of cricket...

Oh, I would certainly have been playing some sport... By nature, after all, I’m a sporty person.

Finally... As we speak, who are you most thankful to?

(Emotionally) My family, immediate and extended... All my coaches, starting from Ramakant Achrekar Sir... Teammates... People tend to forget groundsmen, but I’d also like to thank them... I can’t, at this moment, forget to thank friends — cricketing ones and those outside cricket... I hope I haven’t missed anybody...

DEFINING MOMENTS FOR THE MAESTRO

No.1: Beating England by six wickets in the Chennai Test, last December, just weeks after Mumbai’s 26/11... That will always remain my most special moment... Our win there was for all those who’d lost their lives in the terror strike... I’m happy that I contributed an unbeaten hundred (103) in our chase.

No.2: My Test debut (November 15, 1989), in Karachi... A very special day... Also, my first Test hundred (119 not out, at Old Trafford, in August 1990).

No.3: The 35th Test hundred, which took me past Sunil Gavaskar’s 34... I got 109 (against Sri Lanka, at the Kotla, in December 2005)... I’d put my getting beyond Brian Lara’s record for the maximum runs in Tests, in Mohali last year (with 88 in the first innings against Australia), in the same category... Will stay a very special moment... A defining one.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1091115/jsp/sports/story_11743213.jsp[/tscii:7f57c852b8]

[ajithfederer]

[tscii:783e746471]I see only the bowler and the ball: Tendulkar
Ajay Naidu, TNN 15 November 2009, 02:20am IST

Twenty years at the top, how do you look back on your career?


It has been a beautiful journey. Wearing the India cap has always meant a lot to me. That's what I dreamt of as a child. Cricket has been my passion, my life. And I have enjoyed every moment of it.

On a personal level, which achievement really makes you proud?

I felt extremely proud the day I was selected to play for India. Since then, each day has been full of surprises, happy surprises on most occasions. If India does well when I play well and that gives joy to millions, I am grateful to God.

What sacrifices have you, and people around you, made to survive the hard grind?

I would like to stress that my brother, Ajit, was actively involved with my game since I was a kid. Later on, my wife, Anjali, has been a huge pillar of strength and support. Besides, my mother and other family members have always been there for me. Even my kids have learnt to live with the fact that their father has to be away playing cricket for a number of days.

What kind of role have the people of the country played in your success?

Without the support of a billion people, it wouldn't have been possible. I value their love, their wishes, their prayers, their kindness. I thank each one of them from the bottom of my heart.

How do you prepare yourself for a match? Do you still get butterflies in the stomach before every game?

I like to keep things normal. I take enough rest before a game to ensure that the body and mind are fresh. I still get butterflies in my stomach. When they play the national anthem before a match, I even get goosepimples. That is the way the body prepares.

What is the key to your amazing run-making ability? Tell us about your thought process when you are at the batting crease...

I just concentrate hard on each and every ball and try to play it on its merit. The key is to stay still and look closely at what the bowler wants to do. Mentally too, you should be focused because you have just a fraction of a second to play the ball. How you think is extremely important because there's always something going on in your mind. So I need to focus, apply myself and concentrate hard. When I am in the zone, I see only the bowler and the ball and nothing else. That's also the time when I am batting at my best.

Is temperament really more important than technique?

Yes, I think temperament is extremely important. One has to be mentally tough. If you are not tough, you are not going to make runs. The guys who have scored runs in the past, they've all not been technically correct. So technique is not the only thing. In the end, everything boils down to putting bat to ball. The adjustment is very crucial too, and the hand-eye coordination.

Only good batsmen make ugly hundreds. Did you?

There are times when the conditions are tough. The bowlers are on top and you haven't got used to the pace of the wicket. A good batsman must go through the grind when he is not happy about the movement of his feet or is having problems in coming to terms with the pitch. Even if he is not in good nick, he will stay at the wicket, do the hard work and gradually overcome all obstacles.

In the 1999 World Cup you rushed back home from England and then returned to score a hundred. How difficult was that?

That was the toughest part of my career. It is hard to explain what I went through. My father passed away in the middle of the tournament and I took the first flight home to attend the funeral. When my mother saw me, she said, ‘Why have you come home, you should be playing (for the country). That is what your father would have liked'. So I attended the funeral and went back. I was very emotional and wasn't thinking about the match because my mind was preoccupied. I remember we were playing Kenya and on the morning of the match, I had tears in my eyes. Somehow I gathered myself and as luck would have it, I hit a hundred. When I reached there, I looked up and raised my bat to the heavens in the belief that my father would be watching. Again, I had tears in my eyes. It was a very difficult phase.

A year earlier in 1998, you had single-handedly almost won a Test match against Pakistan in Chennai. How tough was that?

One of the worst moments of my career. Actually, we were cruising to victory. I was playing in pain and after I went past my hundred, it started to get worse. I was finding it extremely difficult to stay on my feet. So I decided to go for my shots and even hit four boundaries before falling to Saqlain Mushtaq's doosra. Then the tail crumbled and we lost a Test which we ought to have won. After the match, there was deafening silence in the dressing room. Everyone had tears in their eyes.

But you eventually made up by playing that memorable 98 against Pakistan in the 2003 World Cup...

Yeah, I did! India-Pakistan matches had an extra edge those days. Even before the start of the World Cup, all my friends were looking forward to the D-day. To be honest, I was a bit tense on the eve of the match. I didn't sleep well in the nights leading up to that game. Pakistan had put up a fighting total of 274 and during the break I shut myself out from everything. I listened to music and tried to focus on the task at hand. My feet were moving well and we had a few big overs early on. That gave us the momentum. I enjoyed playing my shots and taking on Akram, Waqar and Shoaib. It was memorable.

Which loss hurt you more, the 1996 World Cup semifinal or the 2003 World Cup final?

It has to be the loss in 2003, because till the finals we had done exceedingly well. We had got off to a shaky start in the tournament but gradually picked up and were peaking at the right time. Maybe we were over-aggressive or over-excited about going out and winning the big final against Australia.

After the 26/11 attack on Mumbai, you had to play a Test in Chennai. What was going through your mind on the eve of the match, in which you ended up scoring a match-winning century on the final day?

It wasn't the best time to play cricket but then life has to go on. What happened was a terrible thing and we could only sympathize with those who had lost their near and dear ones. The feeling in the camp was, if by doing well we can provide some solace, or even take their minds off what had happened, then it was worth playing.

On the last day, when I was batting well, my mind went back to the Test we lost to Pakistan at the same venue. I was determined to stay till the end. When Yuvraj came out, I told him there was no way we are going to let this slip away. He batted brilliantly and we won by six wickets. That victory gave me a lot of joy and satisfaction because it came at a very important time for the country.


You have played under several captains. Who would you rate as the best ?

They have all been good in their own way. But if I have to pick just one, I would say Mahendra Singh Dhoni. He is aggressive yet calm. He doesn't display much emotion. We have similar thought-processes on the field.

You recently said that your batting was a mix of Sunil Gavaskar and Viv Richards'. Did the great West Indian ever speak to you about your game?

It happened after the 2007 World Cup. We were going through a bad patch and there was criticism from all quarters. Viv called me up and we spoke at length. He said, ‘Don't lose heart. Just keep working hard, enjoy the game and everything will be fine.' Coming from one of my idols, it meant a lot to me.

As a kid, did you sometimes sleep with a bat near the pillow?

Of course, I did. Like other kids, I would also visualize myself waving the bat to the stands. I always believed that I would play for the country. I am living a dream.

When did you actually start believing that you were indeed good enough to survive at the highest level?

After I played my second Test match (Faisalabad) in Pakistan. I scored 59. That's when I thought that I belonged in that league. It gave me confidence that I can play Test cricket for a long time.

Did you ever feel that you were out of form in the course of these two decades?

I don't think there is any cricketer who has never been out of form. There are times when your feet don't move well or your head is not right. After all, it's a body, not a machine. Every cricketer goes through rough patches. I take these things as a challenge.

Did you ever fear being dropped from the playing eleven?

Never. However, I have never taken my place in the team for granted.

How often did you play in excruciating pain?

That happens quite often. One cannot be 100% fit all the time. You know when you can play through the pain and when you can't. As long as you can manage, you do it.

How is it possible for a man of your accomplishments to be so grounded in a cricket-crazy nation like ours?

It hasn't been a big deal (for me). My family has had a huge role to play in my success. They made a lot of sacrifices. My father was a very balanced person and nobody in the family got carried away with my success. It has everything to do with my upbringing. Of course, my family does feel happy and proud every time I do well but nobody goes over the top. We do celebrate in our own way, but we basically keep it simple.

Can you tell us about some of the dressing room pranks you've played on your colleagues?

There have been many. Sometimes, we lock up players when they are in the toilet. Every day I am up to something new. It keeps the dressing room in good humour.

Can other players dare to play pranks on you?

Of course, they do. There's no one-way traffic here. Bhajji, Viru, Yuvi are the usual suspects. But we all enjoy it.

What has cricket taught you as a player and as a person?

Cricket has taught me most of the things in life. I got to travel the world and meet different people and that experience has made me a better person. Most of all, it has taught me to be humble. It has also taught me to deal with various challenges differently and look at life positively.

How much has the game evolved in the last two decades? Has it got any easier?

It hasn't got easier but it has become faster. It has become more competitive. There's also much more media attention; nobody wants to miss out on anything. Everything around cricket has changed in a big way. I think the response to faster cricket (T20, ODIs) has been fantastic. But, I would like to stress that Test cricket remains the ultimate challenge for any cricketer. The true test of skill and character, and also the ability to adapt to various conditions, can only be judged in Test cricket.

Which ones do you rate as your top three Test hundreds and top three ODI innings?

In Tests, it has to be my first Test hundred (119*) at Old Trafford against England (1990), my hundred (114) at Perth against Australia (1992) and my last hundred against England (103*) in Chennai (2008). In the One-dayers, my hundred (138) in Colombo in the final of the Compaq Cup series (2009), then the one against Australia (117*) in the first final of the tri-series (2008) and my hundred (134) in Sharjah in the finals against Australia (1998).

What would Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar like to be remembered for?

As someone who always put the country and team first, as someone who always gave his 100%. Also, as one who played the game with passion and in the right spirit and took great pride in representing India.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-5231652,flstry-1.cms[/tscii:783e746471]

[ajithfederer]

When he was happy with a stipend of Rs200
Taus Rizvi / DNASunday, November 15, 2009 3:08 IST

Mumbai: Today Sachin Tendulkar may be a multi-millionaire with a slew of cars, but there were days when he would commute by the BEST bus. And there was a day when a was excited for signing a deal, which gave him a monthly stipend of Rs200.

It was over 20 years ago when Tendulkar was given a scholarship by Sungrace Mafatlal Sports Club and that day the Little Master was over the moon.

"We used to give scholarships to aspiring youngsters. Coach Ramakant Achrekar recommended the names of Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli. He asked the club to adopt these two cricketers who were creating a storm at the school level," current Mumbai Cricket Association secretary Hemant Waingankar, who was handling the club affairs then, said.

Waingankar recalled how happy Sachin was when he informed him. "He was happy when we told him about the scholarship. He was a shy kid and did not express his happiness openly but I could see the spark in his eyes" he said."He did not care about the stipend but was more happy that he would be getting his required cricket gears without any problems," Waingankar added.

Waingankar also recalled his conversation with batting legend Sunil Gavaskar. "I saw him once playing at the Shivaji Park. Once Gavaskar asked me about Sachin and I told him 'that you are the father of batting and this kid will be one day called grandfather'," Waingankar said referring to the 'grandpa' label given to Tendulkar by his younger teammates.

http://www.dnaindia.com/sport/report_when-he-was-happy-with-a-stipend-of-rs200_1311786

[ajithfederer]

[tscii:c622a6b217]Cup hopes rest on Sachin: Sourav

- ‘A lot of people are talented, but he made full use of his talent’
A STAFF REPORTER

Sourav Ganguly
Calcutta: Sourav Ganguly was the captain when India lost the World Cup final to Australia in 2003.

And in the 2011 Cup, Sourav feels there is every reason for the country to hope for a triumph. Why? That’s because Sachin Tendulkar, in all probability, will be around.

“With Sachin around, we are keeping our fingers crossed for the 2011 Cup. I hope he puts up a stellar performance and we do well,” said Sourav, on Saturday.

He also congratulated the maestro on his 20 glorious years in international cricket, saying that it has been an amazing journey for the man from Mumbai.

“I have already congratulated him… Starting at the age of 16 and continuing successfully for 20 years is unbelievable. I just hope he carries on… It has been wonderful,” said the former India captain.

Recalling his first meeting with Sachin, the former India captain said that he was aware of the master’s genius from day one. “I have known him for a long time ... since our under-15 years. I first met him during an under-15 camp organised by Vasu Paranjpe. The first day I met him, I knew that he was special,” Sourav said.

“Sachin is the best batsman I have seen. A lot of people are talented, but he ensured that he made full use of his talent. That is why he is so successful,” he added.

Asked about his memories of his former opening partner, the left-hander said that there were too many for him to single out.

“There are so many memories of our playing days… I’m fortunate to have played more than 400 matches alongside him,” said Sourav.

He picked Sachin’s blistering 175 against Australia in the fifth match of the recently concluded ODI series as the best he has seen from the little master.

“That innings in Hyderabad against Australia was amazing… He played such a terrific knock and probably it’s the best ODI innings I have seen from Sachin,” observed Sourav.

For the record, Sachin crossed the 17,000-run mark in ODIs during his whirlwind knock at Hyderabad.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1091115/jsp/sports/story_11743105.jsp[/tscii:c622a6b217]

[ajithfederer]

[tscii:5e2f127c05]I find myself in his batting: Richards
- Sledging only strengthened tendulkar’s concentration: Waugh

Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Tendulkar completes 20 years of international cricket on Sunday. Some legends heaped praise on the Little Master II.

Following are what they have said about Tendulkar (alphabetically):

Inzamam-ul Haq: What has impressed me the most about Tendulkar all these years is his humble and simple nature. I never saw him let the fame and adulation he enjoys get to his head.

Javed Miandad: He (Sachin) loves cricket and with his hard work, focus and commitment he has truly become an outstanding ambassador for the sport at a time when commercialism is so rampant.

Abdul Qadir: I was at my best in 1989 and even the best batsmen had second thoughts coming out to hit me. I remember I kept on goading him to hit me and he took the challenge and came down to strike me cleanly. It was amazing. I knew instantly this was someone special.

Vivian Richards: When he is in full flow, the mild-mannered boyish cricketer can look extremely intimidating. If there is a resonance, I find of myself in his batting, it is in that intent he communicates. If I were to make a distinction between Brian (Lara) and Sachin (Tendulkar), it would be to point that Sachin was a more committed individual. He was more consistent in his commitment to the team.

Steve Waugh: I watched Sachin hitting a spectacular 175 the other day and once again I felt that I was watching a player who comes once in a century. He is the Bradman of our times and I do feel privileged to have played a lot of cricket against him. On his day Sachin could take a game away from under your nose very quickly. His uncanny ability to find gaps, his running between the wickets and his sheer presence at the wicket was unsettling for the opposition.

Sachin rarely got into verbal duels and soon we too realised that sledging him only strengthens his concentration and resolve. No wonder then that some of the most talkative Australians went quiet when Sachin was in the middle.

On his day Sachin could take a game away from under your nose very quickly. His uncanny ability to find gaps, his running between the wickets and his sheer presence at the wicket was unsettling for the opposition. (PTI)

SACHIN IN FIGURES

In Tests


When he made his Test debut, Sachin Tendulkar was the third youngest debutant to play Test cricket at 16 years 205 days. He still remains the youngest Indian to appear in Tests. Mushtaq Mohammed at 15 years 124 days is the youngest debutant.

He holds the record for the most number of Test appearances for India (159). Only Steve Waugh (168) has played more Tests.

He became the second Indian, after Sunil Gavaskar, to cross the 10,000-run mark in Tests. However, along with Brian Lara, he is the fastest to score 10,000, both achieving it in 195 innings.

Sachin has scored the maximum number of runs by any player away from home. In 87 Tests and 146 innings, he has 7,165 runs.

He is now the highest run-getter in Tests — 12,773.

He has scored Test hundreds against all Test playing nations and over 1000 runs against all Test playing nations with the exception of Zimbabwe and Bangladesh.
In ODIs

Second most capped cricketer in one-day Internationals (436 games). Only Sanath Jayasuriya (441) has played more matches than him.

Appeared in 185 consecutive ODIs between April 1990 to April 1998.

Scored most runs (17,178) in ODIs.

Has most number of hundreds (45) and fifties (91).

Has most scores in 90s (17) in ODIs.

Has most scores of 99 (3) in ODIs.

Is the first player to reach 10,000 to 17,000 runs in ODIs.

Has been involved in most 100-plus stands (91) in ODIs.

Has scored nine ODI centuries against Australia, which is the highest for any batsman against a single team.

Has 3,005 runs against Australia, the most by any batsman against a single team.

Holds the record for the highest individual score by an Indian in ODIs. (186 n.o. vs NZ).

Has scored 1,000 runs in a calendar year most times (7) — 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2003 and 2007.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1091115/jsp/sports/story_11741503.jsp[/tscii:5e2f127c05]

[ajithfederer]

[tscii:3cb8d0deda]Sachin disappointed, wants more Test cricket

Last Updated on Saturday, November 14, 2009, 18:40 IST

Zeecric Bureau

Mumbai: On the eve of completing 20 glorious years in international cricket, Sachin Tendulkar is unhappy and disappointed!

In an interview to an Indian news channel, the Master Blaster said that he is unhappy for the fact that the Indian cricket team is not playing enough Test matches and being a cricketer, he would want to play more Test cricket.

“We should play more Test cricket for sure. It is obviously not great news that we are only playing five Tests this season,” Tendulkar said.


Giving a fresh start to the age-long speculation on the future of the longer format after the advent of Twenty20 cricket, Tendulkar said that the BCCI should incorporate more Test series in the cricketing calendar as it is this format which is the real ‘test’ for a cricketer.

“Ideally for any team to progress you need to play more Test cricket as that is where the real cricket is according to me. Test cricket is cricket of the highest level and since it is played across five days at the end of each day it allows you to regroup, re-think, come up with fresh ideas and plan for the next day. Sometimes in Twenty20 and ODIs even before you realise the match is over.”

“I look forward to play more Test Cricket for India. That is what I would want,” said Tendulkar.

Sachin completes his 20 splendid years in the game of cricket on November 15.

Tendulkar made his international debut in the first Test against Pakistan at Karachi on November 15, 1989 and it was on the same tour that he made his debut in ODIs too before going on to set umpteen world records in both formats.

http://cricket.zeenews.com/fullstory.aspx?nid=25084[/tscii:3cb8d0deda]

[ajithfederer]

The lonely master
November 14, 2009 - 7:11PM

In a country of one billion people, one is the loneliest number.

For as long as he has bestrode the cricket world, Sachin Tendulkar has dealt with the private pain of being an awesomely gifted batsman and a consummate professional in a team that has so often failed to follow suit.

As he reflected on 20 years as an Indian player, having made his debut as a 16-year-old against Pakistan at Karachi in 1989, Tendulkar revealed the hurt he felt whenever a great innings was not accompanied by an Indian victory.

It is a sensation he has had to get used to, for there have been so many Tendulkar masterpieces in defeat, from an immaculate 114 at Perth in 1992 in a team that succumbed by 300 runs, to a masterly 175 in the three-run loss to Australia at Hyderabad earlier this month.

All have caused the same mess of mixed emotions for Tendulkar, and his ability to forge on has won him a sea of admirers not just in India, but everywhere.

Asked if it was a lonely experience, Tendulkar paused.

"I have never been asked this question before," he said.

"But, actually, yes you feel bad because I've done well but the team doesn't haven't well - I play for the team and it is not about individuals.

"You've got to win as a team.

"So you are not excited and you cannot share that wonderful moment with people because you've lost the game.

"It is a difficult thing.

"On the brighter side when you have one billion people to share your joy there is nothing better than that.

"But when that doesn't happen you look forward to the next game and try and make sure that you perform better as a team and do something special which can make all of us smile."

Among the many characteristics that have made Tendulkar great, two stand out as reminders that talent, even genius, is nothing without humility and diligence.

Though he is as naturally gifted as any batsman of the modern era, Tendulkar has never once presumed to know what is best for his batting without first seeking out advice.

In 1992, the same tour as that Perth innings, Tendulkar floored David Boon by seeking out the Australian for some counsel on how to combat the West Indies' fearsome pace barrage, at that time including Curtly Ambrose, Malcolm Marshall and Courtney Walsh.

Boon's response was to exclaim "YOU want advice from ME?", but he proceeded to explain what he had learned about shot selection and judgment while an 18-year-old Tendulkar listened intently.

"The only time I had played a West Indian was when we played county cricket against Derbyshire (in 1990) when Ian Bishop was there, and I played one exhibition game in Canada against West Indies," Tendulkar said.

"But other than that in an international match I hadn't played, in Australia we were playing a triangular series where the West Indies joined us and they had some terrific players, world-class fast bowlers.

"I'd watched Boon quite closely, and I thought I should be picking up things from the top players in the world and I wanted to get as much information as possible and become a better cricketer.

"I thought it was a good chance to speak to him, and get to know how to face certain bowlers on Australian tracks."

Six years later and Tendulkar was preparing to face the wiles of Shane Warne in a home Test series for the first time.

It was here, in the weeks and days leading up to the first Test at Chennai, that his unrivalled knack for meticulous training was so wonderfully demonstrated.

Discerning that he had never really dealt with Warne's pet tactic of attacking a batsman from around the wicket with sharp spin out of the footmarks, Tendulkar roughed up patches outside leg stump in numerous nets at home in Mumbai and later at Chennai.

He then had a number of local legspinners, and former Test tweaker Laxman Sivaramakrishnan, bowl around the wicket into the rough to devise a way around a tactic that had flummoxed many batsmen.

"In 1998 I prepared differently, we were practising in Chennai and before that I practised in Mumbai," Tendulkar recalled.

"All my Ranji Trophy colleagues, I used to ask them to bowl around the wicket into the rough, because that was something which I hadn't played for a long time, in spite of having been around for almost nine years at that sage, I hadn't played any legspinner that would bowl around the wicket to me, in the rough, so I made all the bowlers do that.

"Then when we went to Chennai, Laxman Sivaramakrishnan did that to me, he gave wonderful practice.

"So all those sessions really helped and basically the purpose behind that was just to get used to those angles and the areas, and identify which are the areas from which I can attack and which are the areas I need to defend."

The result was a match-winning innings of 155 that thoroughly curtailed Warne, and a stark reminder of the rare thought Tendulkar has put into maintaining his genius.

AAP

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/sport/cricket/the-lonely-master-20091114-ifkp.html

[ajithfederer]

[tscii:1c231402e6]Tendulkar, the entertainer par excellence

November 14th, 2009
more images

more images
NEW DELHI - By the time Sachin Tendulkar made his debut in one-day internationals in 1989, the format had been in existence for 19 years, but it would not be an exaggeration to say that the little dynamo provided the impetus for the tremendous growth of the format.

Tendulkar redefined the rules of the shorter version and took it to new frontiers, setting milestones at every conceivable distance in the 20 years he has been around. He has been an inspiration for generations of players to follow.

The popularity of ODIs soared in the subcontinent when Tendulkar was at his peak. And in India, Tendulkar acquired the status of a demigod. Each time he walked down holding his bat, the nation of a billion waited in anticipation. The colour of the clothing fades and the bright stadium floodlights get hazy with Tendulkar’s electrifying presence out in the middle. And the administrators of the game went to the banks laughing every time Tendulkar played in an ODI.

The 45 centuries that he has cracked in 436 ODIs came in a torrent once he got his first hundred five years and 79 matches after his debut, against Australia. Remarkably, 32 of his hundreds carried India to victory.

He was also the first player to score 10,000 runs in the ODIs, and after that every 1,000 he added was part of history, surpassing his own record.

He is the only player to post nine centuries in a calendar year in 1998 and also the only batsman to amass 1,000 runs in a calendar year seven times. No other batsman has contributed to as many runs as he did for a winning cause — 10360 (ave.56.92) in 217 matches.

Besides, he has the most man of the match (60) and most man of the series awards (14).

Tendulkar’s stats in ODIs as on Nov 15, 2009:

M I N.O. Runs H.S. Ave. 100 50

Total: 436 425 39 17178 186* 44.50 45 91

Home 150 146 13 6102 186* 45.87 17 34

Away 140 139 10 4873 163* 37.77 11 24

Neutral 146 140 16 6203 152 50.02 17 33

As Captain 73 70 5 2454 186* 37.75 6 12

Not as Captain 363 355 34 14724 175 45.86 39 79

For a winning cause 217 214 32 10360 186* 56.92 32 54

For a losing cause 192 192 2 6269 175 32.99 12 35

No Result games 24 16 5 518 105* 47.09 1 2

Tied games 3 3 - 31 24 10.33 - -

World Cup 36 35 4 1796 152 57.93 4 13

Asia Cup 20 18 2 799 112* 49.93 1 6

ICC Champions Trophy 16 14 2 441 141 36.75 1 1

Tournament Finals 39 38 5 1833 138 55.54 6 10

1st position 47 2 1625 120 36.11 2 9

2nd position 266 19 12437 186* 50.35 39 61

No.3 10 1 92 31 10.22 - -

No.4 61 8 2059 140* 38.84 4 15

No.5 36 8 797 82* 28.46 - 5

No.6 4 1 148 57* 49.33 - 1

No.7 1 - 20 20 20.00 - -

Milestones:

1st Match: vs.Pakistan at Gujaranwala on Dec 18, 1989

100th Match: vs.New Zealand at Pune on Nov 24, 1995

200th Match: vs.Zimbabwe at Harare on Sep 30,1998

300th Match: vs.Sri Lanka at Colombo,RPS on Sep 30,2002

400th Match: vs. Australia at Baroda on Oct 11,2007

ODI - career highlights:

At 16 years 238 days, he was the youngest Indian player - vs. Pakistan at Gujaranwala on Dec 18, 1989.

Holds an Indian record for the longest career - 19 years and 325 days

Most consecutive matches - 185 between April 25, 1990 and April 24, 1998

Holds a world record for aggregating most runs - 17178 (ave.44.50)

Most matches (436) by an Indian

Most Innings (425) by an Indian

Most Centuries (45)

Most Fifties (91)

Most Nineties (17)

Holds a dubious distinction of being the only player to have been dismissed on 99 on three occasions.

Holds the record for aggregating most runs in a calendar year - 1894 (ave.65.31) in 34 matches.

Only player to post nine centuries in a calendar year (1998)

Only batsman to amass 1000 runs in a calendar year seven times.

Most runs for a winning cause - 10360 (ave.56.92) in 217 matches.

Most Man of the Match awards (60)

Most Man of the Series awards (14)

Only all-rounder to complete the triple of 15000 runs, 150 wickets and 100 catches.

Holds ODI partnership records for the second and third wickets - 331 (2nd) with Rahul Dravid vs. New Zealand at Hyderabad on 8.11.1999 and 237* (3rd) with Rahul Dravid vs. Kenya at Bristol on 23.5.1999.

Only player to hit nine centuries against one opponent - Australia

Only player to have aggregated 2000 runs or more against three nations - Australia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka

His run-aggregate of 3005 (ave.46.23) is a record by any player against Australia

His run-aggregate of 2749 (ave.44.33) is a record by any player against Sri Lanka

His 186 not out against New Zealand at Hyderabad on 8.11.1999 is a record for the highest individual innings for India

He is the only player to aggregate 500 runs in a single edition of the World Cup twice. His run-aggregate of 673 (ave.61.18) in 11 matches in 2002-03 is a World Cup record for one edition

His run-aggregate of 1796 (ave.57.94) in 36 matches is a World Cup record

Holds the record for taking the least number of matches from 10,000 to 13,000

http://blog.taragana.com/sports/2009/11/14/tendulkar-the-entertainer-par-excellence-46190/
[/tscii:1c231402e6]

[littlemaster1982]

Sachin vs Australia, 5th ODI HQ Highlights

http://www.mediafire.com/?m3zxz21zbmy
http://www.mediafire.com/?dt3ynwma1yj
http://www.mediafire.com/?ddfmwtwy1zl
http://www.mediafire.com/?iygbmyyyqy5
http://www.mediafire.com/?hwchgqrminm
http://www.mediafire.com/?ooyz0yzyly1
http://www.mediafire.com/?azujvmeummw
http://www.mediafire.com/?fmzzq1qnyvz
http://www.mediafire.com/?5wowznz2c5t

EDIT: Part 5 & 9 are corrupted :sigh2:

Download this instead: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=YV55VTK6 [186 MB, 20 mins runtime].

[ajithfederer]

Sachin savours Sunny's call
Last updated on: November 12, 2009 22:46 IST

Sachin Tendulkar [ Images ] on Thursday acknowleged Sunil Gavaskar's [ Images ] contribution in his career, revealing how the former batting ace played a major role in his successful journey in international cricket.

On the verge of completing 20 years in the game, Tendulkar said every time he crosses a milestone or breaks a record Gavaskar calls to congratulate him.

"It always special when the person whom you have idolised congratulates you on your achievement. I get a lot of calls that day and I thank everyone. But the one call from Gavaskar will always be cherished," Tendulkar said in Mumbai [ Images ] at a function to felicitate Gavaskar and Gundappa Viswanath on their contributions to Indian cricket.

"Gavaskar Sir was in Nepal at the time, but he personally called and congratulated me on getting 34 centuries in Test cricket. I think that moment will always stay with me," he added.

Tendulkar, who is 49 runs short of 30,000 international runs, also reminisced about a letter that Gavaskar personally wrote to him after he was disappointed at not receiving the Junior Cricketer of the Year award in 1987.

"I still remember, when I didn't get the junior cricket award I got a handwritten letter. I was disappointed when I didn't get the award initially, but when I got that letter all that disappointment went away. When you are small every encouragement you get helps you a great deal, and if it comes from someone like him it means a lot.

"That letter gave me a different sort of momentum and all disappointments that I had till then went away," he said.

He also revealed that Gavaskar was the first person who took him inside a dressing room when he was doing 'ball boy' duty during the 1987 World Cup in Mumbai.

"I also remember that I was a ball boy during the 1987 World Cup. I met Gavaskar for the first time and he took me inside the team dressing room for the first time. At that point I didn't know what to say or do and I quietly sat in a corner and saw the match," said the ace batsman, who has scored 45 One-Day International and 44 Test centuries.

Bollywood's legendary actor Amitabh Bachchan [ Images ], who felicitated both Gavaskar and Viswanath on the occasion, said his achievements are nothing compared to the three greats of Indian cricket.

"I know I am elder to them in age and taller them in height, but today I am feeling quite small compared to these three greats -- Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar and Gundappa Viswanath. Their contributions to the country, society and cricket will always be invaluable forever. My best wishes to Sunilji and Gundappaji on their 60th birthdays. I pray to god that they live forever and pass on their experience and knowledge to generations to come," Bachchan said.

http://cricket.rediff.com/report/2009/nov/12/sachin-tendulkar-acknowledges-sunil-gavaskar-contriburion-to-his-rise.htm

[ajithfederer]

[tscii:0c20d8cf6f]India should play more Tests - Tendulkar

Nagraj Gollapudi in Mumbai

November 13, 2009

"It would be nice if I can go on that that long (till 2015) but I don't want to think that far" © AFP


Related LinksFeatures : 'Somewhere there's still a 16-year-old inside'
Players/Officials: Sachin Tendulkar
Teams: India


Sachin Tendulkar has expressed his disappointment at India not playing enough Tests in the near future. Besides the three Tests in the upcoming home series against Sri Lanka, which begins in Ahmedabad on November 16, India play only two more Tests, in Bangladesh in January, in the 2009-10 season. There are no further Test series planned at least till the end of the 2010.

"We should play more Test cricket for sure. It is obviously not great news that we are only playing five Tests this season," Tendulkar said at a media event on Friday to commemorate his completing 20 years in international cricket.

Test cricket, he said, was the true testing ground for any youngster and the best way to fast track his development. "Ideally for any team to progress you need to play more Test cricket as that is where the real cricket is according to me. Test cricket is cricket of the highest level and since it is played across five days at the end of each day it allows you to regroup, re-think, come up with fresh ideas and plan for the next day. Sometimes in Twenty20 and ODIs even before you realise the match is over."

As a 16-year-old Tendulkar cut his teeth in the 1989 Test series against Pakistan and immediately understood it was not going to be easy. In the final Test of that series, Waqar Younis drew blood after striking Tendulkar on the nose. Ajit Tendulkar, his elder brother, the man whom Sachin counts as his biggest influence as a player, was sitting in the stands. Ajit might have winced but his brother didn't: "When I was hit by Waqar that got me more competitive and I decided not to move from the middle and I would continue to fight," Tendulkar animatedly recounted the incident to a 75-odd media contingent.

Though the event was by invitation only for a select group of journalists, a lot of media personnel - aware of the unique opportunity it presented - gatecrashed the event. Tendulkar remained unruffled and for the next five hours remained seated in the middle of the room, answering hundreds of questions, even if most were repeated. Displaying the same proficiency he has shown against various forms of bowling, Tendulkar moved seamlessly from English to Hindi to Marathi in his responses, paying detailed attention to the questioner's every word.

While his zeal for the game continues to amaze, he is not at all surprised by it. He says it is because he is passionate about what he does and is confident and clear about what he wants to do.

It's not his fans alone who wonder how Tendulkar has been strong in various situations and stayed competitive over the last two decades; MS Dhoni, the India captain, recently said he did not rule out Tendulkar being in contention to play the 2015 World Cup.

Tendulkar, though, said he wanted to live in the moment and plan for the near future instead of dwelling on what could happen five years down the line.

"It would be nice if I can go on that that long (till 2015) but I don't want to think that far and concentrate on the next phase," he said. "My focus is on the near future. I've enjoyed every bit so far and I feel there is cricket left in me and everything is going really well."

http://www.cricinfo.com/sachinat20/content/current/story/434448.html [/tscii:0c20d8cf6f]

[ajithfederer]

[tscii:b5885062ea]From the publishers of THE HINDU

VOL.32 :: NO.46 :: Nov. 14, 2009

• Contents

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CRICKET / TENDULKAR - LARA - PONTING/A COMPARISON

Gems of our generation

In the instant recall value of their knocks lies the trouble in comparing the three most productive batsmen of our times — the trouble of excess, writes Kunal Diwan.




One could have gone the easy way and let averages and strike rates run amok like Ijaz Ahmed did almost exclusively against India in Sharjah. Or swung to Lara’s flourishing backlift and Tendulkar’s ballerina balance, sung drunken paeans to the pugnacity of the Punter and the disrespect of his pull shot.

One could have payloaded arguments with the warhead of winning centuries and lost series, offside dominance and front-foot fortifications, but it would all have been to no end.

Because each time the numbers were piled onto one arm of the balance, there would be an equal heap awaiting the other. And the balance being three-pronged would be of no help at all.

Do you remember the time Brian Lara swivelled and serenaded to 153 against Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Shane Warne in Bridgetown, scripting a one-wicket win when the next highest innings score was 34?

Or the 98 Sachin Tendukar blasted with that audacious six off Shoaib Akthar on top of backward point in the 2003 World Cup?

How about the spasm of fury that wreaked your body when Ricky Ponting eviscerated India with a murderous 140 in the final of the same tournament? Agonising?

It is in the instant recall value of knocks such and suchlike that lies the trouble in comparing the three most productive batsmen of our times — the trouble of excess.

Too many runs, or too many wickets, work out to be something like diabetes, you have all the sugar you could possibly want in your system, but you can’t utilise it to any good. A run for run comparison, thus, is as much blanched in futility as a compass in an artificial magnetic field. And when all claimants to the one top spot match up — give or take a few hits to the fence — in their prolific nature, could not the discrepancies in statistical achievement be a product of situational opportunity and the number of matches played?

And if a comparison is the one, and only, undying requirement of the hour, where does one look for clues when those that exist do so at a level so subliminal it would take an eye especially gifted to have them unearthed.

Let us, first up, resort to the sterile safety of statistical analysis.

Tendulkar’s first four Test hundreds came after overseas battles with Angus Fraser and Devon Malcolm in Manchester, Craig McDermott and Merv Hughes in Sydney and Perth, and Allan Donald, the man they called White Lightning, in Johannesburg. With a verification of similarity from the great Don himself, the Indian was like the one constant in an uncertain world, charting a course every Indian had mentally mapped out for him the day he entered the national discourse as a feather-lipped 16-year-old.

Two decades later, he finds himself perched on an improbable 42 Test centuries, 24 of them in away matches and 16 in an Indian win (nine at home, plus seven on tour). Comparatively, Lara has eight winning hundreds (of 34) and Ponting, a stupendous 27 (of 38), largely because the Aussie benefited from being in one of the best Test sides ever for the most of his career.

If popular opinion seats the iconic Indian achiever on a pedestal of consistency and poise, Lara has been placed on a throne of artistic excesses. Ponting, possibly because of his competitive on-field persona, is handed the shortest stick, which is vaguely justified since he, being Australian, never had a crack at McGrath and Shane Warne — something Tendukar and Lara did with great success and regularity.

Tendulkar is also, possibly, the only large-scale accumulator who has been two different batsmen in his career, starting out as an aggressive cherub with a point to prove against the big names, and maturing into a responsible senior pro not averse to collaring the odd attack when required. Though his exploits in the ‘V’, the authority of his drives, the inventive ingenuity of his strokes, and the longevity of his performance silence most tongues, he has piqued both ends of the rate spectrum with one faction welcoming the watchful, and the other decrying the loss of the loose canon he was in his younger days.

Just like intelligence and good looks take on many parts, batting too wears different clothes — spartan and bare, yet efficient and purposeful in times of need; at other times a warlike trumpet of delight; as much an uncompromised dash for the finish as a painstaking process of accumulation. In all his parts, however, Tendulkar has demonstrated the virtues of the golden ratio, the economy of movement, and the technique of self-containment — something known as ‘thehraav’ (the ability to always be in control) in dance parlance.

If Lara wins points against such competition, it is because his batsmanship revolved around sublime, quicksilver footwork, a lightsaber blade, and the utterly demoralising way in which he dominated bowlers. And, again, if Ponting registers rather differently to the senses, it is only an illusion created by his personality, for many, including a fervent colleague, swear by the power he packs in his pulls and his bare-knuckled approach to batting.

When detractors cite Tendukar’s limited reliance on footwork, the exploitable gap between bat and pad, and the risk-fraught, hard-handed, punchy defence as soft spots, they also reserve some flak for Lara and Ponting. The southpaw gets it for his high backlift, a tendency to pull in the air, cutting balls too close to the body, and a total disregard of modern practices such as pinching the single, while Ponting for being a shaky starter, habitually shuffling across the stumps, particularly out of sorts against quality spin bowling.

How the best batsmen and bowlers of a generation match up against each other is a valid criterion for judging them both. Suspect though he is against spin, the Australian captain has an appreciable scoring average against Muttiah Muralitharan and Anil Kumble. Harbhajan Singh has posed the maximum problems to Ponting, and one-on-one records reveal that though Lara and Tendulkar gave up their wicket frequently to Murali, they too maintained a healthy average against him.

Tendulkar and Lara also dominated Shane Warne, but both struggled against Donald, McGrath, and Jason Gillespie.

So Ponting never faced Warne. Well, neither did he face the kind of batting pressure Tendukar and Lara did, when the Indian and the West Indian often plucked the lone banjo of hope in a valley of batting despair. A positive in Ponting’s case is that the Aussie dealt with the burden of captaincy with far greater success than the others did with little detriment to his form.

Batting form was a great ally of Tendulkar too, but for all his runs the little master is accused of not having a head for bigger innings, a skill that came so naturally to Lara despite his reputation as a compulsive strokeplayer. So while the Trinidadian ended with the highest score in the history of Test cricket (the unbelievably self-indulgent 400 inflicted on England), seven double hundreds, and a triple century, Tendulkar currently rests on four double-century knocks, two of which were milked against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. Ponting matches the Indian’s double-ton record, but in his case the opponents have been West Indies, India (twice), and Pakistan.

Another grouse against Tendlya is that of the seven tons in a winning cause he plundered on tour, only three materialised outside the placid pitches of the subcontinent, of which one was against a rank bad outfit (New Zealand, Hamilton, 2009). Fourth innings scores are perhaps most indicative of a batsman’s ability to influence the outcome of a match (provided the bowlers connived to set up the win). And here, Tendulkar has a solitary winning hundred to his credit — the unbeaten 103 against England at Chepauk last year.

And if one brings up Chepauk, how can one shut out the heartbreak against Pakistan in 1999, a memory Tendulkar says, “still rankles”, when his dismissal for 136 led to a collapse and a forgettable defeat. And though there is only so much a man can do, the Mumbai maestro has this knack for doing rather ordinary stuff after creating visions of immortality — a case in point: the recent ODI against Australia in Hyderabad and the horrible, totally-not-required paddle scoop.

If accusations of him not sticking around to finish the job have always trailed Tendulkar, Ponting, with three unbeaten, match-winning centuries in the fourth innings, sure knows a thing or two about lasting till the end. Lara shares the second place with Tendukar with one such knock — the unbeaten 153 at Bridgetown.

On to the honourably-mentioned ODIs then — arguably the sole dominion of the Indian colossus, whose 45 centuries include 32 that won India the match (Ponting’s tally of 28 includes 24 and Lara’s 19 has 16 winning tons).

Since their averages hover around the early-to-mid 40s mark, could the extra padding of runs and moments Tendukar has over his peers be linked entirely to his extended time in the middle?

Rather than take away from what has been a career of almost statistical perfection, it would be easier to admit that, ultimately, rounding up favourites among batsmen is like choosing an arm over a leg, or one eye over the other, and it’s hard enough maintaining a gaze of neutrality when hues of nationalism come into play. Like stated earlier, we’re looking for clues that simmer below the surface when, maybe, none exist except those of our own making.

http://www.sportstaronnet.com/stories/20091114501601600.htm[/tscii:b5885062ea]

[ajithfederer]

LM,

The number of articles today on Tendulkar is humongous. It just keeps coming. This is the 4th consecutive page of article(s). :shock:

[ajithfederer]

'I knew I belonged to this level after my second Test'

Last updated on: November 13, 2009 20:45 IST

India's batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar rated his blistering 75-ball knock of 98 against archrivals Pakistan in the 2003 World Cup at Centurion as one of the most memorable innings of his life.

"I remember a few innings and important among them is the innings against Pakistan in the 2003 World Cup. We won that match (by 6 wickets)," said Tendulkar, as he walked down memory lane in Mumbai on Friday in celebration of 20 years in international cricket.

Tendulkar made his international debut in the first Test against Pakistan at Karachi on November 15, 1989 and it was on the same tour that he made his debut in ODIs too before going on to set world records in both formats of the game.

Emphasising that earning his first India cap is the most cherished moment of his glittering career, Tendulkar mentioned a knock of 59 in his second Test at Faisalabad against Pakistan as the turning point in his career. That knock, he says, gave him the self-belief that he belonged in the highest league.

"Twenty years is a long time and I have many special moments and it would be difficult to count them. But the first one (Test), the first day walking out in the playing eleven in Pakistan probably was the greatest moment," he said.

"In the second Test at Faisalabad I made 58 or 59. It was the turning point in my career as I felt confident after that innings that I belonged at this level after not doing well in the first Test," he said.

Asked how he still maintains his passion for the game after playing for so long, Tendulkar said it comes naturally to him.
"Cricket lives in my heart. I enjoy playing cricket. I have not made any special effort [to be passionate]. I enjoy every moment of the game," said the batsman who has scored the most number of runs and centuries in Tests and ODIs.

"Playing for the country was my childhood dream and I have fulfilled my dream. I am fortunate to have played for my country for so many years," he said.

Tendulkar maintained that he always like to celebrate team victories rather than individual glory if the latter does not lead to India triumphing.

"You feel bad (if the team loses) even if I had done well. I play for the team. Even if you have not contributed when the team has done well you want to jump in joy."

Asked what changes have occurred in the game in the 20 years of his career, Tendulkar picked the advent of Twenty20, assistance of technology for umpiring decisions and batting innovations.

"From 1989, plenty of things have happened and the game has changed a lot with the introduction of the third umpire and Hot Spot system to the introduction of Twenty20," he said.

Tendulkar credited the shortest format of the game for the innovative shots that are being played even in Test cricket now by the players.

"Because of Twenty20 we see a lot of innovative shots occasionally used even in Test cricket. There is a lot more risk taking by the players now. Because of this, the total in the one-dayers have increased. Nowadays, 275 on a decent pitch is not a great score.

"Also in Tests there are a lot more results now because of more aggressive batsmen," he pointed out.

He said he has also changed with the time, as it happens in other walks of life.

"Along with them I have also changed. I try to make myself a better cricketer. There is always room for improvement. It is a never ending process as everyday is a fresh challenge. You have to be on your toes," he said.

He advised younger cricketers to be dedicated and disciplined and remain focused.

"Dedication, discipline and keeping your focus on the game are very important. A combination of factors made me remain focused on the game. My parents, brothers, sister and wife supported me all through."

"My mother does not know cricket but will pray for my success and the country. I discuss cricket with my elder brother Ajit a lot. He knows my batting better than anyone else in the world."

Tendulkar thanked the millions of cricket fans in the country for showering him with love.

"Above all, the affection and support from the cricket fans of the country was immense. You need people to share your success and I have more than a billion people. That is more than enough for me," the ace batsman said.

Since his debut Test against Pakistan in 1989, Tendulkar played 159 Tests, scoring 12,773 runs, with 42 centuries at an average of 54.58.

From the 436 ODI matches he played since December 19, 1989 against Pakistan in Gujranwala, he amassed 17,178 runs, at an average of 44.50, including 45 hundreds.

Asked about absence of any aggressive postures from him like some other cricketers worldwide, the master batsman replied that he is aggressive inside and does not need to show it in his body language.

"Aggression should be inside. It has to benefit you and not benefit your opponent. You can see aggression in the eyes of players," he said.

He recalled how former Board of Control for Cricket in India president, the late Raj Singh Dungarpur, had walked up to him before the team for the 1988-89 tour to the West Indies was to be announced and told him he would not be on the visit as they felt he was not yet ready.

"There was talk when we (Mumbai) were to play the Ranji Trophy semi-final that I could be on the West Indies tour for which the team was to be announced. Rajbhai, the chairman (of selectors) came to me during nets and said I would not be going as it was too early.

"He told me to concentrate on preparing for my SSC exam and said there was the Irani tie coming up and good things will happen. His guidance meant a lot," he recalled.

http://cricket.rediff.com/slide-show/2009/nov/13/slide-show-1-sachin-tendulkar-most-cherished-moment.htm

[ajithfederer]

[tscii:1d9673f3f2]SACHIN TENDULKAR - UNPLUGGED

New Delhi: Sachin Tendulkar will become the 16th player in the history of the game to have an international career spanning more than 20 years on Sunday. The Little Master opened up his two decade journey in front of a select media gathering. Excerpts:

Recounting poignant moments of the 20-year long journey

The first and most important moment I'd like to remember right now would be the day I wore my India cap first. It was a dream which had come true, so I was on cloud nine. It was an absolutely fabulous feeling. After that there have been many but the most important one was that. Because growing up as a child the dream was to play for India and nothing was bigger than that for me, and it continues the same way for me today.

I think I'm very fortunate to be living that dream, and 20 years is a long time so there have been many special moments. To actually start counting them would be tough but I'd definitely say the first day, walking with the playing eleven, playing a Test in Pakistan was probably the greatest feeling. The journey began there and whatever I did after that was a mere reflection of my contribution towards the nation's cause.


Sachin on changing face of cricket

Since 1989 plenty of things have changed in the game; that includes the introduction of the third umpire, the hot spot and various things, the introduction of Twenty20. The most noticeable change I feel is because of Twenty20, we've seen plenty of innovative shots, which are occasionally used in Test cricket. In one-day cricket batsmen are backing themselves to try something new, also occasionally in Test cricket. So in a one-day match the average score has definitely gone from 210 to now 265-270 as a par score. To make 265 on a decent surface is not a great score as such.

Also, in Tests you see more results now. There was a phase where you used to hear that Test matches are getting boring because there are no results, but I don't think that is the case now; there are results in virtually every match and that is probably because it is played more aggressively and batsmen are willing to take more chances. With time I have also changed, and everyone sitting in this room, we've all changed for the better and I've tried to make myself a better cricketer. There is always room for improvement, and I've always believed that whenever I go out and practise there has to be a purpose. The process continues, it's never-ending because every day there is a fresh challenge and you need to be on your toes. You've got to be moving forward and that is what I've tried to do.

Recounting the match-fixing days

It was a dark phase, I don't want to reiterate that on this occasion. But I heard something that was fascinating, the series we played against Australia immediately after that (in 2001) it was the three Test match series and five ODIs and both series were decided in the final half hour of their duration. Both these series were instrumental in bringing back the crowds to the stadiums and I thought we as a team really performed well in that series and that started a new chapter, something I was looking for, to close the previous chapter and it's better that we keep it closed.



On his longevity for 20 years?

It was definitely a lot of hard work and there are certain things that all sportsmen have to follow: dedication, discipline, your focus on the game, your priorities in life. All those factors are extremely important and for me I felt I was very lucky to have a family like (I do), my brother always guided me, my father always supported me, my mother always fed me well.

There's this combination of inner forces contributing in different directions. Mother doesn't understand much about cricket, but she prays for my success and India's success, so all these things are important. Long discussions with my brother on cricket and then support from the other brother and my sister - I represent all of them when I go out to the middle, but then there are those difficult moments which I feel are challenging, and [I wonder] what should I be doing in these moments, and that is what I share with my wife, my entire family, and that is one reason I've been able to last for such a long time. I cannot fail to thank the people of India for all the affection and love, the support. Whatever I do, whatever level I perform, you need people around you to share your happiness with them and I've got more than a billion people to share that with, so that means a lot to me. Because of all these things you are inspired to go out and do something special for all the people.

On price paid for humbleness

Well I've not made any effort to stay humble, it's just my upbringing. In the early stage of my career when I hadn't played for India, I was just playing school cricket, I was still scoring a lot of runs but nobody got carried away in my family over success. It's quite easy for a 12- or 13-year-old boy to get carried away when he sees his picture printed in the newspaper, because it's something special, but that is where I felt my family made sure my feet were on the ground.. We always celebrated by distributing sweets, it wasn't very fancy, and that was where it stopped. Everyone was happy and enjoyed that moment but the next day was what happens in the next game, and how do you get better in the next game, and that process has continued. That's something which has kept me grounded, and needless to say just watching my father - my father didn't teach me - but just looking at him and watching him closely I picked up a lot of things, and the most important thing he told me was: "it's your nature which is going to stay permanently with you, the rest will come and go."

On David Boon’s advice on facing West Indies

David Boon… When I was in Australia in 1991, I hadn't played many West Indian fast bowlers, the only time I had played a West Indian was when we played county cricket against Derbyshire (in 1990) when Ian Bishop was there, and I played one exhibition game in Canada against West Indies. But other than that in an international match I hadn't played a West Indian. In Australia we were playing a triangular series where West Indies joined us and they had some terrific players, world-class fast bowlers. I'd watched Boon quite closely, and I thought I should be picking up things from the top players in the world and I wanted to get as much information as possible and become a better cricketer. I thought it was a good chance to speak to him, and get to know how to face certain bowlers on Australian tracks.

Sachin on his role model

I think it's my brother Ajit, with whom I discuss a lot of cricket and he knows my batting possibly better than any other person in the world, and he understands my mindset as well, so I talk a lot with him. Then there are the other players from India; Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri, they travel with us whenever we're out there playing, it's good to have them there to share an opinion or get their views on how we are playing as a team and an individual.

That has helped over the years and there have been so many other senior players who have been coaches, so all those guys have been helpful, and as far as help and guidance is concerned, there hasn't been an instance where a senior player has said I'm not interested or I've not been watching you and don't want to share any opinions. They've always been helpful and shared their ideas, which has played an important role.

Regarding practising with purpose, one of the more celebrated instances was having legspinners bowl at you into the rough from around the wicket before you faced Warne in 1998.

In 1998 I prepared differently, we were practising in Chennai and before that I practised in Mumbai. All my Ranji Trophy colleagues, I used to ask them to bowl around the wicket into the rough, because that was something which I hadn't faced for a long time; in spite of having been around for almost nine years at that stage, I hadn't played any legspinner that would bowl around the wicket in the rough, so I made all the bowlers do that. Then when we went to Chennai, Laxman Sivramakrishnan bowled to me, he gave wonderful practice. So all those sessions really helped and the purpose behind that was just to get used to those angles and the areas, and identify which are the areas from which I can attack and which are the areas I need to defend.


Zeecric Bureau

New Delhi: Sachin Tendulkar will become the 16th player in the history of the game to have an international career spanning more than 20 years on Sunday. The Little Master opened up his two decade journey in front of a select media gathering. Excerpts:

Recounting poignant moments of the 20-year long journey

The first and most important moment I'd like to remember right now would be the day I wore my India cap first. It was a dream which had come true, so I was on cloud nine. It was an absolutely fabulous feeling. After that there have been many but the most important one was that. Because growing up as a child the dream was to play for India and nothing was bigger than that for me, and it continues the same way for me today.

I think I'm very fortunate to be living that dream, and 20 years is a long time so there have been many special moments. To actually start counting them would be tough but I'd definitely say the first day, walking with the playing eleven, playing a Test in Pakistan was probably the greatest feeling. The journey began there and whatever I did after that was a mere reflection of my contribution towards the nation's cause.


Sachin on changing face of cricket

Since 1989 plenty of things have changed in the game; that includes the introduction of the third umpire, the hot spot and various things, the introduction of Twenty20. The most noticeable change I feel is because of Twenty20, we've seen plenty of innovative shots, which are occasionally used in Test cricket. In one-day cricket batsmen are backing themselves to try something new, also occasionally in Test cricket. So in a one-day match the average score has definitely gone from 210 to now 265-270 as a par score. To make 265 on a decent surface is not a great score as such.

Also, in Tests you see more results now. There was a phase where you used to hear that Test matches are getting boring because there are no results, but I don't think that is the case now; there are results in virtually every match and that is probably because it is played more aggressively and batsmen are willing to take more chances. With time I have also changed, and everyone sitting in this room, we've all changed for the better and I've tried to make myself a better cricketer. There is always room for improvement, and I've always believed that whenever I go out and practise there has to be a purpose. The process continues, it's never-ending because every day there is a fresh challenge and you need to be on your toes. You've got to be moving forward and that is what I've tried to do.

Recounting the match-fixing days

It was a dark phase, I don't want to reiterate that on this occasion. But I heard something that was fascinating, the series we played against Australia immediately after that (in 2001) it was the three Test match series and five ODIs and both series were decided in the final half hour of their duration. Both these series were instrumental in bringing back the crowds to the stadiums and I thought we as a team really performed well in that series and that started a new chapter, something I was looking for, to close the previous chapter and it's better that we keep it closed.


On his longevity for 20 years?

It was definitely a lot of hard work and there are certain things that all sportsmen have to follow: dedication, discipline, your focus on the game, your priorities in life. All those factors are extremely important and for me I felt I was very lucky to have a family like (I do), my brother always guided me, my father always supported me, my mother always fed me well.

There's this combination of inner forces contributing in different directions. Mother doesn't understand much about cricket, but she prays for my success and India's success, so all these things are important. Long discussions with my brother on cricket and then support from the other brother and my sister - I represent all of them when I go out to the middle, but then there are those difficult moments which I feel are challenging, and [I wonder] what should I be doing in these moments, and that is what I share with my wife, my entire family, and that is one reason I've been able to last for such a long time. I cannot fail to thank the people of India for all the affection and love, the support. Whatever I do, whatever level I perform, you need people around you to share your happiness with them and I've got more than a billion people to share that with, so that means a lot to me. Because of all these things you are inspired to go out and do something special for all the people.

On price paid for humbleness

Well I've not made any effort to stay humble, it's just my upbringing. In the early stage of my career when I hadn't played for India, I was just playing school cricket, I was still scoring a lot of runs but nobody got carried away in my family over success. It's quite easy for a 12- or 13-year-old boy to get carried away when he sees his picture printed in the newspaper, because it's something special, but that is where I felt my family made sure my feet were on the ground.. We always celebrated by distributing sweets, it wasn't very fancy, and that was where it stopped. Everyone was happy and enjoyed that moment but the next day was what happens in the next game, and how do you get better in the next game, and that process has continued. That's something which has kept me grounded, and needless to say just watching my father - my father didn't teach me - but just looking at him and watching him closely I picked up a lot of things, and the most important thing he told me was: "it's your nature which is going to stay permanently with you, the rest will come and go."

On David Boon’s advice on facing West Indies

David Boon… When I was in Australia in 1991, I hadn't played many West Indian fast bowlers, the only time I had played a West Indian was when we played county cricket against Derbyshire (in 1990) when Ian Bishop was there, and I played one exhibition game in Canada against West Indies. But other than that in an international match I hadn't played a West Indian. In Australia we were playing a triangular series where West Indies joined us and they had some terrific players, world-class fast bowlers. I'd watched Boon quite closely, and I thought I should be picking up things from the top players in the world and I wanted to get as much information as possible and become a better cricketer. I thought it was a good chance to speak to him, and get to know how to face certain bowlers on Australian tracks.

Sachin on his role model

I think it's my brother Ajit, with whom I discuss a lot of cricket and he knows my batting possibly better than any other person in the world, and he understands my mindset as well, so I talk a lot with him. Then there are the other players from India; Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri, they travel with us whenever we're out there playing, it's good to have them there to share an opinion or get their views on how we are playing as a team and an individual.

That has helped over the years and there have been so many other senior players who have been coaches, so all those guys have been helpful, and as far as help and guidance is concerned, there hasn't been an instance where a senior player has said I'm not interested or I've not been watching you and don't want to share any opinions. They've always been helpful and shared their ideas, which has played an important role.

Regarding practising with purpose, one of the more celebrated instances was having legspinners bowl at you into the rough from around the wicket before you faced Warne in 1998.

In 1998 I prepared differently, we were practising in Chennai and before that I practised in Mumbai. All my Ranji Trophy colleagues, I used to ask them to bowl around the wicket into the rough, because that was something which I hadn't faced for a long time; in spite of having been around for almost nine years at that stage, I hadn't played any legspinner that would bowl around the wicket in the rough, so I made all the bowlers do that. Then when we went to Chennai, Laxman Sivramakrishnan bowled to me, he gave wonderful practice. So all those sessions really helped and the purpose behind that was just to get used to those angles and the areas, and identify which are the areas from which I can attack and which are the areas I need to defend.

Sachin on Warne Vs Murali debate

I'm of the opinion that if someone goes past 500-600 wickets, how do you differentiate? Both guys are special, both are matchwinners and both are world champions. I would not like to pick one, I believe in respecting an individual's strengths and the way they both have motivated youngsters in various parts of the world is just incredible. I would just sit back and applaud them.

I requested both Azhar (the captain) and Ajit Wadekar (coach) to "just give me one opportunity. I'm very confident as in the first 15 overs I can play some big shots. I feel I'll be able to deliver. And if I fail I'll never ever come to you again". How Tendulkar got to open the innings in one-dayers. He blasted a 49-ball 83 in his first chance

On being hit by WaqarYounis in 1989

I still remember that incident. Ajit had come to watch me for the first time. I could see him sitting in front of the dressing room. India were in a fragile position in the second innings at 39 for 4 with a day and half still left when I got hit on the nose. Even before that I had been hit on the nose in school cricket on bad practice wickets, an experience that had got rid of the fear. So when I was hit by Waqar that got me more competitive and I decided not to move from the middle and I would continue to fight.

On being picked to face the West Indies before the Pak tour happened in 1989

I remember the late Raj Singh Dungarpur was the chairman of selectors at that time, and we were playing Ranji Trophy semi-finals against Delhi in Mumbai and he walked up to me and said "I know there has been talk and there've been articles in the papers that you may go to West Indies, but I want to tell you that you won't be going because we still feel that it's too early and it's important for you to prepare for your SSC exams." So I did that.

Before that also I'd known him for quite some time. So his guidance and encouragement meant a lot to me, and what he said was: "There'll be Irani Trophy, I'm sure you will be a part of it, and go out there and enjoy yourself, give your case, and good things will happen."

On batting at international level

Nothing is easy and you have to work hard for it. I'm a person who hates taking anything for granted, I want to prepare to the best of my ability. I was always confident about my ability. I wanted to go out and express myself to the best of my ability, and if the pre-match preparation was good then I was in a position to go out and deliver, and that is something I focussed on. Even today I do that. There may be inning where you don't do well, that's fine, but as long as you have given 100%, that is what matters to me. That is something which has been happening right from my school days.

I realised early that I could hit every ball, in school cricket and to a certain extent in Ranji Trophy, I would go out and attack, but after going to Pakistan and New Zealand, England, Australia, those first few series and also South Africa, it taught me a lot. It taught me to be more selective, taught me to build an innings, and also taught me to respect bowlers. I think to respect a bowler when he's bowling very well, is a wise thing to do, which I learned, and it's something which happens with age and experience. You need to have that exposure and I felt that the first few tours really helped me.


On defeat after his great knocks

I don't know, cricket lives in my heart and whenever I'm on a cricket field I enjoy it, and somewhere there's still a 16-year-old hidden inside who wants to go out and express himself, so I do that and it comes naturally and I don't make any special effort to show enthusiasm. It's been my life and I enjoy every moment, I enjoy challenges, it's a package deal, ups and downs, wonderful moments and there are disappointments, so all that makes you a stronger person and you learn to deal with various things in life.

On his loneliness

I have never been asked this question before. But, actually, yes you feel bad because I've done well but the team hasn't well. But I play for the team and it is not about individuals. You got to win as a team. So you are not excited and you cannot share that wonderful moment with people because you've lost the game. It is a difficult thing. But on the brighter side when you have one billion people to share your joy there is no better than that. But when that doesn't happen you look forward to the next game and try and make sure that you perform better as a team and do something special which can make all of us smile.


Zeecric Bureau

New Delhi: Sachin Tendulkar will become the 16th player in the history of the game to have an international career spanning more than 20 years on Sunday. The Little Master opened up his two decade journey in front of a select media gathering. Excerpts:

Recounting poignant moments of the 20-year long journey

The first and most important moment I'd like to remember right now would be the day I wore my India cap first. It was a dream which had come true, so I was on cloud nine. It was an absolutely fabulous feeling. After that there have been many but the most important one was that. Because growing up as a child the dream was to play for India and nothing was bigger than that for me, and it continues the same way for me today.

I think I'm very fortunate to be living that dream, and 20 years is a long time so there have been many special moments. To actually start counting them would be tough but I'd definitely say the first day, walking with the playing eleven, playing a Test in Pakistan was probably the greatest feeling. The journey began there and whatever I did after that was a mere reflection of my contribution towards the nation's cause.


Sachin on changing face of cricket

Since 1989 plenty of things have changed in the game; that includes the introduction of the third umpire, the hot spot and various things, the introduction of Twenty20. The most noticeable change I feel is because of Twenty20, we've seen plenty of innovative shots, which are occasionally used in Test cricket. In one-day cricket batsmen are backing themselves to try something new, also occasionally in Test cricket. So in a one-day match the average score has definitely gone from 210 to now 265-270 as a par score. To make 265 on a decent surface is not a great score as such.

Also, in Tests you see more results now. There was a phase where you used to hear that Test matches are getting boring because there are no results, but I don't think that is the case now; there are results in virtually every match and that is probably because it is played more aggressively and batsmen are willing to take more chances. With time I have also changed, and everyone sitting in this room, we've all changed for the better and I've tried to make myself a better cricketer. There is always room for improvement, and I've always believed that whenever I go out and practise there has to be a purpose. The process continues, it's never-ending because every day there is a fresh challenge and you need to be on your toes. You've got to be moving forward and that is what I've tried to do.

Recounting the match-fixing days

It was a dark phase, I don't want to reiterate that on this occasion. But I heard something that was fascinating, the series we played against Australia immediately after that (in 2001) it was the three Test match series and five ODIs and both series were decided in the final half hour of their duration. Both these series were instrumental in bringing back the crowds to the stadiums and I thought we as a team really performed well in that series and that started a new chapter, something I was looking for, to close the previous chapter and it's better that we keep it closed.


On his longevity for 20 years?

It was definitely a lot of hard work and there are certain things that all sportsmen have to follow: dedication, discipline, your focus on the game, your priorities in life. All those factors are extremely important and for me I felt I was very lucky to have a family like (I do), my brother always guided me, my father always supported me, my mother always fed me well.

There's this combination of inner forces contributing in different directions. Mother doesn't understand much about cricket, but she prays for my success and India's success, so all these things are important. Long discussions with my brother on cricket and then support from the other brother and my sister - I represent all of them when I go out to the middle, but then there are those difficult moments which I feel are challenging, and [I wonder] what should I be doing in these moments, and that is what I share with my wife, my entire family, and that is one reason I've been able to last for such a long time. I cannot fail to thank the people of India for all the affection and love, the support. Whatever I do, whatever level I perform, you need people around you to share your happiness with them and I've got more than a billion people to share that with, so that means a lot to me. Because of all these things you are inspired to go out and do something special for all the people.

On price paid for humbleness

Well I've not made any effort to stay humble, it's just my upbringing. In the early stage of my career when I hadn't played for India, I was just playing school cricket, I was still scoring a lot of runs but nobody got carried away in my family over success. It's quite easy for a 12- or 13-year-old boy to get carried away when he sees his picture printed in the newspaper, because it's something special, but that is where I felt my family made sure my feet were on the ground.. We always celebrated by distributing sweets, it wasn't very fancy, and that was where it stopped. Everyone was happy and enjoyed that moment but the next day was what happens in the next game, and how do you get better in the next game, and that process has continued. That's something which has kept me grounded, and needless to say just watching my father - my father didn't teach me - but just looking at him and watching him closely I picked up a lot of things, and the most important thing he told me was: "it's your nature which is going to stay permanently with you, the rest will come and go."

On David Boon’s advice on facing West Indies

David Boon… When I was in Australia in 1991, I hadn't played many West Indian fast bowlers, the only time I had played a West Indian was when we played county cricket against Derbyshire (in 1990) when Ian Bishop was there, and I played one exhibition game in Canada against West Indies. But other than that in an international match I hadn't played a West Indian. In Australia we were playing a triangular series where West Indies joined us and they had some terrific players, world-class fast bowlers. I'd watched Boon quite closely, and I thought I should be picking up things from the top players in the world and I wanted to get as much information as possible and become a better cricketer. I thought it was a good chance to speak to him, and get to know how to face certain bowlers on Australian tracks.

Sachin on his role model

I think it's my brother Ajit, with whom I discuss a lot of cricket and he knows my batting possibly better than any other person in the world, and he understands my mindset as well, so I talk a lot with him. Then there are the other players from India; Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri, they travel with us whenever we're out there playing, it's good to have them there to share an opinion or get their views on how we are playing as a team and an individual.

That has helped over the years and there have been so many other senior players who have been coaches, so all those guys have been helpful, and as far as help and guidance is concerned, there hasn't been an instance where a senior player has said I'm not interested or I've not been watching you and don't want to share any opinions. They've always been helpful and shared their ideas, which has played an important role.

Regarding practising with purpose, one of the more celebrated instances was having legspinners bowl at you into the rough from around the wicket before you faced Warne in 1998.

In 1998 I prepared differently, we were practising in Chennai and before that I practised in Mumbai. All my Ranji Trophy colleagues, I used to ask them to bowl around the wicket into the rough, because that was something which I hadn't faced for a long time; in spite of having been around for almost nine years at that stage, I hadn't played any legspinner that would bowl around the wicket in the rough, so I made all the bowlers do that. Then when we went to Chennai, Laxman Sivramakrishnan bowled to me, he gave wonderful practice. So all those sessions really helped and the purpose behind that was just to get used to those angles and the areas, and identify which are the areas from which I can attack and which are the areas I need to defend.

Sachin on Warne Vs Murali debate

I'm of the opinion that if someone goes past 500-600 wickets, how do you differentiate? Both guys are special, both are matchwinners and both are world champions. I would not like to pick one, I believe in respecting an individual's strengths and the way they both have motivated youngsters in various parts of the world is just incredible. I would just sit back and applaud them.

I requested both Azhar (the captain) and Ajit Wadekar (coach) to "just give me one opportunity. I'm very confident as in the first 15 overs I can play some big shots. I feel I'll be able to deliver. And if I fail I'll never ever come to you again". How Tendulkar got to open the innings in one-dayers. He blasted a 49-ball 83 in his first chance

On being hit by WaqarYounis in 1989

I still remember that incident. Ajit had come to watch me for the first time. I could see him sitting in front of the dressing room. India were in a fragile position in the second innings at 39 for 4 with a day and half still left when I got hit on the nose. Even before that I had been hit on the nose in school cricket on bad practice wickets, an experience that had got rid of the fear. So when I was hit by Waqar that got me more competitive and I decided not to move from the middle and I would continue to fight.

On being picked to face the West Indies before the Pak tour happened in 1989

I remember the late Raj Singh Dungarpur was the chairman of selectors at that time, and we were playing Ranji Trophy semi-finals against Delhi in Mumbai and he walked up to me and said "I know there has been talk and there've been articles in the papers that you may go to West Indies, but I want to tell you that you won't be going because we still feel that it's too early and it's important for you to prepare for your SSC exams." So I did that.

Before that also I'd known him for quite some time. So his guidance and encouragement meant a lot to me, and what he said was: "There'll be Irani Trophy, I'm sure you will be a part of it, and go out there and enjoy yourself, give your case, and good things will happen."

On batting at international level

Nothing is easy and you have to work hard for it. I'm a person who hates taking anything for granted, I want to prepare to the best of my ability. I was always confident about my ability. I wanted to go out and express myself to the best of my ability, and if the pre-match preparation was good then I was in a position to go out and deliver, and that is something I focussed on. Even today I do that. There may be inning where you don't do well, that's fine, but as long as you have given 100%, that is what matters to me. That is something which has been happening right from my school days.

I realised early that I could hit every ball, in school cricket and to a certain extent in Ranji Trophy, I would go out and attack, but after going to Pakistan and New Zealand, England, Australia, those first few series and also South Africa, it taught me a lot. It taught me to be more selective, taught me to build an innings, and also taught me to respect bowlers. I think to respect a bowler when he's bowling very well, is a wise thing to do, which I learned, and it's something which happens with age and experience. You need to have that exposure and I felt that the first few tours really helped me.


On defeat after his great knocks

I don't know, cricket lives in my heart and whenever I'm on a cricket field I enjoy it, and somewhere there's still a 16-year-old hidden inside who wants to go out and express himself, so I do that and it comes naturally and I don't make any special effort to show enthusiasm. It's been my life and I enjoy every moment, I enjoy challenges, it's a package deal, ups and downs, wonderful moments and there are disappointments, so all that makes you a stronger person and you learn to deal with various things in life.

On his loneliness

I have never been asked this question before. But, actually, yes you feel bad because I've done well but the team hasn't well. But I play for the team and it is not about individuals. You got to win as a team. So you are not excited and you cannot share that wonderful moment with people because you've lost the game. It is a difficult thing. But on the brighter side when you have one billion people to share your joy there is no better than that. But when that doesn't happen you look forward to the next game and try and make sure that you perform better as a team and do something special which can make all of us smile.
[/tscii:1d9673f3f2]

[ajithfederer]

[tscii:4eca44b85a]Tendulkar is the greatest batsman ever: Ganguly

Kolkata: Paying tribute to Sachin Tendulkar on his reaching the milestone of 20 years in international cricket, former India captain Sourav Ganguly on Saturday described the Mumbai maestro as the greatest batsman of his generation.

“Probably Sachin is the best batsman I have seen. He just amazes me. He just keeps going on and on. We hope he carries on some more years,” Ganguly, who was Tendulkar’s one-time opening ODI partner, said.

“It’s not just about talent but it’s how you use talent that makes you special. There have been a lot of players who had talents but they have not continued for a long time and that’s what makes Sachin special. He uses his talent to the most,” said Ganguly.


Congratulating Tendulkar, who will complete 20 years of international cricket tomorrow, Ganguly said, “First I want to congratulate him on completing 20 years in international cricket which is phenomenal. Starting at the age of 16 and going on to play for 20 years with this intensity is unbelievable.”

Having featured in more than 400 matches with Tendulkar, Ganguly said he had scores of memories with the Mumbai batsman since they met in Indore during a U-15 national camp.

“I have got a lot of memories. I met him for the first time in 1987-88. I had heard a lot about him. From the day one, I knew he was special,” Ganguly said.

“I wish him all the best. I was really fortunate to play nearly 400 games with him,” Ganguly said.

Ganguly also remembered Tendulkar’s sublime 175 in Hyderabad, his 45th ODI century, and said, “The way he batted in Hyderabad, it’s probably his best one-day hundred knock that I have seen.”

“Hopefully, he will give us a few more. Our fingers are crossed for 2011 World Cup. I hope he fires and the entire team fire and then we have a good chance,” Ganguly said about Tendulkar who made his debut against Pakistan in Karachi on November 15, 1989.

Bureau Report

http://cricket.zeenews.com/fullstory.aspx?nid=25108
[/tscii:4eca44b85a]

[ajithfederer]

Even at 60, Sachin will be every woman's favourite son

Prahlad Kakkar / DNASunday, November 15, 2009 3:07 IST Email

I vividly remember one occasion. We were working on a commercial for a soft-drink company where he was hitting the ball with a fly-swatter. It was raining cricket balls all over the city and he was hitting them with ease with the swatter. It came out well and Sachin too was fine but wanted to once see it. The next morning, he called me up to change the shot. I told him that it can't be changed as it would cost a huge bill and logistically it would be difficult.

He was adamant and said that he would give whatever time required. I asked him why and he said the connotation of that shot in Hindi and English would differ. In Hindi it would mean that I am a makkhimaar, people who just do nothing and also otherwise it makes me look bigger than the game. He said I can't ever be bigger than the game and that was it. I decided that we will re-shot the ad. We did that with a wicket in his hand.

He also is a very private person. Not many people know how much charity he does. He doesn't tell people and feels there is no need to say this. I see so many bald headed children coming to our building. I realise that they all come to meet him. He entertains them, meets them over lunch. But no one knows about it. Even when I ask him he never tells me about all this. He never talks about it.

Sachin is a phenomenon not only as a cricketer but also as a person. He has his a set of friends with whom he has grown up. He still meets them. He hasn't changed himself. All his best friends are from his school and he laughs with them when he talks
to them in Marathi. You can change your status but not your values. Very few remember that. Sachin is one among them.

He still loves bombil, varan bhaat. For every women regardless of what her age may be, he is the favourite son of the country. Even when he is 60 years old he will still be the favourite son.

(The writer is an ad guru who stays in the same building where the Maestro resides. He has worked with Sachin Tendulkar on many commercials. He spoke to Gautam Sheth)

http://www.dnaindia.com/sport/report_even-at-60-sachin-will-be-every-woman-s-favourite-son_1311785

[ajithfederer]

[tscii:ae465c65ca]Virender Sehwag on Sachin Tendulkar

'Tendulkar controls the game'

What are the things that set the great man apart from mere mortals? The ability to read the game acutely, pick the ball early, dedication, discipline and more

As told to Nagraj Gollapudi

November 16, 2009

Text size: A | AThe first time Virender Sehwag met Sachin Tendulkar was in March 2001, at a practice session ahead of the first ODI of the home series against Australia. For Sehwag, Tendulkar was the man who had inspired him to skip exams in school and allowed him to dream of cricket as a career. Sehwag was shy then, and didn't speak to his hero. He got 58 off 51 balls and picked up three wickets. Tendulkar later walked up to him and said, "You've got talent. Continue playing the same way and I'm sure you will make your name." That ability to motivate youngsters is one of the traits, Sehwag says, that makes Tendulkar special. Here he tells Cricinfo about 10 things that make Tendulkar stand out.



Master and pupil: Sehwag credits Tendulkar with teaching him how to compile big hundreds © AFP


Related LinksPlayers/Officials: Virender Sehwag | Sachin Tendulkar
Teams: India



Discipline
He never comes late to any practice session, never comes late to the team bus, never comes late to any meeting - he is always five minutes ahead of time. If you are disciplined, it shows you are organised. And then he is ready for anything on the cricket field.

Mental strength
I've learned a lot of things from him as far as mental strength goes - on how to tacke a situation, how to tackle a ball or bowler. If you are not tough mentally, you can't score the number of runs and centuries he has in the last two decades. He is a very good self-motivator.

He always said to me: whatever the situation or whichever the bowler you face, always believe in yourself. There was this occasion in South Africa, early in my career, when I was not scoring runs fluently, so he suggested I try a few mental techniques that had worked for him. One of the things he said was: Always tell yourself you are better than others. You have some talent and that is why you are playing for India, so believe in yourself.

Picking the ball early
He can pick the ball earlier than other batsmen and that is a mark of a great batsman. He is virtually ready for the ball before it is bowled. Only great players can have two shots for one ball, like Tendulkar does, and a big reason is that he picks the ball very early.

Soft hands
I've never seen him play strokes with hard hands. He always tries to play with soft hands, always tries to meet the ball with the centre of the bat. That is timing. I have never been able to play consistently with soft hands.

Planning
One reason he can convert his fifties into hundreds is planning: which bowler he should go after, which bowler he should respect, in which situation he should play aggressively, in which situation he should defend. It is because he has spent hours thinking about all of it, planning what to do. He knows what a bowler will do in different situations and he is ready for it.

In my debut Test he scored 155 and he knew exactly what to do every ball. We had already lost four wickets (68 for 4) when I walked in, and he warned me about the short ball. He told me that the South African fast bowlers would bowl short-of-length balls regularly, but he knew how to counter that. If they bowled short of a length, he cut them over slips; when they bowled outside off stump, he cut them; and when they tried to bowl short into his body, he pulled with ease. Luckily his advice had its effect on me, and I made my maiden hundred!

Adaptability
This is one area where he is really fast. And that is because he is such a good reader of the game. After playing just one or two overs he can tell you how the pitch will behave, what kind of bounce it has, which length is a good one for the batsman, what shots to play and what not to.

A good example was in the Centurion ODI of the 2006-07 series. India were batting first. Shaun Pollock bowled the first over and fired in a few short-of-length balls, against which I tried to play the back-foot punch. Tendulkar cautioned me immediately and said that shot was not a good option. A couple of overs later I went for it again and was caught behind, against Pollock.

Making bowlers bowl to his strengths
He will leave a lot of balls and give the bowler a false sense of security, but the moment it is pitched up to the stumps or closer to them, Tendulkar will easily score runs.

If the bowler is bowling outside off stump Tendulkar can disturb his line by going across outside off stump and playing to midwicket. He puts doubts in the bowler's mind, so that he begins to wonder if he has bowled the wrong line and tries to bowl a little outside off stump - which Tendulkar can comfortably play through covers.




Only great players can have two shots for one ball, like Tendulkar does, and a big reason is that he picks the ball very early





In Sydney in 2004, in the first innings he didn't play a single cover drive, and remained undefeated on 241. He decided to play the straight drive and flicks, so he made the bowlers pitch to his strengths. It is not easy. In the Test before that, in Melbourne, he had got out trying to flick. After that when we had a chat he said he was getting out playing the cover drive and the next game he would avoid the cover drive. I thought he was joking because nobody cannot not play the cover drive - doesn't matter if you are connecting or not. I realised he was serious in Sydney when he was on about 180-odd and he had missed plenty of opportunities to play a cover drive. I was stunned.

Ability to bat in different gears
This is one aspect of batting I have always discussed with Tendulkar: how he controls his game; the way he can change gears after scoring a half-century. Suddenly he scores 10-12 runs an over, or maybe a quick 30 runs in five overs, and then again slows down and paces his innings.

He has maintained that it all depends on the team's position. If you are in a good position you tend to play faster. He also pointed out that the batsman must always think about what can happen if he gets out and the consequences for the team. The best example is the knock of 175. I was confident he would pull it off for India and he almost did.

Building on an innings
I learned from Tendulkar how to get big hundreds. He told me early on that once you get a hundred you are satisfied for yourself. But it is also the best time to convert that into a bigger score for the team because then the team will be in a good position.

If you look at my centuries they have always been big. A good instance of this was in Multan in 2004, when he told me I had given away a good position in Melbourne (195) the previous year and the team lost, and I needed to keep that in mind against Pakistan. In Multan, in the first hundred of the triple century I had hit a few sixes. He walked up to me after I reached the century and said he would slap me if I hit any further sixes. I said why. He said that if I tried hitting a six and got out the team would lose the control over the game, and I needed to bat through the day. So I didn't hit a single six till I reached 295. By then India were 500-plus and I told him I was going to hit a six!

Dedication
This is the most important aspect of his success. In his life cricket comes first. When he is on tour he is thinking about nothing but cricket, and when he is not on tour he dedicates quality time to his family. That shows his dedication to the game and to his family. He has found the right balance.
Nagraj Gollapudi is an assistant editor at Cricinfo

Feeds: Nagraj Gollapudi

http://www.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/434385.html?CMP=OTC-RSS[/tscii:ae465c65ca]

[ajithfederer]

[tscii:5f16ded664]‘Sachin should be compared to Sir Don, not the Laras’

- A TELEGRAPH SPECIAL : LEGENDARY KAPIL DEV ON LITTLE MASTER .
LOKENDRA PRATAP SAHI

Kapil Dev
Puri: Back in 1989-90, on Sachin Tendulkar’s maiden tour as an India cricketer, one recalls Kapil Dev saying “Bachcha hai... Usko rahne do...”

Given a chance, Kapil would, even today, probably be as protective about Sachin. It’s just that he’s now 36 and not 16.

On Saturday, the eve of Sachin completing 20 years as an international cricketer, Kapil (the only India captain to have lifted the World Cup) spoke to The Telegraph about Little Master II.

The following are excerpts


Q When did you first see Sachin?

A At the CCI (in Mumbai), before he’d been picked for India... I recall Raj Singh Dungarpur asking me to bowl a few balls to ‘a highly gifted kid’... I couldn’t say no to Rajbhai and, so, obliged... I didn’t go flat out, aware that I was bowling to a teenager... Sachin, however, flicked one off his hips so beautifully that I couldn’t but stand and marvel... It was an extraordinary shot from one destined to become the world’s best. Of course, I didn’t know that then.

You’d already played for 11 years when Sachin got selected for India (tour to Pakistan in November-December 1989). What did you make of him on his debut series?

Look, you can’t make predictions when somebody is so young... Sachin was only 16 then and I don’t think he’d begun to even shave... At that age, children want to be with their parents and brothers and sisters, but this young boy was alone in an alien country... I would encourage him... When somebody so young is around, you do tend not to talk about a few things... I used to be conscious of Sachin’s age.

What have been your impressions of Sachin over the past 20 years?

I admire Sachin’s passion, his commitment... He has a sense of humour... However, I still don’t know much about his personality... I know Sunil Gavaskar’s, but not Sachin’s... A player of his stature, for example, should regularly be coming out with his views... Should be expressing his opinion... Sachin doesn’t... As a cricketer, he has changed his game... His innings of 175 in Hyderabad the other day showed the Sachin of old... One who would dominate... Over the years, I would’ve liked to see many more such innings... Or, like his knocks in Sharjah (April 1998)... Or, like his Test hundreds in Sydney and Perth on his first tour of Australia (1991-92)... I remember Sachin smashed me for a six in the 1990-91 Ranji final in Mumbai... What a shot that was! Sachin has broken all the records, but hasn’t kept up the pace he had till the 1990s... Given his talent, Sachin should’ve continued to be ruthless. Instead, in more recent years, he has allowed bowlers to dominate... I hope you’ve got the point I’m making.

Why did Sachin change his approach?

Perhaps, he came under pressure from the media... People have been comparing Sachin to (Brian) Lara and (Ricky) Ponting... I find that totally out of place... Sachin, as I see it, should only be compared to Sir Don (Bradman), not the Laras... When he plays his natural game, Sachin is above Lara and Ponting... (After a pause) Sachin has more ability than (Sir) Viv Richards had, but along the way, he chose to play like a Gavaskar!

Little Master I Gavaskar and Sachin... Who would you rate higher?

I’d say Sachin has more ability, but Gavaskar got more out of himself... Gavaskar would tire the bowlers and, then, help himself to big runs... Sachin has it in him to scare the bowlers from the beginning.

What’s the one stand out memory, featuring Sachin, from his first tour?

The way he smashed Abdul Qadir in one over during the exhibition match in Peshawar... Glimpses of a genius were there for all to see. He’d been mind-blowing in that innings of 53 not out.

Records apart, what is special about Sachin?

The way he has taken on the role of India’s greatest sporting ambassador... He has, among other things, inspired a generation and more to play cricket.

What can today’s cricketers learn from Sachin?

The seriousness with which he approaches the game... The manner in which he accepts poor decisions from umpires... He doesn’t react, doesn’t make a scene... No tantrums... Indeed, there’s much to learn for those who actually wish to learn from Sachin.

For all his greatness as a batsman, why did Sachin not succeed as a captain?

It’s not necessary that he had to succeed in that role, too... Having said that, sometimes, a captain has to come down to the level of his players... Surely, everybody can’t bat like Sachin, who is so focused on his game... Sachin, to my mind, is quite a ‘closed’ person, like a (Sir) Richard Hadlee... Sachin wants to bat and bat only, just like Hadlee would only want to bowl and bowl... A captain needs to be quite active with the media, but Sachin didn’t look at that aspect of captaincy.

Can we get another Sachin Tendulkar?

When Gavaskar retired (in 1987), we all wondered whether somebody of his class would ever be seen again... Well, within a couple of years, we got Sachin... So, let’s see...

The last one... You’re worried about losing a further Rs 200...

(Laughs) Yes, as I’ve told you, if Sachin plays till 2019, then I’ll have to send him Rs 200 more!

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1091115/jsp/sports/story_11743219.jsp[/tscii:5f16ded664]

[ajithfederer]

Quoting Murali sir's post here as it got lost in the barrage of articles.

நவம்பர் - 15

இன்று உனக்கு வயது இருபது.

நான் என்றுமே அண்ணாந்து பார்க்கும்
எனதருமை இளவலே!

மகன் தந்தைக்காற்றும் உதவி இவன் தந்தை
என்நோற்றான் கொல் எனும் சொல்!

என்ற பொய்யாமொழிப் புலவரின் வரிகளின் உருவகமே!

நிலை உயரும் போது பணிவு வந்தால்
உயிர்கள் உன்னை வணங்கும்!

என்ற கவியரசரின் காவிய வரிகளுக்கேற்ப
வாழ்வை அமைத்துக் கொண்டவனே!

நூறு கோடி இந்தியர்களின் வரமே!

ஒட்டு மொத்த இந்தியாவின் சந்தோஷமே!

வாராது வந்த மாமணியே!

நீ மேலும் பல்லாண்டு ஆட வேண்டும் ! உனக்கு

நாங்கள் பல்லாண்டு பாட வேண்டும்!

அன்புடன்

[ajithfederer]

:clap:.

Ample time for Ponting to close in on Tendulkar. Plum watchout.


[tscii:91ccbd499c]India should play more Tests - Tendulkar
Sachin Tendulkar has expressed his disappointment at India not playing enough Tests in the near future. Besides the three Tests in the upcoming home series against Sri Lanka, which begins in Ahmedabad on November 16, India play only two more Tests, in Bangladesh in January, in the 2009-10 season. There are no further Test series planned at least till the end of the 2010.

"We should play more Test cricket for sure. It is obviously not great news that we are only playing five Tests this season,"
http://www.cricinfo.com/sachinat20/content/current/story/434448.html [/tscii:91ccbd499c]

[Movie Cop]

Today, November 15'th 2009, marks the completion of 20 years of Sachin Tendulkar in Test cricket. :clap: :notworthy:

Wow! I still vividly remember watching a young 16 year old boy/prodigy making his Test debut on this day against Pakistan at Karachi. What a moment that was. Against the likes of Imran, Akram and Qadir as well as a young rookie pace bowler Waqar Younis, in their own backyard, it would have been pretty intimidating for any other 16 year old boy.

Those days Doordarshan used to live telecast Test matches played only within India. But as though a revolution or so is happening, even without our realization, it was pretty surprising that they telecast this four test series live. It was a pretty quiet debut for the little champion at Karachi. Overall, the four Test series was a pretty decent one for young Sachin Tendulkar. But his decent Test debut was completely over shadowed by Sanjay Manjrekar (relatively new to the team as well) who had a excellent series with the bat. Overall, the series ended in a dull draw but it kick started the beginning of a legend.

Can't believe 20 years have passed by. 20 years in Test cricket and still at the peak! :thumbsup: 2009 is a very special year indeed. It's a year where two very distinguished individuals in their respective fields celebrate their milestone years - "Kamal 50" & "Tendulkar 20"!

Test cricket starved myself, I'm eagerly waiting to see Tendulkar walk into the middle to take guard in the Ahmedabad Test against the Lankans starting tomorrow.

[littlemaster1982]

LM,

The number of articles today on Tendulkar is humongous. It just keeps coming. This is the 4th consecutive page of article(s). :shock:

I have been posting the articles I come across even without reading. Expecting more to come 8-)

And you are doing a great job :thumbsup:

[littlemaster1982]

[html:ab70b731ce]http://static.cricinfo.com/db/PICTURES/CMS/110200/110204.jpg[/html:ab70b731ce]

[littlemaster1982]

[html:cc73258d5b]http://static.cricinfo.com/db/PICTURES/CMS/110100/110158.5.jpg[/html:cc73258d5b]

[littlemaster1982]

The human superstar (http://blogs.cricinfo.com/fromeditor/archives/2009/11/the_human_superstar.php)

At first glance, the setting wasn't befitting of the occasion. It was an invitation-only media session with Sachin Tendulkar on the eve of his completing 20 years in international cricket. The Taj Land's End hotel was the perfect venue because it was only a few minutes’ drive from his home in suburban Mumbai. But the room was small, tucked away in a corner of the second floor; dimly lit; and had such a narrow entrance that the television cameramen struggled to get their equipment through.

Of course only a few had been invited. Inevitably, though, word got around and inevitably everyone piled in. Could it really have been any other way? So there were nearly as many television cameras as Tendulkar’s Test hundreds; the chairs were taken up quickly so many of the journalists squatted on the floor, almost engulfing Tendulkar in a semi-circle. Coverage of the event was embargoed till November 15, the actual day of Tendulkar’s landmark, but word came soon that a couple of television channels were broadcasting it live. It felt shambolic.

Even so, the organisers couldn’t have made it more charming had they tried. There was no flash or ostentation, no grand stage and no barriers; Tendulkar was in such proximity that some of us could have extended our arms and touched him. It felt intimate and cosy and the most colossal of superstars felt endearingly human. It was apt too, because he has been the most human of superstars. I use word human here to describe simplicity and humility, not frailties and misdemeanours associated with fame and glory.

Throughout his life Sachin Tendulkar has worn his celebrity lightly. He could have hardly been unaware of it yet somehow he has managed to stay impervious to it. Perhaps it’s just been easy: that’s the way he has grown up. When asked if has found the mantle of greatness tedious or the scrutiny by the media suffocating, he has an uncomplicated answer. “This is the way I've known my life from the age of 14. I'm comfortable with it.”

Not everything about Tendulkar has stayed the same. His game has changed, evolved rather. It has become more nuanced, more mature, subtler, more versatile and, to the occasional chagrin of his fans, more watchful. His voice has got more timbre in it and he speaks a lot more at press conferences. He is father to two children, and the 10-year-old Arjun tries to hit as many balls into the stratosphere as he can. In a newspaper interview published on the occasion, his wife Anjali was tickled by the idea, however improbable, that father and son could play together.

But there is a Tendulkar that hasn’t grown up. Cricket for him is not a vocation, not a ticket to stardom and riches, and perhaps not even about the India cap he so cherishes. It is what defines him, what makes him, and he has no hesitation in admitting that he needs cricket as much as cricket needs him.

I asked him how he has managed to retain his enthusiasm for the rigours of practice after so many years. He didn’t have to search for an answer. “Cricket lives in my heart,” he said with striking simplicity. “Whenever I'm on a cricket field I enjoy it, and somewhere there's still a 16-year-old hidden inside who wants to go out and express himself.”

It was meant to be a 90-minute session; it lasted close to five hours. Everyone wanted a slice of him and Tendulkar was in the mood to oblige. He switched effortlessly from English to Hindi to Marathi; dignified the most inane question with an answer; even took on a politically-loaded one that provided newspapers with a front-page headline (Mumbai belongs to India, he said when asked, indirectly, about the recent campaign by a party that has made Marathi chauvinism its central plank); but had the wit to not to be drawn into the Warne-Murali debate (Whom would you rather face if they were bowling together? “I’d rather be in the dressing room.”); and didn't lose patience with the photographers who all wanted that final shot.

I left while he was getting ready for another one-on-one session. “Must be the most varied attack you have had to face in a day’s play,” I remarked, attempting lame humour. He flashed a wide smile. His face is beginning to show signs of age but the smile retains its boyishness. “Yes, a lot of variety,” he said. He still looked alert and fresh. The cricketer in him would have approved.

[littlemaster1982]

[html:a93bf575b0]http://www.mid-day.com/imagedata/2009/nov/sachinit-Cover.jpg[/html:a93bf575b0]

[littlemaster1982]

Twinkle twinkle, little star (http://doosraredux.wordpress.com/2009/11/14/twinkle-twinkle-little-star-3/)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart started composing at the age of five. Pablo Neruda wrote his Book of Twilights when he was 19. Sachin Tendulkar was all of six when he took up a bat in earnest. By the time he was 15, he was the most talked-about schoolboy cricketer ever. More than two decades on, he remains Indian cricket’s man for all seasons, the repository of a nation’s hope. Those that played with him in the days of auld lang syne have long since migrated to the coaching field and the commentary box. Tendulkar, his eyes perhaps set on a World Cup swansong on home turf, continues to mark his guard and settle into that unmistakable stance.


What is there left to say about this man? At the age of 18, he was standing on tiptoe to drive and cut Australia’s finest on his way to a century in Perth. At 21, he decided that he’d like to open in one-day cricket. He’s still going strong 45 hundreds later. A few days short of 25, he played an innings, with a desert storm as backdrop, that will never be forgotten by those fortunate enough to see it. At 30, faced with the longest lean trot of his career, he memorably decided to eschew the cover-drive in Sydney, ruining Steve Waugh’s farewell with a 241 that was an enactment of monastic denial on a cricket field.


The records and the catalogue of achievement will be cherished for years. What’s even more admirable though is the manner in which he’s dealt with unimaginable fame and untold riches. When he was still a teenager who had yet to make his Ranji Trophy debut, Ramakant Achrekar, his coach, said: “People don’t realise that he is just 15. They keep calling him for some felicitation or the other. The other day he was asked to inaugurate a children’s library. This is ridiculous. These things are bound to go to his head. He will start thinking he has achieved everything.”


The wonder of Tendulkar is that he never did. A couple of years ago, at a bookshop in the newly opened Bangalore Airport, I happened to see an entry in the visitors’ book. Beneath the familiar signature, there was one line: ‘Sachin Tendulkar, Indian cricket team.’ To others, he may be primus inter pares, the ubiquitous face of his sport, but after all this time and all those halcyon years, he still views himself as part of a bigger picture.

That picture has changed beyond our wildest imagination from the time that a curly-haired 16-year-old walked out on to the field at the National Stadium in Karachi. Back then, cricket was still a sport. Passionately followed, but hardly the commercial behemoth that it has since become. Over the next few years, Tendulkar did for cricket what Michael Jordan had done for the NBA and what Joe Namath and Super Bowl III did for the NFL. When he walked to the crease, a nation stopped to watch. Even now, at restaurants and airports, Blackberrys come out and ball-by-ball updates are discreetly accessed once people learn that “the boss is batting”.


Those that don’t really know India well speak of cinema as the country’s greatest unifying force. That’s nonsense. Amitabh Bachchan’s oeuvre resonates little with the man in Tamil Nadu’s interior, just as Rajnikanth is little more than an object of curiosity to someone in Punjab. But Chennai or Chandigarh, Guwahati or Cochin, Tendulkar walks out to undiluted acclaim. With the exception of Gandhi, perhaps no other Indian has managed to rally so many behind the flag.


When he reached his century with the last stroke of the match in Chennai a year ago, it wasn’t just a stadium that cheered and danced and wept. Coming three weeks after the terror attacks in Mumbai, there was something pre-ordained about it all. A few days earlier, he had released a commercial with the line: “I play for India, now more than ever”. There may not have been a cape or a mask, but there were no murmurs of dissent when Kevin Pietersen called him Superman.


His struggles with captaincy make him human, and the heartbreaks of Chennai (1999) and the Wanderers (2003, when a World Cup final was lost even before he came out to bat) will perhaps haunt him for the rest of his days. But when all is said and done, the 36-year-old continues to do what the schoolboy did. And as we ponder what makes him tick, maybe we just need to listen to a nursery rhyme that’s sung to one of Mozart’s tunes. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

[littlemaster1982]

A once-in-a-century star (http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=CREST&BaseHref=TCRM/2009/11/14&ViewMode=HTML&GZ=T&PageLabel=17&EntityId=Ar01700&AppName=1)

Steve Waugh

Setting a field to a Tendulkar in full flow is a captain’s nightmare. The deafening noise makes it impossible to communicate with the fielders and the bowlers look demoralised. On his day, he can take a game away from the opposition very quickly

The first time I saw Sachin Tendulkar play, I had all the time in the world to study him and analyse his technique. I had been dropped from the Australian side, and was watching him on television as he was on his way to scoring a remarkable century in Perth. The schoolboy with an unruly mop announced himself as a special talent to the world, on one of the fastest pitches, against a very good pace attack.

The last time I watched Sachin bat was last week, when he was on his way to a spectacular 175, and once again I felt that I was watching a player who comes but once in a century. It can be said that he is the Bradman of our times, and I do feel privileged to have played a lot of cricket against him.

Sachin always brought with him an amazing sporting presence. It was a captain’s nightmare to set a field when he was in full flow. It was akin to getting stuck in a tornado — the noise made it impossible to communicate with the fielders, the bowlers looked demoralised and you could sense that Sachin himself was delighted at the disarray he created in the opposition. Whether in India or elsewhere, there were always enough fans to create a deafening din whenever he was at his best.

On his day, Sachin could take a game away from under your nose very quickly. His uncanny ability to find gaps, his running between the wickets and his sheer presence at the wicket were unsettling for the opposition. Sachin rarely got into verbal duels, and soon we too realised that sledging him only helped strengthen his concentration and resolve. No wonder then that some of the most talkative Australians went quiet when Sachin was in the middle. There have been occasions when he did indulge in some chat himself, but on the whole he was quiet, focussed and seriously tough.

Like many cricketers who were involved in that tournament, my favourite Sachin knock came in Sharjah, in what is now known as the ‘sandstorm innings’. Not only did he singlehandedly get his team into the finals, he then went on to try and win the game from an impossible situation. Allan Border was standin coach for that series, and I remember him saying that that knock was one of the best he had witnessed. He soothed our frayed nerves by adding that the good news was that Sachin had peaked too early and that he would not make a big score in the final.

The final was on Sachin’s birthday, and he scored 140-odd and won the tournament for his team. Those two knocks were gems — works of pure genius.

Sachin has always been a favourite with Australian crowds and has the unreserved respect of Australian cricketers because he possesses many traits that we respect and value among sportsmen. He is fiercely competitive, never backs off from a contest, never gives up, but is always fair. His innate decency has always shone through his ruthlessness on the field. For most of his career, he’s wanted to dominate the bowler and stamp his supremacy on the opposition.

Importantly, he’s always been a team man and he still has a word of advice for everybody, even the pace bowlers. A big reason why his wicket’s so prized is because the opposition knows that his teammates feed off his good form. There’s always that little extra bit of joy when they see his back. We always sensed that once we take him out of the game, his teammates tended to lose some of their spirit. This might not be the case today, but for a decade, getting Sachin early was the key to beating India.

Today, Sachin is at the summit of a monumental career, in terms of runs, years and milestones. However, none of this would have captured the imagination of a billion Indians if it were not for the personality of Sachin. I will not claim to know him well, but in our limited interactions, he comes across as a shy, decent, humble person. He has a small circle of friends and generally keeps to himself. He has always conducted himself exceptionally in public life, which must not be easy. I know that Sachin has learnt to embrace the pressure and expectations that 1.2 billion fans place on him. He seems to thrive on their goodwill, and has rarely mentioned it as a burden. More creditably he has taken the criticism and backlash that follows a poor run of scores with dignity, never letting frustration or doubt creep in.

Sachin’s love for the game is still palpable, his hunger for run remains unquenched, and it’s really up to him to decide when to hang up those gloves.

As a contemporary, I feel that he has fulfilled his destiny as a batsman in ample measure, and if I have any criticism it’s that he did not give his leg breaks any importance. I always thought he could spin the ball a lot more than many regular spinners, and could have claimed a 100 Test sticks if he had put his mind to it.

Two decades of cricket is testimony not only to his talent, but also to the dedication and time he has devoted to his fitness. He is the best judge of how long he can carry on, but I personally feel he does have another two to three years of cricket in him — his fans can rest easy, the run machine still has some fuel left in there!

[littlemaster1982]

[html:393600572f]http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/getimage.dll?path=TCRM/2009/11/14/21/Img/Pc0210300.jpg[/html:393600572f]

[ajithfederer]

Thanks LM. Please continue to post more glorious images of our Master.

[Plum]

like me sachin doesn't like to lose
adhAn pAthOmE :-)
(Adhavadhu, sachin-ai mattum praise paNNittA, thanakku hype koanjidumO - vEra yAum compae paNNa mattanga so naanE enna sachinoda compare pannikarEn)

[ajithfederer]

Twenty Years of Sachin Tendulkar - A special site in Cricinfo (http://www.cricinfo.com/sachinat20/content/site/)

:clap: :clap:. Has cricinfo done anything like this before?.

[ajithfederer]

Man-child superstar

Tendulkar the cricketer seemingly emerged fully formed when he first picked up a bat. So too perhaps did Tendulkar the luminary

Rahul Bhattacharya

November 15, 2009

Sachin Tendulkar walks back after what could be his last Test innings in England, England v India, 3rd Test, The Oval, 4th day, August 12, 2007
In a zone of his making: Tendulkar's quest on the field is equilibrium © Getty Images
Related Links
Teams: India

Sachin Tendulkar comes to the ground in headphones. He might make a racket in the privacy of the bus, who knows, but when he steps out he is behind headphones. Waiting to bat he is behind his helmet. The arena is swinging already to the chant, "Sachin, Sachin", the first long and pleading, the second urgent and demanding, but Tendulkar is oblivious, behind his helmet.

At the fall of the second wicket, that familiar traitorous roar goes round the stadium, at which point Tendulkar walks his slow walk out, golden in the sun, bat tucked under the elbow. The gloves he will only begin to wear when he approaches the infield, to busy himself against distraction from the opposition. Before Tendulkar has even taken guard, you know that his quest is equilibrium.

As he bats his effort is compared in real time with earlier ones. Tendulkar provides his own context. The conditions, the bowling attack, his tempo, his very vibe, is assessed against an innings played before. Today he reminds me of the time when … Why isn't he …. What's wrong with him!

If the strokes are flowing, spectators feel something beyond pleasure. They feel something like gratitude. The silence that greets his dismissal is about the loudest sound in sport. With Tendulkar the discussion is not how he got out, but why. Susceptible to left-arm spin? To the inswinger? To the big occasion? The issue is not about whether it was good or not, but where does it rank? A Tendulkar innings is never over when it is over. It is simply a basis for negotiation. He might be behind headphones or helmet, but outside people are talking, shouting, fighting, conceding, bargaining, waiting. He is a national habit.

But Tendulkar goes on. This is his achievement, to live the life of Tendulkar. To occupy the space where fame and accomplishment intersect, akin to the concentrated spot under a magnifying glass trained in the sun, and remain unburnt.

"Sachin is God" is the popular analogy. Yet god may smile as disease, fire, flood and Sreesanth visit the earth, and expect no fall in stock. For Tendulkar the margin for error is rather less. The late Naren Tamhane was merely setting out the expectation for a career when he remarked as selector, "Gentlemen, Tendulkar never fails." The question was whether to pick the boy to face Imran, Wasim, Waqar and Qadir in Pakistan. Tendulkar was then 16.

Sixteen and so ready that precocity is too mild a word. He made refinements, of course, but the marvel of Tendulkar is that he was a finished thing almost as soon as began playing.

The maidans of Bombay are dotted with tots six or seven years old turning out for their coaching classes. But till the age of 11, Tendulkar had not played with a cricket ball. It had been tennis- or rubber-ball games at Sahitya Sahwas, the writers' co-operative housing society where he grew up, the youngest of four cricket-mad siblings by a distance. The circumstances were helpful. In his colony friends he had playmates, and from his siblings, Ajit in particular, one above Sachin but older by 11 years, he had mentorship.

It was Ajit who took him to Ramakant Achrekar, and the venerable coach inquired if the boy was accustomed to playing with a "season ball" as it is known in India. The answer did not matter. Once he had a look at him, Achrekar slotted him at No. 4, a position he would occupy almost unbroken through his first-class career. In his first two matches under Achrekar Sir, he made zero and zero.

Memory obscures telling details in the dizzying rise thereafter. Everybody remembers the 326 not out in the 664-run gig with Kambli. Few remember the 346 not out in the following game, the trophy final. Everyone knows the centuries on debut in the Ranji Trophy and Irani Trophy at 15 and 16. Few know that he got them in the face of a collapse in the first instance and virtually out of partners in the second. Everyone knows his nose was bloodied by Waqar Younis in that first Test series, upon which he waved away assistance. Few remember that he struck the next ball for four.

This was Tendulkar five years after he'd first handled a cricket ball.

Genius, they say, is infinite patience. But it is first of all an intuitive grasp of something beyond the scope of will - or, for that matter, skill. In sportspersons it is a freakishness of the motor senses, even a kind of ESP.



The wonder is that in the years between he has done nothing to sully his innocence, nothing to deaden the impish joy, nothing to disrupt the infinite patience or damage the immaculate equilibrium through the riot of his life and career



Tendulkar's genius can be glimpsed without him actually holding a bat. Not Garry Sobers' equal with the ball, he is nevertheless possessed of a similar versatility. He swings it both ways, a talent that eludes several specialists. He not only rips big legbreaks but also lands his googlies right, a task beyond some wrist spinners. Naturally he also bowls offspin, usually to left-handers and sometimes during a spell of wrist spin. In the field he mans the slips as capably as he does deep third man, and does both in a single one-dayer. Playing table tennis he is ambidextrous. By all accounts he is a brilliant, if hair-raising, driver. He is a champion Snake player on the cellphone, according to Harbhajan Singh, whom he also taught a spin variation.

His batting is of a sophistication that defies generalisation. He can be destroyer or preserver. Observers have tried to graph these phases into a career progression. But it is ultimately a futile quest for Tendulkar's calibrations are too minute and too many to obey compartmentalisation. Given conditions, given his fitness, his state of mind, he might put away a certain shot altogether, and one thinks it is a part of his game that has died, till he pulls it out again when the time is right, sometimes years afterwards. Let alone a career, in the space of a single session he can, according to the state of the rough or the wind or the rhythm of a particular bowler, go from predatorial to dead bat or vice versa.

Nothing frustrates Indians as much as quiet periods from Tendulkar, and indeed often they are self-defeating. But outsiders have no access to his thoughts. However eccentric, they are based on a heightened cricket logic rather than mood. Moods are irrelevant to Tendulkar. Brian Lara or Mohammad Azharuddin might be stirred into artistic rage. Tendulkar is a servant of the game. He does not play out of indignation nor for indulgence. His aim is not domination but runs. It is the nature of his genius.

The genius still doesn't explain the cricket world's enchantment with Tendulkar. Ricky Ponting and Jacques Kallis are arguably not lesser cricketers than he, but have nothing like his following or presence. Among contemporaries only Shane Warne could draw an entire stadium's energy towards himself, but then Warne worked elaborately towards this end. Tendulkar on the pitch is as uncalculated as Warne was deliberate. Warne worked the moments before each delivery like an emcee at a title fight. Tendulkar goes through a series of ungainly nods and crotch adjustments. Batting, his movements are neither flamboyant nor languid; they are contained, efficient. Utility is his concern. Having hit the crispest shot between the fielders he can still be found scurrying down the wicket, just in case.

Likewise, outside the pitch nothing he does calls up attention. In this he is not unusual for the times. It has been, proved by exceptions of course, the era of the undemonstrative champion. Ali, Connors, McEnroe, Maradona have given way to Sampras, Woods, Zidane, Federer, who must contend with the madness of modern media and sanitisation of corporate obligation.

Maybe Tendulkar the superstar, like Tendulkar the cricketer, was formed at inception. Then, as now, he is darling. He wears the big McEnroe-inspired curls of his youth in a short crop, but still possesses the cherub's smile and twinkle. Perhaps uniquely, he is granted not the sportstar's indulgence of perma-adolescence but that of perma-childhood. A man-child on the field: maybe it is the dichotomy that is winning. The wonder is that in the years between he has done nothing to sully his innocence, nothing to deaden the impish joy, nothing to disrupt the infinite patience or damage the immaculate equilibrium through the riot of his life and career.

Rahul Bhattacharya is the author of Pundits from Pakistan: On Tour with India, 2003-04
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http://www.cricinfo.com/sachinat20/content/current/story/434507.html[tscii:a8bc2e5b29][/tscii:a8bc2e5b29]

[ajithfederer]

India v Australia, 1st Test, Chennai, 1998
Tendulkar outwits Warne

One team's champion faces his opposite number with the game hanging by a thread

Ian Chappell

November 15, 2009
Sachin Tendulkar flicks Greg Blewett, India v Australia, 1st Test, Chennai, 4th day, March 9, 1998
Two masters, one winner © Getty Images
Related Links
Players/Officials: Sachin Tendulkar | Shane Warne
Matches: India v Australia at Chennai
Series/Tournaments: Border-Gavaskar Trophy
Teams: India

It's rare enough that in the middle of the fourth day a Test match is evenly poised. To then have one team's champion facing his opposite number with the game hanging by a thread is heaven for a cricket fan.

That's the way it happened in Chennai in 1998 (http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/63794.html).

Sachin Tendulkar was facing Shane Warne with India and Australia both battling for supremacy. The defining moment came just after lunch, when Warne went round the wicket with Tendulkar having just passed his fifty.

In the lead up to the Test, Tendulkar had approached former Indian allrounder Ravi Shastri and asked for advice on what to do when Warne adopted this ploy. Shastri told Tendulkar: "You must find an attacking method to combat Warne when he comes round the wicket."

Tendulkar then spent four days in the nets with a spot outside leg stump scuffed and former Indian leggie L Sivaramakrishnan bowling round the wicket into the footmarks.

When Warne made his move round the wicket, Tendulkar took to his offerings like a kid offered a lolly-shop gift voucher. A brace of sixes and fours from lofted sweep/pull shots to the midwicket region convinced Warne to abort this tactic. Tendulkar's preparatory work had proved to be a masterstroke.

Tendulkar won the battle and India went on to win the war by 179, just a few runs in excess of the maestro's second innings contribution of 155 not out.

This was a battle of the champions to savour.

Former Australia captain Ian Chappell is now a cricket commentator and columnist[tscii:3356060313][/tscii:3356060313]

[ajithfederer]

An Australian sort of hero

Tendulkar's single-minded dedication to run-scoring is something they identify with Down Under

Christian Ryan

November 15, 2009

Sachin Tendulkar celebrates his double century, Australia v India, 4th Test, Sydney, 3rd day, January 4, 2004
The boy who made it rain: Tendulkar soaks up the adulation at his favourite Australian ground in 2004 © AFP
Related Links
Players/Officials: Sachin Tendulkar | Sir Donald Bradman | Shane Warne
Teams: Australia | India

From the beginning, the relationship was about something bigger than admiration and affection. When Sachin Tendulkar set foot in Australia he brought with him rain.

Lismore, a place of board shorts and stubby coolers, on the far north hippie trail of New South Wales, was the strange location for Tendulkar's maiden first-class innings in Australia. Lismore hadn't seen rain - the kind of rain that wet your shirt - in months. The Indians arrived on a Friday, November 1991, and all that morning it poured, drowning out the net session they'd scheduled. They moved indoors and it poured some more.

Local politician Reg Baxter used a homemade super-sopper to get play started. Conditions were grey overhead and green underfoot, which made predicting the ball's flight path tricky. The bowling was top-shelf - Whitney, Lawson, Holdsworth, Matthews, Waugh, Waugh - and the batting a little gormless, all except for the one who was 18. Under the Oakes Oval pines he took careful guard, his head still, his footsteps like tiny, precise pinpricks, going backwards mostly, unless the bowler overpitched. Fifteen hundred people saw this, the great Alan Davidson among them. Davo was dumbfounded: "It's just not possible… such maturity."

Tendulkar hit 82 that afternoon, when no one else passed 24, then 59 out of 147 in the second innings. When Australians hear Indians grouch about their hero going missing in an emergency and having no appetite for a scrap, it always comes as a shock.

The Tendulkar Australians got to know, the one with the baby footsteps, had played cricket in six countries already. Still he looked like his team-mates' little brother. He ran faster than them all, a gammy-legged bunch, and as he ran, his eyes would be wide and round, and darting, as if alert to the danger that his team-mates' barely muzzled huffiness might distract him from important things. And what was important to Tendulkar - and here Australians saw in him something rare and precious, a single-mindedness they fancied they recognised in themselves - was run-getting.

Every bolt and screw in the Tendulkar technique seemed put there to aid the getting of runs. Tendulkar was a run-getting machine, except no machine could also be so graceful - or instinctive, for that's what it was, instinct, which told him that the way to bat was to attack. He didn't learn this. He knew it, inside himself. Runs were what counted. So nothing outlandish would be tried for the sake of outlandishness. Those footsteps were only as big as they had to be, for footwork was simply the thing that moved your body from its starting position to its ideal hitting position. Once you got there, you kept out the good ones and hit the loose ones hard. And when you hit hard, you did so along the ground - because you cannot get caught and get runs.

This is the way of Bradman, the way of Hill, Trumper, Harvey, the Chappells and the rest. Give him a pair of bushy mutton chops and paint a weathered furrow or two on his brow, and Tendulkar could pose for the cover of How to Play Cricket Australian Style.

Tacky facial add-ons, or some bleach-blond spikes, say, have never been Tendulkar's go, and Australians like that about him too. Australia takes its cricket seriously. Your after hours are for sombre reflection and practising your forward-defensive, not for phone-chasey with sheilas or motel-room hijinks in your Playboy undies. You occasionally hear it said wistfully that Tendulkar is the Australian Shane Warne could have been. It is a neat line but it undersells what they have in common. For if any two modern cricketers might be soul mates, it is Warne and Tendulkar, grandmasters of their arts. Bowling legspin comes as naturally to Warne as batting does to Tendulkar, which is to say, as naturally as the rest of us find breathing.



Tendulkar was a run-getting machine, except no machine could also be so graceful - or instinctive, for that's what it was, instinct, which told him that the way to bat was to attack



Two sublime Tendulkar hundreds lit up his first trip: one, in Sydney (http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/63565.html), as serene as a stroll through rhododendrons; the other, in Perth (http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/63567.html), more pugnacious, less repeatable. He didn't tour Australia again for eight years. But he visited. He went, with Warne, the two of them in beige suits, to see Sir Donald on his 90th birthday. Tendulkar got as excited as any Australian boy - "I consider myself one of the luckiest guys on earth" - and he asked Bradman the questions any Australian boy would ask, stuff about his stance and his grip and his bats.

When next he came to play cricket he was captain of India, and perhaps that did distract him from the really important things. But it lost him no admirers. Asked his views on sledging, he replied: "One should expect that at this level. You are playing Test cricket, not club cricket."

Always when he went to the wicket, Tendulkar's was the scalp on which the afternoon's destiny hung. Fieldsmen dived further, getting hands to quarter-chances that would normally have eluded fingertips. Umpires concentrated harder - too hard probably, if you tally up the bat-pad rulings that never got a feather, the creative licence applied to some leg-before-wicket interpretations. One never-to-be-forgotten day in Adelaide (http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/63865.html), Tendulkar was adjudged shoulder-before-wicket. "You almost want him to get a few runs," Mark Waugh once remarked, "just to see him." Odd how a cricketer so Australian as Tendulkar could provoke such un-Australian sentimentality.

He has toured Australia on four occasions (http://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/35320.html?class=1;home_or_away=2;opposition=2;tem plate=results;type=allround;view=series), as many times as Bradman toured England. Like Bradman, he has never gone home without a Test hundred to his name.

One particular hundred - Sydney, 2003-04 (http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/64062.html) - might outlive the others. When someone bats for 613 minutes, strung across three sweltering January days, the mind can wander, and as Tendulkar trudged on, making do without the cover drive, for it had caused his downfall too many times already, this mind wandered to Leichhardt and Giles and the famous explorers, who made do without company, without water, surviving on single-mindedness and instinct. He could do things to your imagination, this boy who knew how to make it rain.

Christian Ryan is a writer based in Melbourne. He is the author of Golden Boy: Kim Hughes and the Bad Old Days of Australian Cricket, published in March 2009
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[ajithfederer]

Far ahead of the competition

Stats analysis of Sachin Tendulkar's ODI career

S Rajesh

November 15, 2009

Sachin Tendulkar glances one fine, India v Australia, 5th ODI, Hyderabad, November 5, 2009

Sachin Tendulkar has scored more ODI runs and centuries against Australia than any other batsman © AFP

Tendulkar's Test record is imposing enough, but in ODIs he has moved ahead at a frightening pace (http://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/stats/index.html?class=2;filter=advanced;orderby=runs;te mplate=results;type=batting), thanks to a combination of his incredible skill and drive, and the BCCI's proficiency in organising one-day internationals. Tendulkar's tally of 17,178 is 3801 runs more than his nearest competitor - Sri Lanka's Sanath Jayasuriya - while his tally of 45 centuries is 17 more than Jayasuriya and Ricky Ponting, the next-best in the list.

Tendulkar's stats are amazing also because he has sustained them over such a long period - he is within touching distance of the longest ODI career (http://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/content/records/283448.html), which currently stands in Javed Miandad's name. Miandad's career stretched over 20 years and 272 days, which is less than 11 months longer than Tendulkar's current span. However, Miandad only played 233 ODIs during this period, an average of around 11 per year. Tendulkar, only the other hand, has already appeared in 436, averaging almost 22 per year. Only Sanath Jayasuriya has lasted as long, playing 441 matches in 19 years and 275 days.

The presence of several lesser teams in the one-day format offers opportunities for batsmen to cash in on easy runs, but Tedulkar's numbers stand up to scrutiny against the best sides. Among batsmen who've scored at least 8000 runs against the top eight sides in ODIs (excluding Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and the non-test-playing nations), Tendulkar averages 42.63 at a strike rate of 84.59, giving him a batting index (average multiplied by runs per ball) of 36.06, which is better than any other batsman in the list.

Batsmen with 8000 or more ODI runs against the top 8 teams Batsman ODIs Runs Average Strike rate 100s/ 50s Ave x SR/100
Sachin Tendulkar 376 14,454 42.63 84.59 35/ 80 36.06
Ricky Ponting 285 10,672 42.34 80.45 24/ 63 34.06
Adam Gilchrist 247 8089 34.71 95.65 14/ 46 33.20
Brian Lara 260 8975 39.53 77.46 16/ 55 30.62
Jacques Kallis 258 8991 43.22 70.82 14/ 63 30.61
Sanath Jayasuriya 370 11,031 31.88 90.18 22/ 58 28.75
Inzamam-ul-Haq 322 10,183 38.71 73.94 9/ 71 28.62
Sourav Ganguly 246 8469 37.97 73.07 14/ 55 27.74
Rahul Dravid 279 9112 38.61 70.63 10/ 70 27.27
Mohammad Azharuddin 300 8617 36.35 73.79 6/ 54 26.82
Desmond Haynes 235 8483 40.98 62.94 17/ 55 25.79

As in Tests, a feature of Tendulkar's ODI career has been his consistency. Since May 31, 1998, his average has never dipped below 40 during a period which has spanned 245 matches. The highest it ever reached was 45.34, after he scored a fine 86 off 95 balls (http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/65647.html) and helped India to a 19-run win against Australia at the Gabba during the VB Series in January 2004.

Best against the best

Another similarity between his Test and ODI stats is his penchant for the Australian bowling attack - his ODI numbers against the best side of his era are as brilliant as his Test stats. He has scored more hundreds against them - nine - than against any other side. He has scored 3005 runs against them, which is 1147 more than anyone else against them since 1990, and 743 more than anyone has ever scored against them. (Click here (http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/stats/index.html?class=2;filter=advanced;opposition=2;or derby=runs;qualmin2=750;qualval2=runs;template=res ults;type=batting) for the list of highest run-scorers in ODIs against Australia.) Of the 60 Man-of-the-Match awards (http://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/35320.html?class=2;template=results;type=allround; view=awards_match) he has won in ODIs, 12 have been against Australia. In fact, apart from Desmond Haynes, who has six centuries against them, no batsman has even managed half the number of hundreds that Tendulkar has - Graham Gooch and VVS Laxman are next with four each.

Batsmen in ODIs v Aus since 1990 (Qual: 750 runs) Batsman ODIs Runs Average Strike rate 100s/ 50s
Aravinda de Silva 24 997 49.85 83.43 2/ 6
Hansie Cronje 39 1364 47.03 73.05 2/ 9
Sachin Tendulkar 67 3005 46.23 85.12 9/ 14
Lance Klusener 26 794 44.11 87.34 0/ 5
Kumar Sangakkara 28 1134 43.61 74.80 1/ 8
Mohammad Yousuf 25 935 40.65 72.36 1/ 6
Jonty Rhodes 55 1610 40.25 77.92 0/ 10
Brian Lara 51 1858 39.53 76.58 3/ 15
Chris Harris 38 887 38.56 71.58 1/ 4
Shivnarine Chanderpaul 26 883 38.39 67.71 0/ 6

Starting in style

There's little doubt that Tendulkar has set the standard in terms of opening batting in ODIs. Since doing it for the first time against New Zealand, and smashing 82 off 49 balls in March 1994 (http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/64463.html), Tendulkar has made that position his own in the Indian team, and with fantastic results. Among openers with at least 5000 runs, Tendulkar's stats stand out both for his average and strike rate. Other batsmen have scored quicker, but in the process their averages have dipped significantly. Tendulkar has scored at a fast clip and yet ensured he stays at the crease long enough to average 48 runs per innings.

Best openers in ODIs (Qual: 5000 runs) Batsman ODIs Runs Average Strike rate 100s/ 50s Ave x SR/100
Sachin Tendulkar 317 14,062 48.15 87.65 41/ 70 42.20
Virender Sehwag 174 5975 35.56 102.27 10/ 32 36.37
Adam Gilchrist 260 9200 36.50 98.02 16/ 53 35.78
Chris Gayle 187 7181 42.24 83.77 19/ 38 35.38
Matthew Hayden 148 5892 44.30 78.70 10/ 33 34.86
Graeme Smith 145 5530 41.26 83.25 8/ 40 34.35
Mark Waugh 141 5729 44.06 76.74 15/ 32 33.81
Sanath Jayasuriya 387 12,738 34.70 92.51 28/ 66 32.10
Saeed Anwar 220 8156 39.98 79.93 20/ 37 31.96
Sourav Gamguly 242 9146 41.57 73.59 19/ 58 30.59

With Sourav Ganguly, he formed the most prolific opening partnership (http://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/stats/index.html?class=2;filter=advanced;orderby=fow_run s;partnership_wicketmax1=1;partnership_wicketval1= partnership_wicket;qualmin1=3000;qualval1=fow_runs ;template=results;type=fow) in ODI history, scoring 6609 runs at an average of almost 50, with 21 century stands. And in wins, the average increased to nearly 68, the highest among pairs who've scored at least 1500 partnership runs in wins.

A World Cup maestro

It's the most important tournament in one-day cricket, and Tendulkar has ensured he has been at his very best during these tournaments. Tendulkar has played 36 World Cup games - next only to Ponting and Jayasuriya - but leads the run-tally with 1796. In 35 innings he has topped fifty 17 times, an incredible average of at least a half-century every two innings.

Tendulkar has played five World Cups (http://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/35320.html?class=2;filter=advanced;orderby=start;t emplate=results;trophy=12;type=batting;view=series ), and only once did he disappoint - in 2007, when India were booted out in the first round. His 673 runs in the 2003 edition is the best by any batsman in a World Cup (http://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/records/batting/most_runs_series.html?id=12;type=trophy), while his tally in 1996 is in the top five as well. Of his eight Man-of-the-Match awards (http://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/35320.html?class=2;filter=advanced;orderby=start;t emplate=results;trophy=12;type=allround;view=award s_match) in these tournaments, two were against Pakistan, in 1992 and 2003.

The only batsman who has done better is Viv Richards - he averaged more than 63 at a strike rate of 85, giving him a batting index (average x runs per ball) of almost 54. Despite his World Cup heroics, though, he has managed to take India to a World Cup title; he has suggested he will be around till 2011 - that will surely be his last chance.

Best batsmen in World Cups (Qual: 1000 runs) Batsman ODIs Runs Average Strike rate 100s/ 50s Ave x SR/100
Viv Richards 23 1013 63.31 85.05 3/ 5 53.85
Sachin Tendulkar 36 1796 57.93 88.21 4/ 13 51.10
Herschelle Gibbs 25 1067 56.15 87.38 2/ 8 49.06
Mark Waugh 22 1004 52.84 83.73 4/ 4 44.24
Sourav Ganguly 21 1006 55.88 77.50 4/ 3 43.31
Ricky Ponting 39 1537 48.03 81.06 4/ 6 38.93
Brian Lara 34 1225 42.24 86.26 2/ 7 36.44
Adam Gilchrist 31 1085 36.16 98.01 1/ 8 35.44

S Rajesh is stats editor of Cricinfo
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http://www.cricinfo.com/sachinat20/content/story/434531.html[tscii:b24c318753][/tscii:b24c318753]

[viraajan]

From 1997 to till date, Sachin has become the victim of "Wrong Judgment" for approximately 63 times. :(

Source: Today's Dinamalar.

[ajithfederer]

At his best against the best

Stats analysis of Sachin Tendulkar's Test career

S Rajesh

November 15, 2009
Text size: A | A
Sachin Tendulkar cuts off the front foot, New Zealand v India, 3rd Test, Wellington, 1st day, April 3, 2009
Sachin Tendulkar has maintained a Test average of more than 54 in his last 98 matches © Getty Images
Related Links
Specials : 'Awesome feeling to get that Chennai hundred'
Players/Officials: Sachin Tendulkar
Teams: India

His first Test innings lasted only 24 deliveries, but even during that brief tenure there was something to suggest that Sachin Tendulkar was not just another ordinary cricketer. Twenty years later, it's clear that he has more than just fulfilled those early expectations. Even for someone who was as precocious as Tendulkar looked at 16, it would have been too much to suggest that he would play more than 600 international matches - he is just four short of the landmark - and would score more than 30,000 international runs (http://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/stats/index.html?class=11;template=results;type=batting) - he needs 39 more to get to the mark. His stats are ample proof that not only has he been around so long, but also that he has performed at incredibly high levels through most of that period.

In terms of the sheer length of a career, 22 players (http://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/content/records/283451.html) have played Test cricket over a longer span than Tendulkar. None of them, though, have played anywhere near as many matches. Wilfred Rhodes, for example, played his first Test in 1899, and the last almost 31 years later, in 1930. However, he only played 58 Tests during this period. Similarly, Brian Close's 22-Test career spanned almost 27 years, and John Traicos played seven Tests over a 23-year period. Among the players who've had longer career spans than Tendulkar, only two have played more than 100 Tests - Colin Cowdrey appeared in 114 between November 1954 and February 1975, while Graham Gooch played 118 in a little less than 20 years.

With 159 Tests so far, Tendulkar is only nine short of Steve Waugh's all-time record of 168. The two of them are also in a select group of eight batsmen who've played 125 or more Tests and managed a 50-plus average. Sorting the list by averages, Tendulkar comes in third place, marginally behind two other batting giants of this generation, Ricky Ponting and Jacques Kallis, but ahead of Brian Lara and Rahul Dravid.

Batsmen who've played 130+ Tests and average more than 50 Batsman Tests Runs Average 100s/ 50s
Ricky Ponting 136 11,345 55.88 38/ 48
Jacques Kallis 131 10,277 54.66 31/ 51
Sachin Tendulkar 159 12,773 54.58 42/ 53
Brian Lara 131 11,953 52.88 34/ 48
Rahul Dravid 134 10,823 52.53 26/ 57
Sunil Gavaskar 125 10,122 51.12 34/ 45
Steve Waugh 168 10,927 51.06 32/ 50
Allan Border 156 11,174 50.56 27/ 63

Six of those batmen have played in an era which has also included a couple of relatively weak teams, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. Comparing the stats for these players after excluding their performances against these two teams, it emerges that Tendulkar remains in third place and Ponting is still on top, but Brian Lara jumps up to second, while the averages for Dravid and Waugh are pushed to below 50.

Tendulkar's average dips by about two-and-a-half points when excluding his stats against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, for he has scored 1474 runs - the most by any batsman (http://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/stats/index.html?class=1;filter=advanced;opposition=25;o pposition=9;orderby=runs;template=results;type=bat ting) against these two teams - in 14 Tests at an average of 92.12. Kallis averages 124.50 against them (996 runs in 12 Tests) while Steve Waugh's average against them is a whopping 273 (546 runs and dismissed just twice).

Batsmen in Tests v top 8 teams Batsman Tests Runs Average 100s/ 50s
Ricky Ponting 128 10,695 55.12 36/ 44
Brian Lara 127 11,558 52.53 32/ 47
Sachin Tendulkar 145 11,299 51.83 36/ 50
Jacques Kallis 119 9281 51.56 27/ 47
Rahul Dravid 120 9423 49.59 21/ 51
Steve Waugh 163 10,381 48.96 29/ 48

The consistency factor

Over a Test career that's spanned 20 years, one of the most amazing aspects has been Tendulkar's consistency. The last time his average was below 50 was in April 1997, after the fourth Test of the five-match series in the West Indies. In the next game, in Guyana (http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/63749.html), he scored 83, which pushed his average up to 50.23. Over the next 106 Tests, it's stayed above 50, reaching a high of 58.87 after his 90th Test, when he scored 176 - his 28th Test hundred - against Zimbabwe in Nagpur (http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/63976.html). In fact, his average hasn't dipped below 54 since the last week of March, 1998, when he played his 61st Test and scored 177 and 31 (http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/63796.html) in the last match of the three-Test series against Australia. The closest he came to slipping below the mark was last year against Australia, when the average dropped to 54.02 after he scored 13 and 49 in the first Test in Bangalore (http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/345669.html). (Click here (http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/35320.html?class=1;template=results;type=batting;v iew=cumulative) for his career cumulative stats. All averages mentioned above at the end of a Test.)

The table below compares these eight players on their consistency levels in Test cricket, by measuring the standard deviation (a measure of how close each score is to the mean). Dividing the average by the standard deviation gives the consistency index. Border leads the way with a relatively low standard deviation of 40.20, while Kallis is only marginally behind him. Tendulkar comes in sixth place, and what hurts his numbers is his relatively high number of sub-20 scores - more than 41% of his total innings have been sub-20 scores. Lara, though, is the only one whose standard deviation is more than his average - his consistency index is, consequently, less than one.

Run distribution for the eight batsmen in Tests Batsman 0-19 (%) 20-49 (%) 50-99 (%) 100+ (%) Std dev Ave/ SD
Allan Border 102 (38.49) 73 (27.55) 63 (23.77) 27 (10.19) 40.20 1.26
Jacques Kallis 80 (36.20) 59 (26.70) 51 (23.08) 31 (14.03) 43.92 1.24
Steve Waugh 114 (43.85) 64 (24.61) 50 (19.23) 32 (12.31) 44.45 1.15
Ricky Ponting 78 (34.06) 65 (28.38) 48 (20.96) 38 (16.59) 50.52 1.11
Rahul Dravid 87 (37.34) 63 (27.04) 57 (24.46) 26 (11.16) 48.10 1.09
Sachin Tendulkar 108 (41.38) 58 (22.22) 53 (20.31) 42 (16.09) 52.08 1.05
Sunil Gavaskar 85 (39.72) 50 (23.37) 45 (21.03) 34 (15.89) 50.01 1.02
Brian Lara 97 (41.81) 53 (22.84) 48 (20.69) 34 (14.66) 62.56 0.85

Best against the best

Apart from his sheer longevity, the one aspect of Tendulkar's career which stands out is his performance against the best team of his era. Australia have undoubtedly held that mantle for most of his career, and, ever since that dazzling 114 in Perth (http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/63567.html), Tendulkar has saved his best for the Australians. In 29 Tests (http://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/35320.html?class=1;opposition=2;template=results;t ype=batting;view=innings) against them Tendulkar has scored ten centuries - the most he's managed against any team - and averages an exceptional 56.08. Even more exceptional is the home and away split - he averages 58.53 in Australia (http://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/35320.html?class=1;home_or_away=2;opposition=2;tem plate=results;type=batting;view=innings), and 53.30 against them in India (http://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/35320.html?class=1;home_or_away=1;opposition=2;tem plate=results;type=batting;view=innings).

The average is the highest among batsmen who've scored at least 1000 runs against Australia since 1990. The top three spots are all taken by Indians, while Lara and Kevin Pietersen are the only others to average more than 50 against them during this period.

His stats against Australia is clearly one area where he has distanced himself from his competition - Kallis and Dravid only average in the early 40s against them, while the stats are worse (http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/40570.html?class=1;opposition=2;template=results;t ype=batting;view=innings) for Inzamam-ul-Haq, another batsman with outstanding overall numbers.

Batsmen with best stats against Australia since 1990 (Qual: 1000 runs) Batsman Tests Runs Average 100s/ 50s
Sachin Tendulkar 29 2748 56.08 10/ 11
VVS Laxman 24 2204 55.10 6/ 10
Virender Sehwag 15 1483 51.13 3/ 7
Brian Lara 31 2856 51.00 9/ 11
Kevin Pietersen 12 1116 50.72 2/ 7
Richie Richardson 14 1084 49.27 4/ 4
Shivnarine Chanderpaul 15 1210 48.40 4/ 7
Graham Thorpe 16 1235 45.74 3/ 8
Graham Gooch 15 1344 44.80 3/ 9
Rahul Dravid 27 1860 41.33 2/ 11
Jacques Kallis 24 1664 40.58 4/ 8

S Rajesh is stats editor of Cricinfo
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http://www.cricinfo.com/sachinat20/content/story/434530.html[tscii:da5e8aee56][/tscii:da5e8aee56]

[ajithfederer]

Awesome feeling to get that Chennai hundred

Sachin Tendulkar on the highest points in his extraordinary career

Interview by Clayton Murzello

November 15, 2009
Text size: A | A
Sachin Tendulkar during the 1991-92 tour of Australia, Brisbane, December 1, 1991
Tendulkar on his first tour of Australia © Getty Images
Related Links
Specials : 'Tendulkar controls the game'
Analysis : At his best against the best
Analysis : Far ahead of the competition
Players/Officials: Sachin Tendulkar
Teams: India

1. The first time I put on my India cap
It was a great moment for me. If I am not mistaken, Chandu Borde, our team manager, handed me my cap. But there was no presentation ceremony like they have today.

2. My first Test hundred
It came at Old Trafford in 1990. Manoj Prabhakar helped me with some determined batting at the other end. I was not at all surprised by what he did that day because I had played with him earlier and I knew that he was a terrific competitor. We prevented England from winning.

3. The counter-attacking 114 at Perth
This ton is a favourite of mine. Australia had four quick bowlers (Craig McDermott, Merv Hughes, Mike Whitney and Paul Reiffel) but I thought McDermott was the most challenging to face in Perth. Throughout the series he was their main bowler.

4. Bowling the last over against SA in the 1993 Hero Cup
South Africa needed six runs to win in the last over. There was no plan for me to bowl that over but I said I was very confident of bowling it successfully. I conceded just three and we won.

5. 82 (off 49 balls) against NZ as opener in 1994
I was the vice-captain then and our regular opener Navjot Singh Sidhu woke up with a stiff neck. I requested Azhar (Mohammad Azharuddin) and Ajit Wadekar (coach) to "just give me one opportunity and I am very confident of playing some big shots. And if I fail, I'll never ever come to you again".

6. Winning the Titan Cup in 1996
South Africa were playing terrific cricket right through the tournament. We adopted a different strategy. As captain I chose to have five fielders on the on side. I told Robin Singh not to bowl seam but cutters into the body and make them score everything on the on side. Maybe that came as a surprise for them.. This was one low-scoring game that I can never forget.

7. 1997 Sahara Cup win over Pakistan
We were without our top three bowlers for this tournament, which I led India in. We were without Javagal Srinath, Venkatesh Prasad and Anil Kumble, but we had Abey Kuruvilla, Harvinder Singh, Debasish Mohanty and Nilesh Kulkarni as newcomers. It was a fantastic effort and we beat Pakistan 4-1. Incredible!

8. Scoring 155 against Australia in the 1998 Chennai Test
I thought getting used to that angle from Shane Warne was important. Before the Test I not only practiced with Laxman Sivaramakrishnan but Nilesh Kulkarni and Sairaj Bahutule in Mumbai too. They gave me a lot of practice. I clearly remember saying to my friends after I scored a double hundred for Mumbai against Australia that Warne has not bowled a single ball round the wicket and I know that he will do it in the Test series.

9. 1998's sandstorm hundred in Sharjah against Australia
The first of the two back-to-back hundreds in Sharjah, 1998. Tendulkar highlighted the similarities between his Sharjah efforts and the two special knocks in the 2008 tri-series finals in Australia in terms of how small a gap there was between the two matches of each of these series, which made it so difficult on the body.

Shane Warne greets Sachin Tendulkar after India's victory in the final, Australia v India, Sharjah, April 24, 1998
Shane Warne greets Tendulkar after India's victory in the Sharjah final © AFP

10. Meeting Don Bradman in Adelaide
Without doubt, the most riveting moment in my off-field career. The trip to Adelaide in 1998 with Shane Warne was truly special and to meet him on his 90th birthday made it even more memorable. It was great to spend 45 minutes to an hour talking cricket with him.

11. Beating England at Leeds, 2002
Sanjay Bangar played beautifully for his 68 and he put on a good partnership with Rahul Dravid, who played superbly. I remember going to bat after tea and Andrew Flintoff was bowling a lot of short-pitched stuff round the wicket. I moved pretty well the next day and I remember leaving deliveries off Matthew Hoggard, who bowled a few overs outside the off stump. I paced my innings well (193) and went past Sir Don's tally of 29 Test hundreds.

12. Match-winning 98 against Pakistan in the 2003 World Cup
There was that six off Shoaib (Akhtar) but there were other shots which I felt good about in that match. I was playing with a finger injury and the finger wouldn't straighten. I avoided fielding practice through the tournament because I was experiencing a lot of pain while catching. I gave fielding practice though.

13. First series win in Pakistan, 2003-04
Undoubtedly one of the top series wins in my career. Remember, Pakistan had a good side and we went there and won convincingly.

14. 35th Test hundred, v Sri Lanka in Delhi, 2005
There was this pressure which was building up to go past Sunil Gavaskar in the Test century tally. The room service and housekeeping people in my hotel only spoke about me getting century No 35. I was glad and relieved when it happened because I could then start enjoying the game again.

15. Beating England in Nottingham in 2007
We have always managed to come back well after a defeat or saving a match. This is a classic example. We escaped defeat in the opening Test at Lord's but came back to win in Trent Bridge.

16. Beating Australia in Perth in 2008
We were determined to win this Test after what happened in Sydney. We shouldn't have lost in Sydney considering we were in a good position on the first day, but then the world has seen what happened (referring to the umpiring).

17. The CB Series triumph in Australia in 2008
Not only India, but all other sides found Australia too hard to beat. My hundred in the first final at Sydney was satisfying but the second match in Brisbane was tough. We went to bed at 3 am in Sydney after a day-night game. I just could not sleep and woke up at 8 am to catch a morning flight. I was trying every possible thing to be fresh for the next day's match. The next day we won the toss and batted. It was quite humid so the conditions were tough. We knew that the first half hour was crucial. I thought even if I don't get runs quickly, it's fine because if we don't lose early wickets, the big strokeplayers can always capitalise on the start and that's what happened.

Sachin Tendulkar picks up a souvenir, India v England, 1st Test, Chennai, 5th day, December 15, 2008
Tendulkar picks up a souvenir after steering India to victory in Chennai, 2008 © AFP

18. Going past Brian Lara's Test run tally in Mohali, 2008
Becoming the highest run-getter in world cricket doesn't happen overnight. Lara is a special player and a guy who is a good friend. We respect each other immensely. To go past his tally meant that I have contributed something to cricket.

19. Second-innings Test hundred against England in Chennai, 2008
Awesome feeling to get that hundred, which I dedicated to the people of Mumbai. It was a very emotional time. It was important to stay there till the end and I remember telling my batting partner, Yuvraj Singh, that it's still not over so don't relax. I recalled that close game against Pakistan in 1999 when we lost by 12 runs.

20. 175 against Australia in Hyderabad, 2009
I know my body well and I know how much I can push so I was not surprised to score a 175 at the age of 36. Even if I had to complete those 20 runs by running them, I was absolutely fine. I was a few runs short of completing 17,000 ODI runs before the match, but that wasn't playing on my mind. However, every now and again it appeared on the scoreboard. That's not important to me. The important thing was to go out and win.

This interview was first published in Sunday Mid-Day


http://www.cricinfo.com/sachinat20/content/story/434587.html[tscii:e6ef1bff77][/tscii:e6ef1bff77]

[ajithfederer]

Sachin's focus made him more successful: Imran Khan
TNN 15 November 2009, 02:34am IST

In 1989, there was a void in India's public imagination after the departure of Sunil Gavaskar two years before that. It was only fitting that
another youngster from his own city Mumbai, should fill that void.

My first memories of the debut-making Sachin Tendulkar are of him taking a blow early in his innings, and saw glimpses of his talent in the Tests but more in a charity game where he took on Abdul Qadir in a benefit game.

Today, at a time when Twenty20 creates stars in a matter of three hours, it is very difficult to gauge a cricketer's true merit. I have always said that Test cricket is the best test of a cricketer's mettle, and Sachin has been a very major figure in the last two decades of Test cricket.

There are many who rue the fact that Sachin stopped playing his uninhibited strokeful knocks about a decade ago. I personally felt that the later, more mature Sachin had more to offer. It is also notable that he became a little more watchful and less impetuous because he saw there were younger players like Virender Sehwag to don the mantle of aggressor.

Today, Sachin seems to be completely in charge of his game and can switch gears almost at will. He can be explosive at times, and he can construct an innings if he has the time. It is this intelligence and thought that has helped Sachin stay focused on his batting.

It is not a case of talent alone, because mere ability no matter how prodigious does not sustain itself long if temperament and hunger is lacking. I have seen far too many talented cricketers not achieve what they could because they lacked the temperament.

If there is one area in which Sachin is ahead of his contemporaries, it is focus. Inzamam-ul Haq was possibly even more gifted, but Sachin was more successful due to his commitment and focus.

I would imagine that he will be around for the World Cup in 2011, and the Indians would hope that they see one last flourish from him.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/top-stories/Sachins-focus-made-him-more-successful-Imran-Khan/articleshow/5231679.cms

[Plum]

like me sachin doesn't like to lose
adhAn pAthOmE :-)
(Adhavadhu, sachin-ai mattum praise paNNittA, thanakku hype koanjidumO - vEra yAum compae paNNa mattanga so naanE enna sachinoda compare pannikarEn)

aNNan evLO periya social matter pEsikittukkEn. Article mela article pottu idhai pinnAdi thaLrIngaLE? :lol:

[ajithfederer]

The eighty-niners

Twenty-eight players made their international debuts the same years as Sachin Tendulkar. We look at what 20 of the better-known ones went on to do

Sidharth Monga

November 15, 2009
Text size: A | A
Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya during their century stand, Kolkata Knight Riders v Mumbai Indians, IPL, Port Elizabeth, April 27, 2009
Same vintage: Jayasuriya is the only other player to have made his international debut as far back as 1989 © AFP
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Players/Officials: Akram Raza | Salil Ankola | Mike Atherton | Chris Cairns | Greg Campbell | Angus Fraser | Robert Haynes | Trevor Hohns | Nasser Hussain | Alan Igglesden | Sanath Jayasuriya | Devon Malcolm | Dammika Ranatunga | Vivek Razdan | Steve Rhodes | Saeed Anwar | Robin Singh | John Stephenson | Alec Stewart | Mark Taylor | Sachin Tendulkar | Waqar Younis

Trevor Hohns
Played his last Test the same year, and retired from first-class cricket two years later. Went on to be Australia's national selector - for 10 years the chairman of the committee - during which time Mark Waugh and Ian Healy were shown the door, and Steve Waugh's ODI captaincy was taken away. Runs a sporting-goods business now.

Mark Taylor
Retired aged 35, with 104 Tests and 7525 runs to his name. Is a commentator now. Tendulkar had played the same number of Tests by the time he was 29, and scored 8770 runs in them.

Greg Campbell
Uncle to Ricky Ponting, Tendulkar's only rival left standing, Campbell made his international debut the same year as Tendulkar.

Angus Fraser
Played three Tests and three ODIs against Tendulkar, getting him out bowled once in a losing cause in an ODI at Trent Bridge. Now gets a chance to watch him bat and write on it and get paid for it by the Independent.

Mike Atherton
Retired having played 115 Tests. Is many things Tendulkar isn't: broadcaster, author, journalist. Wrote one of the better pieces on Tendulkar when the latter overtook Brian Lara as the highest run-getter in the world.

Devon Malcolm
Last played a Test in 1997 and a first-class match in 2003; has written You Guys Are History, and has also appeared on television show The Weakest Link.

Alan Igglesden Was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour in 1999, a year after he retired from first-class cricket. Has survived the tumour through medication, and works as sports master at Sutton Valence school in Kent.

John StephensonPlayed just one Test, but ended his 21-year first-class career in 2006. Is now MCC's head of cricket, and is involved with a futuristic move - the use of the pink ball in cricket.

Salil Ankola
Played one Test and 20 ODIs before moving to greener pastures, such as Bollywood, music videos and TV. Has acted in five films, and one horror show on TV.

Waqar YounisBloodied Tendulkar on his debut, and had many a duel with him, but retired after the 2003 World Cup. Waqar has been a bowling coach, has now moved to Australia and is a TV commentator.

Vivek RazdanSomething of a prodigy like Tendulkar, Razdan was brought into the Test side based on just two first-class matches. Played only two Tests and three ODIs, retired from first-class cricket in 1993-34, and now commentates on Indian domestic cricket.

Chris CairnsRegular injuries meant he couldn't play the same volume of cricket as Tendulkar, but his international career did span close to 17 years. Lives in Dubai now, and makes sporadic appearances in promotional or charity matches.

Akram Raza
Played nine Tests and 49 ODIs over a period of six years and was one of six players fined by the PCB after the match-fixing episode.

Dammika Ranatunga
Oldest of the Ranatunga brothers, he quit first-class cricket in 1995-96; Tendulkar was 22 then. Dammika has spent time as chief executive of Sri Lanka Cricket.

Saeed Anwar
After quitting all cricket in 2002-03, became a maulvi, and is far removed from life as a cricketer.

Alec Stewart watches his old side take on Yorkshire, Surrey v Yorkshire, County Championship Division One, The Oval, April 19, 2007
Alec Stewart: quit four years ago © Will Luke

Robin Singh
After a rather gutsy career, worked with Tendulkar as the team's fielding coach. There, too, has been outlasted by Tendulkar: the BCCI recently sacked Robin. The association, though, continues in the Mumbai Indians IPL team.

Mushtaq Ahmed
After Test retirement, spent years as a cult hero with Sussex, then jeopardised his county career by signing up with ICL. Is now England's full-time spin-bowling coach.

Steve Rhodes
Played only 20 international matches, but his 440-match first-class career ended only in 2003. Is now Worcestershire's director of cricket.

Alec Stewart
Is the seventh most-capped player in Tests. Quit playing in 2003. Is on Surrey's coaching staff now.

Robert Haynes
Had an eight-ODI career, and has finished an eight-year coaching stint with Jamaica. Is one of West Indies' current selectors.

Nasser Hussain
The man responsible for the left-arm over-the-wicket theory that worked temporarily against Tendulkar. Has been retired for five years now, and is a respected broadcaster and writer.

Sanath Jayasuriya
Tendulkar's lone co-survivor from 1989 - but he started out in Tests only in 1991, and gave them up in 2007 to prolong his limited-overs career. Is Tendulkar's team-mate at Mumbai Indians, and the oldest centurion in ODI cricket.

Sidharth Monga is a staff writer at Cricinfo
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http://www.cricinfo.com/sachinat20/content/story/434561.html[tscii:4569af6dbc][/tscii:4569af6dbc]

[ajithfederer]

20 years of Tendulkar

Keep piling 'em on

Cricinfo takes a look at the records Sachin Tendulkar has set in his still thriving career

Cricinfo staff

November 15, 2009
Text size: A | A

Over his 20-year international career, Sachin Tendulkar has smashed several records. Cricinfo looks at some of the important ones:

Sachin Tendulkar raises his bat after breaking the world record, India v Australia, 2nd Test, Mohali, 1st day, October 17, 2008
The most notable milestone: Sachin Tendulkar celebrates going past Brian Lara © AFP
Related Links
Analysis : At his best against the best
Analysis : Far ahead of the competition
Players/Officials: Sachin Tendulkar
Teams: India

12773

The most runs in Test cricket. Tendulkar overtook Brian Lara's tally of 11953 when he reached 15 in his 152nd Test (and 247th innings), against Australia in Mohali in October 2008. However, he hasn't scored the most runs by a batsman against any individual Test-playing nation. A greater share of his runs have come against Australia. He's scored 2748 runs against them at 56.08, and next in line are England, who've been taken for 2150 at 61.42.

Tendulkar has batted at No.4 for the bulk of his career, and is the top run-getter in that position, with 10681 runs at 56.51.

17178

The most runs in ODIs. Tendulkar has held the record for over nine years. In October 2000, against New Zealand in the ICC Knockout final in Nairobi, he went past his former team-mate Mohammad Azharuddin's 9378 runs to become the highest run-getter in the format. Tendulkar was playing his 253rd ODI (and 246th innings). Unlike in Tests, Tendulkar has also scored the most runs against Australia (3005 at 46.23), Sri Lanka (2749 at 44.33) and Zimbabwe (1377 at 49.17). Against the teams he's played ten or more ODIs, Tendulkar averages above 40 against everyone but South Africa (31.82 in 52 games) and Pakistan (39.16 in 67 games).

Tendulkar is also the most prolific opener in ODIs. He's scored 14062 runs in the opening slot at 48.15, with 41 centuries and 70 fifties. Asked to open for the first time in his 70th ODI, against New Zealand in Auckland in March 1994, Tendulkar blitzed 82 in 49 balls and the made the position his own. In addition, he is the top run-scorer in World Cups, with 1796 at 57.93. He scored the most runs in the tournament in 1996 and 2003.

42

The most centuries in Test cricket. Tendulkar notched up his first century, against England at Old Trafford in August 1990 in his ninth Test and 14th innings. He equalled the record for most Test centuries - 34, held by Sunil Gavaskar - 14 years later, against Bangladesh in Dhaka in December 2004, his 119th Test and 192nd innings. He made an unbeaten 248 then, his highest Test score till date. The record was broken a year later, against Sri Lanka in Delhi when he made 109; it was his 125th Test and 201st innings.

Ten of Tendulkar's centuries have come against Australia, only two behind Jack Hobbs, followed by seven against England and Sri Lanka. He's made more centuries against Sri Lanka than anyone else. However, only 16 (38.09%) of Tendulkar's 42 centuries have come in wins. Ricky Ponting leads the list of batsmen with most centuries in wins, with 27 out of 38 (a remarkable 71.05%).

45

The most centuries in ODIs. He took a while to reach his first century; he'd played international cricket for close to five years before getting to the milestone in his 79th ODI, against Australia in Colombo in 1994. He equalled Desmond Haynes' record of 17 centuries less than four years later, in his 196th match and 189th innings, against Sri Lanka at the same venue, when he made 128. It took him just three more games to overtake Haynes, when he made an unbeaten 127 against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo.

Australia, again, have borne the brunt of his assault, with nine centuries scored against them, the most by any player against a single team. Tendulkar tops the list against Kenya, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, and is the joint-highest against Pakistan, South Africa and Namibia. 32 (71.11%) of Tendulkar's 45 centuries have come in wins, the most for a batsman. However, Ponting and Sanath Jayasuriya, who are next in line, has a far superior success rate; 24 of their 28 ODI centuries (85.71%) have featured in wins. (Click here for Tendulkar's ODI centuries summary.)

95

Most scores of 50 or above in Test cricket. Tendulkar went past Allan Border's figure of 90, against Australia in Nagpur in November 2008 in his 154th Test and 252nd innings; he had equalled the record in the previous Test in Delhi. Border, however, holds the record for most half-centuries in Tests, and Tendulkar is currently third in the list, behind team-mate Rahul Dravid.

It does suggest that Tendulkar has an excellent conversion rate. He scores a century 44.21% of the times he goes beyond 50, while Ponting, who has 86 scores of 50 and above, is not too far behind with 44.18%. Again, in terms of success rates, Ponting is way ahead. 60 out of his 86 such scores (69.77%) have come in wins, while Tendulkar is significantly lower with 32 (33.28%). Also, against no Test-playing nation does he rank highest in the number of scores of above 50. He's passed 50 on 21 occasions against Australia (including ten centuries) and 17 against England.

136

The most scores of 50 or above in ODIs (45 hundreds, 91 fifties). Tendulkar went past Haynes, who had held the record with 74 (57 half-centuries and 17 centuries), against Sri Lanka in Sharjah in October 2000; it was his 257th ODI and 250th innings. Tendulkar achieved his first 50-plus score, against the same opposition ten years prior, in his ninth ODI, when he made 53. Both Tendulkar and Vivian Richards have cashed in against Australia, with 23 50-plus scores, the joint-highest; Richards has more half-centuries. Tendulkar heads the list against Sri Lanka (he's also scored 15 half-centuries against them) and West Indies, and is joint-highest against Zimbabwe.

Tendulkar also holds the record for most half-centuries in the ODI format with 91. Inzamam-ul-Haq was the owner of the record before him with 83; Tendulkar surpassed him in his 399th ODI (and 389th innings), when he made 79 against Australia in Chandigarh.

He has a conversion rate of 33.08% in ODIs, better than any player with over 80 scores of 50 or above. The figure would have been significantly higher had Tendulkar been better at handling the nineties; he's been out on 17 occasions between the scores of 90 to 99, far more than anyone else.

Sachin Tendulkar hits down the ground, India v Australia, 5th ODI, Hyderabad, November 5, 2009
Tendulkar has surged past the rest in the ODI format and will remain untouched for a while to come © Getty Images

But again, Ponting outdoes him by a distance when it comes to success rates; 63.23% (86 out of 136) of Tendulkar's 50-plus scores have come in wins, while the figure for Ponting is a staggering 83.16% (84 out of 101). Jayasuriya, Inzamam and Jacques Kallis, too, are ahead on the list in terms of percentages. (Click here for Tendulkar's 50-plus scores summary.)

60

The most Man-of-the-Match Awards in ODIs. Tendulkar is followed by Jayasuriya with 48. Tendulkar's first such award came a year into his international career, when he grabbed two wickets and made 53 against Sri Lanka in Pune in 1990. Two among the 60 awards have been a result of his bowling; he took 4 for 34 against West Indies in Sharjah in 1991, and 5 for 32, his maiden five-for, against Australia in Kochi in 1998. (Click here for the match list.)

He's also won 14 Man-of-the-Series Awards, the most for any player; he was the Player-of-the-Tournament in the 2003 World Cup, where he was the highest run-getter (Click here for the series list). In Tests, Tendulkar is No.10 on the list, with Kallis taking the top honours for matches and Muttiah Muralitharan for series.

331

The highest partnership for any wicket in ODIs. Tendulkar hammered a career-best 186 not out, the highest score by an Indian in ODIs, to crush New Zealand along with Dravid, who contributed 153, in Hyderabad in 1999. The stand was for the second wicket and it surpassed the previous best of 318, set by Dravid and Sourav Ganguly in the World Cup the same year, against Sri Lanka.

Tendulkar formed a hugely successful combination with Ganguly in the limited-overs format. The two have added the most runs together in ODIs - 8227 runs at 47.55 with 26 centuries and 29 fifties between them. They're also the most productive opening duo, with 6609 runs at 49.32.

In Tests, he's added 5507 runs with Dravid, the most for an Indian pair and third in the all-time list; they are the most successful third-wicket pair in the longer version, while Tendulkar and Ganguly top the charts for the fourth wicket.

64

Amid the severe plunder he's inflicted on bowlers, Tendulkar has been bowled on more occasions than anyone else in ODIs. Among players currently active in the international circuit, Dravid is next in line with 56 and he was left out of the ODI series against Australia. Like many of his other records, Tendulkar is likely to hold on to this one for the long haul. (Click for Tendulkar's dismissal summary in ODIs and Tests.)

154

The number of innings Tendulkar took to reach 8000 Test runs, which is the fastest; Tendulkar achieved the feat in his 96th Test, against West Indies in Kingston in 2002.

In ODIs, he was the fastest to reach 10000 runs, against Australia in Indore in 2001 (his 266th ODI). He's been quickest to get to every subsequent 1000-run milestone.

3548

The most fours hit in Tests and ODIs. Tendulkar has struck at least 1676 fours in Tests, an average of around seven for each innings. In ODIs, he's smashed 1872, an average of 4.40.

http://www.cricinfo.com/sachinat20/content/story/434553.html[tscii:ee6e1adae5][/tscii:ee6e1adae5]

[ajithfederer]

Hi everyone, thanks again for all the feedback from the last update!

Firstly, to answer the question I had about the model of camera I work with, I currently use is the Canon EOS 1D Mark III. For anyone looking to buy a good SLR camera, I would recommend a Canon or Nikon, which is what most sports photographers use. Both brands come in a range of models with varying features and prices, not surprisingly, the more features the higher the price!

However with both Canon and Nikon the cheaper models use a lot of the same technology that goes into their high end cameras, so you still get a very serviceable camera. Another point to consider is that most of the expense in building up a good kit of camera equipment is in the lenses rather than the actual camera body. Lenses are interchangeable between the various models of a particular brand, so if you decide to upgrade the camera body at some point, as long as you stay with the same brand, the lenses won’t need to be replaced.

On to the photo for today. Given that Sachin Tendulkar is celebrating 20 years in the game, I have selected a photo of him. I have been lucky enough to see some very memorable innings from the Little Master. His century in Melbourne during the 1999 Boxing Day Test and his double hundred in Steve Waugh’s final Test, at the SCG in 2004, are two that immediately come to mind. Another of his brilliant innings I’ve been fortunate enough to see is the innings that where I took this photo; his first innings century in the third Test in Chennai in 2001.

This series was one of the best I have seen. It was my first trip to India and I’ve been lucky enough to return to a number of times since, it’s a place I really love visiting. With the series tied at one all going into the final Test, the match had a number of twists and turns along the way to India’s thrilling two wicket victory. Tendulkar’s century was one of many highlights and also helped India to what would prove to be a crucial first innings lead.

This is an unusual photo, at first glance it looks like a fairly ordinary straight drive, until you notice that the wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist is standing in front of the batsman! Shane Warne was bowling at the time and was consistently bowling outside leg stump. This often leads to a bit of a stalemate, as the batsman can use his pads to protect his wicket, with no worry of lbw. However, Tendulkar came up with a far more rewarding tactic, turning his back to the bowler, waiting for the ball and then playing what I think is best described as a straight drive behind the wicket. He played this shot a few times, each time for four.

It is one of the things that makes cricket great, when you can watch two masters battle it out and it doesn’t get much better the Warne against Tendulkar. On this occasion Tendulkar came out on top and it was amazing to watch his inventiveness to counter Warne. The timing to play such a shot, waiting for the ball to come from behind rather than having the ball coming head on is remarkable. I’d never seen a shot played like that before and haven’t seen it since.

This photo is shot from a similar angle as the photo from my last post of Dwayne Bravo, quite straight, at a very fine leg with the batsman at the near end. As I mentioned last time, I generally start each ball focused on the batsman, which in this case worked well, as Tendulkar turned in my direction to play the shot. I like the way it almost looks like he is playing a conventional drive, but then with Gilchrist facing the other way in front of Tendulkar, puts the shot into context.

Cheers,

Hamish


LM, this foto is very unique. Please upload it whenever possible.

http://blogs.cricinfo.com/shotselection/archives/2009/11/tendulkar_turns_it_around.php[tscii:af04499136][/tscii:af04499136]

[littlemaster1982]

[html:ce06684e46]http://static.cricinfo.com/db/PICTURES/CMS/110200/110209.2.jpg[/html:ce06684e46]

[littlemaster1982]

AF,

:ty: for this photo. Only Sachin possible :notworthy:

[littlemaster1982]

Sachin: A player who is the game itself (http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/70668/Top%20Stories/Sachin:+A+player+who+is+the+game+itself.html)

If you quiz the youngest, the oldest, the staunchest or even the latest cricket convert with the following statistics, chances are that they will take no time in guessing who they belong to: 29,951 runs in 595 Tests and ODIs, 87 centuries, 144 half-centuries, and 198 international wickets.

Simple. These figures belong to Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, the most decorated cricketer the world has ever seen and one who has ruled the hearts, minds and bodies - remember the familiar flag-waving fan who paints his body in Indian flag colours with 'Tendulkar 10' emblazoned on his torso and who is present at all matches - of his millions of fans. That man is Muzaffarpur-based Sudhir Kumar, who sends him 1,000 litchis every year in gratitude for receiving match passes from the maestro. :notworthy: :notworthy:

Tendulkar, now into his 37th year, has achieved the mind blowing figures mentioned above through not just hard work, but also by keeping his focus firmly on his profession and feet firmly on the ground. He has gone about achieving his stated and undisclosed goals with perhaps the same zeal that he showed at Sharadashram Vidyamandir School in Mumbai. And he has now set his sights on perhaps his one last big wish:

holding the 50-over World Cup. He came close to achieving that in 2003 in South Africa - he tallied 673 runs to win the Player of the Tournament award - but India fell at the last hurdle. As the maestro from Mumbai completes 20 years in international cricket on Sunday - it was November 15, 1989, when he made his Test debut against Pakistan in Karachi -- he looks set to smash many more records in the upcoming months and years.

He has stated his desire to be part of a World Cup-winning team. And, luckily or not for him and the Indian team, the 2011 World Cup will be held in South Asia with the final slated in his home city. It is an advantage to play on familiar pitches and home conditions, but when you factor the fan pressure, it is perhaps not always desirable to attempt to win the most sought after title in front of highly optimistic and sentimental fans.

Timely break

Son of a professor and an extremely cultured mother, Tendulkar pursued cricket excellence from the very beginning with elder brother Ajit playing mentor. Tendulkar was also very fortunate that people who mattered in Indian cricket spotted him and appreciated his talent while others gave him the break at the right time. That's how he was able to make his Test debut as a 16-year-old prodigy. While announcing that squad, selection committee chairman Raj Singh Dungarpur had famously said that it was the "team of the 1990s". What even Raj Singh perhaps did not foresee was that Tendulkar would go on to play for an additional 10 years and more. In less than a year after his first-class debut - during which Tendulkar played just eight first-class matches and scored only two centuries - he was on the flight to Pakistan.

Although Tendulkar scored only 15 off 24 balls in his maiden Test innings in Karachi, his talent was abundantly clear in those 28 minutes that he spent at the crease at the National Stadium.

During his long journey, he has broken many records, won innumerable awards - he is the only cricketer to have won the Padma Vibhushan, the second highest Indian civil award - penned millions of signatures and spent more hours on the field than at home.

And now, Tendulkar is set to do what no other cricketer has ever done: give his blood and select bats for the most expensive cricket book ever published. The Tendulkar Opus will also contain his photographs with a tiger to be shot during a special session at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.

Tendulkar has also been affected by injuries, which are part and parcel of a sportsperson's career. In a long career that began with an unbeaten 100 for Mumbai against Gujarat at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on December 10, 1988, his toe, elbow, head, shoulder have all borne the brunt of the grind.

Heart of gold

Tendulkar has won as many hearts with his attitude, conduct, mannerisms and his down-to-earth demeanour as with his batting style. He has never been heard raising his voice; at least, it has not been recorded in print or on video. When he gets overly pestered by fans or the media, he only smiles.

His innovative fans approach Tendulkar in a variety of ways. The most amusing sight of his admirers reaching out for his autograph was witnessed by this reporter during a Lahore- Karachi flight on India's 2004 tour of Pakistan.

The fans - they were actually doctors - unashamedly but patiently queued up outside the toilet for him to come out. The moment Tendulkar emerged, they thrust their autograph books in his face. Although he was taken aback for a moment, he obliged them all.

Even when his excited fans exceed all limits, Tendulkar never loses his calm. On the Indian team's tour of Pakistan in 2006, a young couple at the Lahore airport wanted Tendulkar to hold their newborn baby so that they could click a photo with him. He politely declined to lift the baby, but agreed to pose with them. That is the cultured and principled Sachin Tendulkar for you.

[littlemaster1982]

There will never be another Sachin: Murali (http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/70958/Sports/There+will+never+be+another+Sachin:+Murali.html)

"I read in the newspapers somewhere recently that a boy in Mumbai scored 400-odd runs. The papers said he's going to be the next Sachin. How can anyone say that?" an incredulous Sri Lankan spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan asks as the Indian master batsman completed 20 years of international cricket today.

"There will never be another Sachin," Muralitharan says, paying tribute to the champion batsman with whom he has played against a lot of times during their long international career.

The world's highest wicket-taker said you get to see one Tendulkar in a life time.

"In the next hundred years you will not witness another Tendulkar. He is once-in-a-century player," he said.

"He can make runs even when he is 44 years old because his technique is so good. It is this combination of technique and temperament that has made Tendulkar such a great cricketer," said Muralitharan, who has a record of 783 scalps in Test and 512 in ODIs.

Muralitharan said he doesn't have anything new to say about the master blaster and for him it has been a privilege just to play against him.

[littlemaster1982]

[tscii:485b7ccc3e]'Competitive spirit has played a huge role in making me what I am' (http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/63444/Cover%20Story/)

On the eve of his departure for South Africa for the Champions Trophy, Sachin Tendulkar took time off for an exclusive interview with Deputy Editor Sharda Ugra. Excerpts:

Q. You're embarking on your 20th year in international cricket, the only player after Gary Sobers to do so. Does it feel that long? Do you remember it all?

A. I remember on my first tour Kapil Dev challenged me. He said: "You play for ten years". When I completed ten years, Kapil Dev was the coach so I caught him and said I've won our bet. I'm glad today I'm almost very close to doubling that. I remember things clearly. I remember most of my dismissals and I don't think any cricketer forgets that… I remember the great shots too.

Q. What part of your 16 or 20 year old self would you like to have in your game today?

A. Mentally, it's different, now. When I was younger, there have been times when I've gone out thinking of attacking from ball one, that wherever the ball is I'm going to hit a six. That kind of thought process. But I'm glad that doesn't happen today. You think differently in various stages in life and you react accordingly.

Q. What is the single biggest lesson cricket has taught you, that would save a lot of younger guys a lot of trouble if they knew?

A. I think to respect the game and to respect fellow cricketers. I was made to realise that very early on. In the early years of cricket, you have done every possible thing under the sun to achieve your target. All of a sudden you have the India cap and India T-shirt and you start thinking, oh I'm somebody special. I remember just after I started to play for India, a close friend conveyed a message through another person: "Just tell him that I've noticed that he is probably starting to think differently. The sooner he realises that, the better it is." And I sat back and I realised that, yes it was true.and that really helped me. I normally tell the youngsters who just got in the team that it's good that you are here but learn to respect the cricketers who played with you before. That would help you to stay on the ground more than anything else.

Q. More than the runs or records, the consistency of your performance stands out in your career-what's the secret?

A. I don't know how to answer this. I wish I knew the answer, I've just gone out and played with a lot of passion and I spent a lot of time preparing myself, not only physically but mentally. I spent time preparing. There have been ups and downs but when there are disappointments, I would much rather convert that negative energy into positive energy, in training harder or spending more time at the nets. The setbacks have motivated me. My thinking is simple, I want to convert those disappointments into positive energy and use it to get even more determined. That's what I've done, nothing else.

Q. They say as athletes get older their body starts to break down, give them trouble but their mind gets sharper about their game, they find out new things. What are the kind of things you have learnt?

A. You discover a lot of new things and I've been able to do that. If earlier obviously there were just a couple of ways to deal with a particular bowler, then today there would be four ways. You just know how to use what and when. It's about not accepting every little challenge thrown at you and going after that. Sometimes you hold back and when it's needed you go for it. You just calculate better and it comes with age and experience.

Q. How much was opening the batting in one-day cricket a big factor in your success?

A. Yes, it was an important phase. I remember in 1994, when Sidhu was not fit for an ODI game in New Zealand, I walked up to Azhar and Ajit Wadekar and told them 'give me one chance. I know I can hit the fast bowlers and if I fail, I will not come and ask you again.' They agreed and I scored 82 runs of 48 balls. From there on things started looking different for me.

Q. How?

A. Because I was consistently facing the new ball and playing the first spells. Also had to play shots, there was that freedom too. And while doing that, I thought I developed a few shots batting up the order, like the punch off the backfoot and the shortarm pull. I used to play those but opening the batting, there was more opportunity to do that so I did and I started using that in Test cricket more than what I would earlier. The switch worked for me. To go out there and face the first spell and look to play shots… It was good for my game because I was always thinking positively.

Q. You say that you express yourself when you're batting, but you're not really an aggressive person?

A. I've always been competitive. It's extremely important for a sportsman to be highly competitive, one should not be able to take defeat just like that. I don't believe in that 'just another game'. When I'm out competing, I want to go all the way to the end. I compete hard but compete hard in the right spirit.

Q. Do you think you changed the way Indians bat?

A. I don't know about that and I honestly didn't think much about the other players; whenever I was made to take up the challenge, I felt that I could easily go and play a particular shot against a bowler- what's the big deal. I would do it. I backed my natural instincts and I just went ahead and played my game. It wasn't like I was out there to prove something to someone. I was there to take the opposition on and put my team in a comfortable position.

Q. Do you think about your place in history?

A. I don't honestly. I haven't thought about that at all. I've not thought about it...

Q. You've said elsewhere that batting to you was finding comfort.

A. I've always believed in that. In changing my stance for example, I've always thought more about my comfort level rather than what looks good. Even if technically something people said: "You shouldn't be doing this", but if I'm comfortable and can adjust, then I would go ahead and do it. My stance depends on the wicket, it has lot to do with feel. It has nothing to do with the way I've been taught, or how I've practiced. It changes in between innings also. One over I would be batting with a different stance the next over if I feel if another particular stance would suit me better, I would change.

Q. A lot of other players say that you can get into the perfect state of mind when you are batting at will, into the zone...

A. I wish I could but I'm glad I give that impression to the opposition! But it doesn't come so easily-I would have definitely liked to be in that zone more often than not... But on various occasions I've been able to do that. It's just a level of concentration where you forget about everything else. It happened to me in the Chennai Test match against England. I didn't know we had won the game. When the opposition came towards me to shake hands, that's when I realised that yes, we've won the match because I was not looking at the scoreboard. That's when I realised I was in that zone...

Q. That was quite an emotional innings for you, given what had happened in Mumbai on November 26. Can you talk us through that?

A. We obviously wanted to win because a cricket match is virtually non-existent to what had happened. It wouldn't be right to compare the two things. At the end of the match, I saw that the groundsmen were jumping and the lady who sweeps the wicket came and shook hands. I've never experienced that before and I thought maybe that has to be because of what had happened. I felt strongly about it and I felt that for those people who lost their loved ones and dear ones… if we were able to divert their minds somewhere else even for a fraction of a second then, that would be our achievement.

Q. Did you try to understand why you had been able to enter that mental state for that game?

A. It just happened. The concentration level was very high. There's no particular formula to that. Actually, when you start making the effort then your mind is conscious about that particular thing and it doesn't happen. But in Chennai, the concentration level was such that it just happened.

Q. Have there ever been times in your career when you've thought, this is too tough, I cannot cope, I can't do this?

A. There have been tough times but at no stage I felt that I can't do it, the only stage I've felt that I don't belong here probably was after my first Test. There have been situations where there was no hope but you still go out and do what you can, you still try. If the spirit of competitiveness is not there, you are going to struggle. I feel that the competitive spirit has played a huge role in making me what I am. There have been tough situations but you still go out and you want to do something which may not have an impact on that game but it may have an impact on the series. You look at the bigger picture. If you do that, then you start approaching tough times differently.

Q. Have you ever doubted yourself, known fear or insecurity?

A. Whenever I'm injured, those phases were quite difficult. All the injuries I had were related to my batting style or batting grip. Whether it was tennis elbow or a finger injury, or bicep and shoulder, all of that is needed for you to have the right batswing and things like that. Even during recovery time I worked very hard. I had to be patient and take things as they came. That was tough.

Q. What is the toughest thing you've done on a cricket field? That you're most proud of?

A. Well, I'm proud that on my first tour to Pakistan I continued batting after being hit on the nose by Waqar. When I came back, I realised that I'd broken my nose and we managed to save that Test match. We were 34 for 4 with almost a-day-and-a-half to go. Before that we'd drawn three test matches and this was the last Test and Pakistan was in a good position. I think that has to be it.

Q. A lot has changed in Indian cricket since you made your debut. What about Indian cricket has not changed in all these years which disappoints you?

A. Most things have changed now, and I don't think that at this stage I have any complaints. Right now if I have to say then maybe the only thing which needs to be looked into is providing facilities to players who are in rural areas to spread the game as much as possible and provide equal opportunity to everyone playing it.

Q. Twenty20 has caught everyone's fancy. Do you worry that kids won't want to learn basic skills because those are not going to be used in T20

A. Well I'd say probably even Test cricket is changing. It's just progression; the game has changed and that's fine, I feel it's fine as long as Test cricket doesn't get neglected. The innovations are going to be there. Now in one-day cricket people play over the keeper's head and and play reverse sweep to fast bowlers. It makes the game exciting, it's fast. For Test cricket you get a different crowd. For T20 there are so many who come because it is exciting. They don't understand the game, but the atmosphere is such that they want to be part of it and it is fantastic for the game.

Q. Take your son-is he going to take to Tests when there's the glamour of T20 around?

A. Arjun actually likes both, he wants to wear whites and hit sixes. So it's a combination of both. I keep telling him that when you wear coloured clothing you can hit the ball up into the air and when you wear whites you have to keep the ball on the ground. I basically want him to enjoy the game more than anything else-if he enjoys the game then he is willing to go to any extents to achieving his target.

Q. Do you think coaches of the future will really want to teach Test skills to kids who are going to come to the game in the next 10 years?

A. I think it's extremely important for coaches to be teaching kids the right techniques, the right fundamentals. There are different kind of skills - to leave a ball outside the off-stump and to know where your off stump is, is an art. As long as we respect formats and just keep our thoughts and expectations for that particular format, we should be okay. Its good to be multi-dimensional, you earn money out of it and you live your passion.[/tscii:485b7ccc3e]

[viraajan]

LM, You signature :thumbsup: :clap:

sondha sarakka? :shock: :o

[19thmay]

[tscii:8980e46d1b]He is proving to all youngsters that beside your skills you need other factors including discipline, honesty, sincerity, commitment, improvising consistently; keep yourself fit both physically and mentally, down to earth etc… for a long and successful career!

Sir you are a legend! Not just in cricket. :notworthy: :notworthy: :notworthy: :notworthy: :notworthy: :notworthy: [/tscii:8980e46d1b]

[littlemaster1982]

LM, You signature :thumbsup: :clap:

sondha sarakka? :shock: :o

:ty: Amaam-nu sonna nambava poreenga :mrgreen:

[19thmay]

LM... andha forum-layum thread aarambichurukaainga...! Unga presence-a anggayum podunga! I request the same from Nerd and AF maams!

[littlemaster1982]

Varen varen :)

[littlemaster1982]

'Tendulkar controls the game' (http://www.cricinfo.com/sachinat20/content/current/story/434385.html)

What are the things that set the great man apart from mere mortals? The ability to read the game acutely, pick the ball early, dedication, discipline and more

The first time Virender Sehwag met Sachin Tendulkar was in March 2001, at a practice session ahead of the first ODI of the home series against Australia. For Sehwag, Tendulkar was the man who had inspired him to skip exams in school and allowed him to dream of cricket as a career. Sehwag was shy then, and didn't speak to his hero. He got 58 off 51 balls and picked up three wickets. Tendulkar later walked up to him and said, "You've got talent. Continue playing the same way and I'm sure you will make your name." That ability to motivate youngsters is one of the traits, Sehwag says, that makes Tendulkar special. Here he tells Cricinfo about 10 things that make Tendulkar stand out.

Discipline

He never comes late to any practice session, never comes late to the team bus, never comes late to any meeting - he is always five minutes ahead of time. If you are disciplined, it shows you are organised. And then he is ready for anything on the cricket field.

Mental strength

I've learned a lot of things from him as far as mental strength goes - on how to tacke a situation, how to tackle a ball or bowler. If you are not tough mentally, you can't score the number of runs and centuries he has in the last two decades. He is a very good self-motivator.

He always said to me: whatever the situation or whichever the bowler you face, always believe in yourself. There was this occasion in South Africa, early in my career, when I was not scoring runs fluently, so he suggested I try a few mental techniques that had worked for him. One of the things he said was: Always tell yourself you are better than others. You have some talent and that is why you are playing for India, so believe in yourself.

Picking the ball early

He can pick the ball earlier than other batsmen and that is a mark of a great batsman. He is virtually ready for the ball before it is bowled. Only great players can have two shots for one ball, like Tendulkar does, and a big reason is that he picks the ball very early.

Soft hands

I've never seen him play strokes with hard hands. He always tries to play with soft hands, always tries to meet the ball with the centre of the bat. That is timing. I have never been able to play consistently with soft hands.

Planning

One reason he can convert his fifties into hundreds is planning: which bowler he should go after, which bowler he should respect, in which situation he should play aggressively, in which situation he should defend. It is because he has spent hours thinking about all of it, planning what to do. He knows what a bowler will do in different situations and he is ready for it.

In my debut Test he scored 155 and he knew exactly what to do every ball. We had already lost four wickets (68 for 4) when I walked in, and he warned me about the short ball. He told me that the South African fast bowlers would bowl short-of-length balls regularly, but he knew how to counter that. If they bowled short of a length, he cut them over slips; when they bowled outside off stump, he cut them; and when they tried to bowl short into his body, he pulled with ease. Luckily his advice had its effect on me, and I made my maiden hundred!

Adaptability

This is one area where he is really fast. And that is because he is such a good reader of the game. After playing just one or two overs he can tell you how the pitch will behave, what kind of bounce it has, which length is a good one for the batsman, what shots to play and what not to.

A good example was in the Centurion ODI of the 2006-07 series. India were batting first. Shaun Pollock bowled the first over and fired in a few short-of-length balls, against which I tried to play the back-foot punch. Tendulkar cautioned me immediately and said that shot was not a good option. A couple of overs later I went for it again and was caught behind, against Pollock.

Making bowlers bowl to his strengths

He will leave a lot of balls and give the bowler a false sense of security, but the moment it is pitched up to the stumps or closer to them, Tendulkar will easily score runs.

If the bowler is bowling outside off stump Tendulkar can disturb his line by going across outside off stump and playing to midwicket. He puts doubts in the bowler's mind, so that he begins to wonder if he has bowled the wrong line and tries to bowl a little outside off stump - which Tendulkar can comfortably play through covers.

In Sydney in 2004, in the first innings he didn't play a single cover drive, and remained undefeated on 241. He decided to play the straight drive and flicks, so he made the bowlers pitch to his strengths. It is not easy. In the Test before that, in Melbourne, he had got out trying to flick. After that when we had a chat he said he was getting out playing the cover drive and the next game he would avoid the cover drive. I thought he was joking because nobody cannot not play the cover drive - doesn't matter if you are connecting or not. I realised he was serious in Sydney when he was on about 180-odd and he had missed plenty of opportunities to play a cover drive. I was stunned.

Ability to bat in different gears

This is one aspect of batting I have always discussed with Tendulkar: how he controls his game; the way he can change gears after scoring a half-century. Suddenly he scores 10-12 runs an over, or maybe a quick 30 runs in five overs, and then again slows down and paces his innings.

He has maintained that it all depends on the team's position. If you are in a good position you tend to play faster. He also pointed out that the batsman must always think about what can happen if he gets out and the consequences for the team. The best example is the knock of 175. I was confident he would pull it off for India and he almost did.

Building on an innings

I learned from Tendulkar how to get big hundreds. He told me early on that once you get a hundred you are satisfied for yourself. But it is also the best time to convert that into a bigger score for the team because then the team will be in a good position.

If you look at my centuries they have always been big. A good instance of this was in Multan in 2004, when he told me I had given away a good position in Melbourne (195) the previous year and the team lost, and I needed to keep that in mind against Pakistan. In Multan, in the first hundred of the triple century I had hit a few sixes. He walked up to me after I reached the century and said he would slap me if I hit any further sixes. I said why. He said that if I tried hitting a six and got out the team would lose the control over the game, and I needed to bat through the day. So I didn't hit a single six till I reached 295. By then India were 500-plus and I told him I was going to hit a six!

Dedication

This is the most important aspect of his success. In his life cricket comes first. When he is on tour he is thinking about nothing but cricket, and when he is not on tour he dedicates quality time to his family. That shows his dedication to the game and to his family. He has found the right balance.

[littlemaster1982]

A giant's peaks (http://www.cricinfo.com/sachinat20/content/story/434380.html)

Two decades of highlights: we look back at the jewels in Tendulkar's crown

119 not out v England, Old Trafford, 1990

England pile up 519 on a benign pitch, and India reply with 432. England stretch the lead to 407, and though the pitch is still good and the bowling (Devon Malcolm, Angus Fraser, Chris Lewis, Edie Hemmings) not terribly menacing, India find themselves in deep water at 127 for 5 with only one recognised batsman left. And he's only 17 years old. Tendulkar battles for nearly four hours, grimly but never dourly, and ends the day with 119. India lose only one more wicket, finishing with 343. With one more session, they might even have won.

114 v Australia, Perth, 1991-92

The fastest pitch in Australia has been reserved for the last Test. India have been beaten already, only humiliation awaits. Batting first, Australia score 346. Tendulkar enters at a relatively comfortable 100 for 3, but watches the next five wickets go down for 59. Tendulkar is the next man out... at 240. He has scored 118 of the 140 runs added while he is at the crease, and has made them in such an awe-inspiring manner that commentators ask themselves when they last saw an innings as good.

169 v South Africa, Cape Town, 1996-97

Batting first, South Africa make a match-winning 529. Playing only for honour, India find themselves grovelling before Allan Donald, Shaun Pollock, Brian McMillan and Lance Klusener. Tendulkar and Mohammad Azharuddin get together at 58 for 5, and start spanking the bowling as if they were playing a club game. They add 222 for the sixth wicket in less than two sessions, and Tendulkar has 26 boundaries in his score of 169. Donald, by his own admission, felt like applauding.

155 not out v Australia, Chennai, 1997-98

Seventy-one runs in arrears, India start the second innings and despite Navjot Singh Sidhu's 64 find themselves only 44 in front when Tendulkar joins Rahul Dravid. The duo has to contend with Shane Warne bowling from round the wicket and into the rough. Tendulkar, who has practised against Laxman Sivaramakrishnan and a few other bowlers on artificially created rough patches before the series, decides to take apart Warne. In a breathtaking assault, with the match hanging in the balance, he deploys his unique slog sweeps against the spin to steer India past Australia and snatch a match-winning 347-run lead.

Twin centuries v Australia, Sharjah, 1997-98

India are chasing Australia's 284, but more importantly they need to score 254 to beat New Zealand on net run-rate and make their way to the final. Single-handedly Tendulkar takes India close to the cut-off when sandstorms disrupt play. Just when India's prospects of making it to the final look bleak, Tendulkar not only takes them beyond the target, but for a brief while lets them entertain hopes of a win.

Twin centuries v Australia, Sharjah, 1997-98 - II

It couldn't have got better. It does. Two days later, at the same venue, chasing a similar total, 273, to win the final, Tendulkar decimates the Australian attack. By the time he is out in the 45th over, he has left India only 25 more to get. Shane Warne is so devastated he confesses Tendulkar hits him for sixes in his nightmares.

141 and 4 for 38 v Australia, Dhaka, 1997-98

Six months after having destroyed the Aussie bowlers' psyches, Tendulkar meets them again in a big-match environment: the semi-final of the ICC Champions Trophy.

And again, single-handedly he puts Australia out of the game with his third century against them in three matches. His 141 comes in 128 balls, and India are 280 in the 46th over when he gets out. To put the matter beyond doubt, Tendulkar kills an interesting contest by dismissing Steve Waugh, Michael Bevan, and Damien Martyn with 4 for 38.

136 v Pakistan, Chennai, 1998-99

Few Indian batting performances have been as heroic, or as tragic. Chasing 271 in the fourth innings of a low-scoring match, India experience a familiar top-order collapse, and are sinking fast at 82 for 5. Tendulkar finds an able ally in Nayan Mongia, and rebuilds the innings in a painstaking, un-Tendulkar-like manner. After helping add 136 for the sixth wicket, Mongia departs to an ungainly pull. Tendulkar, whose back is giving way, shifts up a gear or two and starts dealing in boundaries. But one error of judgment and it's all over. Saqlain Mushtaq defeats the intended lofted on-drive with a magical ball that drifts the other way, catches the outer part of Tendulkar's bat and balloons up to mid-off. The tail disgrace themselves, and India fall short by a gut-wrenching 13 runs.

233 not out v Tamil Nadu, Mumbai, 1999-2000

It's a Ranji semi-final against a strong Tamil Nadu, and Mumbai are looking down the barrel after their bowlers have given away 485 runs. A first-innings lead is crucial, and Mumbai look down for the count at 127 for 4 when old pal Vinod Kambli joins Tendulkar and they see Mumbai out of trouble. They are not anywhere near home when Kambli falls with the score on 266. Tendulkar then takes charge, and with the lower order, sees Mumbai just past Tamil Nadu's total and into a final Mumbai go on to win. It is just the kind of against-the-odds match-winning knock that has eluded him at international level, which is perhaps why he ranks it among his best in all forms.

155 v South Africa, Bloemfontein, 2001-02

On the first day of an overseas series, India's plight is a familiar one - four down for 68, with all the wickets going just the way the South Africans planned - to rising balls. Tendulkar has a debutant for company, with another to follow. He takes 17 balls to score his first run, but 101 come off the next 97 deliveries. It isn't the prettiest of Tendulkar's Test tons, but it is one of the most savage, characterised by pulls and vicious upper-cuts. The South Africans have a plan for India, and Tendulkar makes a mockery of it. By the time his innings ends, India are reasonably well placed, though they go on to lose the Test.

98 v Pakistan, Centurion, 2003

Tendulkar has been compelled to live this World Cup match against Pakistan for a year in advance. He does not sleep well for 12 nights going into the match. Faced with a target of 274, Tendulkar shows no anxiety whatsoever. Or is it that nervous energy? He finishes his hyped battle against Shoaib Akhtar in the latter's first over with an uppercut for six, and then a flick and a straight block for two boundaries. Every bowler is dealt with with similar disdain. Tendulkar has not looked as pumped up before. And although he misses a century, he leaves the match sealed in the 28th over.

117 not out v Australia, Sydney, 2007-08

Going into the first final of the CB Series, Tendulkar has not achieved many things: an ODI century in Australia, a century in 37 innings, a chase-winning century since 2001, a century in any chase since March 2004. In a 235-minute masterclass, he washes it all away, scoring 117 off 120 balls and leading India to the 240-run target on a difficult wicket just about solo. He dominates in the initial overs, shepherds the tentative middle order, and stays unbeaten to see the side home.

37 and 103 not out v England, Chennai, 2008-09

Tendulkar has to his name every batting record worth having, except one perhaps: a fourth-innings century in an Indian win. Having struggled against the spin of Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar in the first innings of the Chennai Test, India are left to chase 387 on a deteriorating pitch. The explosive start is provided by Virender Sehwag, and the final touches by Yuvraj Singh, but in the middle Tendulkar nurtures the chase, hardly ever looking under pressure, scampering through for singles like a teenager, breaking the shackles every now and then with the odd boundary. The last of those fours finishes the chase, and brings up the elusive century. It works a treat that it has come at the venue that was the scene of heartbreak nine years before, against Pakistan, and weeks after one of India's worst terror attacks. With Tendulkar, India smiles again.

175 v Australia, Hyderabad, 2009-10

Australia have amassed a massive 350 on a flat pitch in Hyderabad, and Tendulkar almost chases it down single-handedly. He displays through the innings how he has mastered the art of scoring quick runs without taking any risks. The only support comes from Virender Sehwag (38) and Suresh Raina (59). Tendulkar, who scores 175 off 141 balls, gives hardly a chance through the classic. When he does take risks, it's worth preserving the shots in an album: stepping out to spinners, lofting straight down the ground; the unbelievably late flicks and the even later late cuts. It all ends in heartbreak, though: in Chennai in 1999, Tendulkar, having played an innings just as incredible, left the last three wickets 17 to get; on this night he leaves them 19 off 17. The rest choke like they did in Chennai.

[Dinesh84]

Sachin Sir, :bow:

[ajithfederer]

[tscii:e020acc5f9]New Delhi: As Sachin Tendulkar marks 20
incredible years in cricket, he is once again batting for his fans.


To commemorate the cricketer’s 20 years in a special CNN-IBN initiative 20 bats personally autographed by Sachin have been put on auction for charity.


“We are honoured and delighted that Sachin is doing this for charity. I just had to call him once and he spontaneously agreed which is typical of the man whose heart is bigger than even his bat,” says CNN-IBN Editor-in-Chief Rajdeep Sardesai.


Sachin himself has been involved in a lot of charity work, in particular with Apnalaya, an NGO that works with Mumbai’s streetchildren.


Just log on to ibnlive.com/sachin and start bidding for the 20 bats.


The auction is powered by e-bay.


http://ibnlive.in.com/news/cnnibn-initiative-sachins-autographed-bats-up-for-charity/105295-5.html?from=tn [/tscii:e020acc5f9]

[ajithfederer]

[tscii:329e971465]Sachin's first Test rivals hail Indian maestro

(AFP) – 7 hours ago

KARACHI — Former rivals of Sachin Tendulkar on Sunday praised the Indian batting master on the anniversary of his Test debut against Pakistan 20 years ago, describing him as a genuine role model.

Tendulkar, who plays his 160th Test against Sri Lanka at Ahmedabad from Monday, made his debut as a 16-year-old on November 15, 1989 against Pakistan in Karachi.

Former captain Ramiz Raja, who opened the innings for Pakistan in that Test, said Tendulkar had been amazing on and off the field.

"We know what a genius Tendulkar has been but the way he has conducted himself off the field has been amazing," Raja told AFP. "He has been a great role model and there has been no controversy linked with him. It's amazing.

"Tendulkar is so graceful that youngsters will follow him in the years to come. His records will remain in the books, and may be overhauled, but his grace would be unmatchable."

Since making his debut, Tendulkar has scaled unmatchable heights, scoring 12,773 runs with 42 hundreds -- both world records in Tests -- and 17,178 with 45 centuries -- both world records -- in 436 one-day internationals.

Raja said very few people believed Kapil Dev's words on Tendulkar in 1989.

"Dev told us to watch out for this kid and described him as world class material but we thought a 16-year-old couldn't be world class and were of the opinion that Dev was praising him because he was an Indian.

"But when he showed confidence and hit Abdul Qadir for three sixes at Peshawar in a game, we realised his potential and the tour of Pakistan gave him the right kind of platform to build his great career."

Another former captain, Javed Miandad, advised young people to follow Tendulkar's example.

"Tendulkar is a genuine role model for youth of the world," said Miandad, himself a great batsman. "The way he projects himself off and on the field is remarkable and a lesson for others."

Miandad singled out Tendulkar's passion for cricket.

"I remember Tendulkar dived and took a catch off the last ball of the 50th over in a recent one-day match against Australia, which shows his passion for doing the best for India, otherwise very few people do such a thing off the last ball."

Former leg-spinner Abdul Qadir praised Tendulkar as a great batsman.

"Tendulkar is unmatchable," said Qadir, himself touted as a magician of spin. "The way he batted on that tour of Pakistan and hit quite a few sixes off me proved that he will have a great career."

Tendulkar's rival in the first Test, paceman Waqar Younis, said Tendulkar was a genius.

"The way he bats no one can match him," said Waqar, who also injured Tendulkar with a blow to his nose in the fourth Test at Sialkot. "His passion for batting never waned even he was badly hit by one of my deliveries. He has been amazing."

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jglT3i9dQ26YvFXg957JN17D9HkQ
[/tscii:329e971465]

[ajithfederer]

Tendulkar reaches career landmark
First Test, Ahmedabad: India v Sri Lanka Venue: Sardar Patel Stadium Starts: Monday, 16 November at 0400 GMT Coverage: Regular score updates plus daily reports on BBC Sport website

Tributes have poured in for India batsman Sachin Tendulkar to mark the 20th anniversary of his Test debut.

The 36-year-old will start his 160th Test when India begin a three-match series against Sri Lanka on Monday.

"It's really amazing. I am honoured to share the dressing room with him," said India captain Mahendra Dhoni.

Opposite number Kumar Sangakkara described Tendulkar as the "greatest modern cricketer" and added: "You run out of superlatives for Sachin."

Tendulkar made his debut against Pakistan in Karachi on 15 November 1989 at the age of only 16 years and 205 days.

His captain on that occasion was Kris Srikkanth, now India's chief selector, who said: "He is perhaps the most popular cricketer in the game.

"In India, every youngster who is in school or college cricket wants to become a Sachin."

Rameez Raja, who opened the batting for Pakistan in that game, praised Tendulkar's "genius" and the way he has conducted himself on and off the field.

He added: "He has been a great role model. There has been no controversy linked with him. It's amazing.

"His records may be overhauled but his grace would be unmatchable."

Since his debut, Tendulkar has scored 12,773 runs at an average of 54.58, including a Test record 42 centuries, and insists he has no plans to retire in the near future.

"I am enjoying my game and there is a lot of cricket left in me," said Tendulkar, who recently hit 175 in a limited overs international against Australia.

"Whenever I am on a cricket field I enjoy it. There is still a 16-year-old hidden inside who wants to go out and express himself."

He will join a list of only 15 players whose Test careers have lasted for two decades.

One who did not quite make it was former Australia captain Steve Waugh, who retired in 2004 after an 18-year Test career.

He hailed Tendulkar as the "Bradman of our times" and said he felt "privileged" to have played a lot of cricket against him.

Tendulkar's duel with spin bowler Muttiah Muralitharan, Test cricket's record wicket-taker, could be crucial to the outcome of his latest series.

But unlike his rival, Muralitharan, who only needs 17 more wickets to reach 800, has hinted that the end of his career could be in sight.

"We have not won (a series) in India and this could be my last tour, so the motivation is obviously there to do well," he said.


Longest Test careers

W Rhodes (Eng) 1899-1930 B Close (Eng) 1949-1976 F Woolley (Eng) 1909-1934 G Headley (WI) 1930-1954 J Traicos (SA/Zim) 1970-1993 J Hobbs (Eng) 1908-1930 G Gunn (Eng) 1907-1930 S Gregory (Aus) 1890-1912 F Brown (Eng) 1931-1953 A Nourse (SA) 1902-1924 Imran Khan (Pkn) 1971-1992 B Simpson (Aus) 1957-1978 C Cowdrey (Eng) 1954-1975 G Sobers (WI) 1954-1974 Mushtaq Mohammad (Pkn) 1959-1979

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cricket/8361245.stm

[ajithfederer]

Sachin to celebrate 20 yrs of cricket with family, friends

PTI 15 November 2009, 05:13pm IST

AHMEDABAD: Sachin Tendulkar will celebrate his 20 years in international cricket later in the day with a small gathering of family, close friends and his Indian teammates.

According to sources in the Indian team, Sachin's wife Anjali joined him this morning and would be with him at a small party at hotel St Laurn, where the team is putting up for the first Test against Sri Lanka, in the evening.

Some close friends of Tendulkar, like Sameer Dighe and Atul Ranade are also in the city to participate in the celebrations.

The vice president of the hotel Rajesh Sinha said that they have prepared a special menu for the master blaster.

"We have planned an Oriental menu for Sachin which would include sea food like prawns and lobsters as he is fond of sea food," Sinha said.

"The menu has been named S20 after Sachin and would be available from Sunday evening till they stay with us," he added.

Executive chef of the hotel Shailesh Verma said that they have prepared a five kg cake made out of swiss chocolate for Tendulkar.

"We have different preparation from asparagus, and a whole lot of things which Sachin likes. We also have prawns and salmon for him," Verma said.

Gujarat chief minister and GCA president Narendra Modi would be presenting a memento to before the Test match between India and Sri Lanka at Sardar Patel stadium, Motera on Monday.

Tendulkar, who made his international debut with a Test against Pakistan on November 15, 1989, would also be felicitated on behalf of the Gujarat government.

The Sardar Patel stadium, built in 1983, has played host to some of the most memorable moments of cricketing history.

Little master Sunil Gavaskar completed his 10,000 runs in Test cricket on this very ground, while Haryana Hurricane Kapil Dev surpassed Sir Richard Headlee's Test wicket record of 431 here.

Tendulkar also celebrated a memorable moment at this GCA ground, when he scored his maiden double century in Test cricket against New Zealand in 1999.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-5232871,prtpage-1.cms

[ajithfederer]

Actually sachin don't know what to say. Namakku nalla eludhavum varadhu. The only draught in your illustrious career is a world cup winnu solraanga. But for me it is a test series win in australia and in south africa. Please continue to bat well as you have done all these years. I don't want to say anything on when you have to retire but retire when you are on a high.

One small rekoust though: Please don't have even any remote contacts once you are done with playing cricket. These fellows in BCCI and thier goondas don't deserve you.

[ajithfederer]

If sir hits 39 runs tomorrow he will have 30k International runs. If he hits 49 runs he will have 30k International Test and ODI Runs combined.

:D.

[littlemaster1982]

Thalaivar test aadi romba naalachu. Come on Sachin 8-)

[ajithfederer]

There are only 5 tests until the end of 2010?. Can you believe that, Senthil?. I'm sure Ponting would have closed the gap to atleast 500 before that and may be even crossed Tendulkar in terms of centuries by the end of 2010.

[littlemaster1982]

There's a confusion regarding this AF. I read somwhere else that it's more than 5 tests till 2010. Let me search it.

[ajithfederer]

http://cricket.com.au/default.aspx?s=mens2009-10homefixture

OZ's play 8 test matches upto Mar 2010. 3 against WI and Pak and 2 against New Zealand.

[ajithfederer]

Sachin himself has said so in his interview that there are only 5 tests till the end of 2010.

[littlemaster1982]

AF,

This document (http://static.cricinfo.com/db/DOWNLOAD/0000/0045/ftp_2006_2012.pdf) has the number of tests we are going to play in the next two years.

This following is till 2011 WC

SL series - 3 tests (Home)
BD series - 2 tests (Away)
SA series - 3 tests (Home)
Zim series -2 tests (Away)
NZ series -3 test (Home)
SA series - 3 tests (Away)

So it's 16 tests in the next year or so. Probably Sachin was talking about end of season (i.e March 2010).

P.S: I'm unable to check the PDF at work now. I got the numbers from another forum.

[ajithfederer]

Oh my mistake then. Good to see that they are playing more tests next year. And just in case you didn't know the Future Tours Programme comes to a close in 2012. And I don't think they have worked on anything after that.

[littlemaster1982]

I think having schedules for 3 more years is more than enough. It's tough planning beyond that.

On topic, I wish Sachin plays atleast 12 out of these 16 tests. Those BD/Zim tests can afford missing Sachin.

[Nerd]

Congrats Sachin. Been following you since the early 90s. You were very much part of my growing up. Can't remember the number of exams/functions/work-days I skipped when you were at the crease. After all these years, I still don't move an inch when I watch you live. I don't know how I (we) will react the day you announce retirement :bow:

Thanks for all the articles LM and Feddy :clap:

[ajithfederer]

No no... Enna Neenga. :lol:. I want him to play all the 16. He can cut down on BD/ZIM ODI tours if he wants to.

I wish he thinks twice about playing in IPL next year. That is the major source of injuries to all the players.

[littlemaster1982]

No no... Enna Neenga. :lol:. I want him to play all the 16. He can cut down on BD/ZIM ODI tours if he wants to.

I wish he thinks twice about playing in IPL next year. That is the major source of injuries to all the players.

I guess he would opt out of those test matches. That would ensure the balance for him.

And you are right about IPL. It's not worth playing that risking his fitness.

[littlemaster1982]

You were very much part of my growing up. Can't remember the number of exams/functions/work-days I skipped when you were at the crease.

:Echo: every word.


Thanks for all the articles LM and Feddy :clap:

:) I'm yet to read most of the articles I've posted :oops:

[ajithfederer]

Naanum edhuvum padikala. Actually yesterday between 3.26 and 4.27 (for an hour exactly) I was not doing anything other than posting articles.

8-).

[littlemaster1982]

Innum 1 week aagum-nu ninaikkiren, ella articles-um padikka :lol:

[ajithfederer]

I have actually wondered how many people read whatever we post here. :). I don't read everything I post. I actually read only very few.

[littlemaster1982]

Not sure about others, but I read all the posts here. Office-la vera enna velai. :oops:

[ajithfederer]

hmm :D

[ajithfederer]

[tscii:892e07a6c8]From The Times November 16, 2009

Sachin Tendulkar: a nation unites to rejoice in 20 years of genius

Sachin Tendulkar
Rhys Blakely Yesterday marked a day of celebration in India of the type usually reserved for the honouring of religious deities — which in a way, it was. The occasion: the twentieth anniversary of the Test debut of Sachin Tendulkar, the greatest batsman of the modern era.

It may be a cliché, but that does not make it less true. In a land where cricket is a religion, the “Little Master” is revered like a god — a situation not lost on a man who prefers to mask his movements in his homeland for fear of being mobbed.

Asked to name his greatest strength last week, the 36-year-old said: “Everyone likes me ... When one billion people are wishing you well, not much can go wrong.” What would sound narcissistic from a lesser mortal passed as a modest statement of fact from the gently spoken Tendulkar.

Urchins in the slums of his native Mumbai will scream “Saaa-chhhhin” when asked to name their favourite player. “He is the best — he is the master blaster,” said Rahul Singh, 13, a schoolboy playing with a tennis ball and plank of wood on one of the city’s sun-scorched maidans — an analysis echoed by the most seasoned pundits. “He’s got 17,000 one-day runs. He’s got the world record for Test runs, too. He bats so nicely — so much better than Ponting or K. P. or M. S. Dhoni.”

The Tendulkar phenomenon began inauspiciously, on November 15, 1989, when a 16-year-old schoolboy walked out against Pakistan in the cricketing crucible of Karachi. He made a nervy 15 before being bowled by Waqar Younis, who was also making his debut. “It was the most important moment of my career,” Tendulkar told The Times last week. “That’s where it all began.”

His debut was a rare taste of failure, which Tendulkar admits led him to doubt his ability. Just a few weeks later, however, in the final Test of the series, the boy prodigy became a man when, not wearing a helmet, he took a short ball on the nose in Sialkot. Despite his nose being broken, a blood-spattered Tendulkar declined treatment and batted on. He made 57 in an innings that helped India to rediscover the romance of cricket.

Such moments have made Tendulkar a personal talisman for many of his countrymen. His career has coincided with an economic renaissance that has given many Indians a new confidence, said Venu Nair, the South Asia president of World Sports Group, which last year bought the media rights for the Indian Premier League for more than $1.5 billion (now about £90 million).

“One crucial thing was that from an early age, the wonderkid Sachin was not good only at home,” Nair said. “Wherever he went he excelled. That let an entire generation of Indians — myself included — believe we could compete anywhere.”

In an age of playboy cricketers, the breadth of Tendulkar’s fanbase is unique. India’s housewives approve of his impeccable family man credentials. Those scraping by can relate to a man of modest background who did not take a holiday abroad until a decade into his career. Advertising executives share their enthusiasm: endorsing products from cement to luxury watches will earn Tendulkar as much as £8 million this year.

Yet his career is not without traces of misfortune. He captained his country for two stints, neither successful. More poignantly, perhaps, his fate has often been to save his nation’s honour, with many of his finest knocks — most notably, perhaps, his 136 against Pakistan in the 1999 Chennai Test, widely regarded as one of the finest innings ever — coming in games that an underperforming India side lost.

“Yes, you feel bad,” Tendulkar said. “I have done well, but the team hasn’t. And I play for the team. It’s been a difficult thing.”

To dwell on such shortcomings, however, would be to miss the greatness of Tendulkar.

Long before his first Test innings he had been marked as special. Batting for his school, Shardashram, in Mumbai (then Bombay) in 1988 he was part of a record unbroken 664-run partnership that reduced a hapless opposition to tears and made headlines in the national papers. Later that year, aged 15, he hit an unbeaten century on his first-class debut for Bombay against Gujarat.

Then, with the weight of India’s expectations heaped on his shoulders far from home, the prodigy blossomed.

Touring England in 1990, Tendulkar, then 17, became the second-youngest cricketer to score a Test century, making 119 at Old Trafford in an innings Wisden called “a disciplined display of immense maturity”.

In 1992 he hinted at the true scale of his greatness, scoring 114 against Australia in Perth on what was billed as the world’s fastest pitch. In the same series, an unbeaten 148 in Sydney prompted Merv Hughes to tell Allan Border: “This little p***k’s going to get more runs than you.”

Hughes was right: last year Tendulkar surpassed Brian Lara’s record for most Test runs. For Ricky Ponting, he is “the guy that sets the benchmark as far as batting is concerned ... guys like me and the rest just chase and get as close as we can to him”.

In fact, nobody in the game seems to have a bad word to say about Tendulkar — one suspects because he is genuinely nice off the field. Donald Bradman, no less, once said he was “very, very struck” by how Tendulkar’s “compactness and his stroke production and his technique ... seemed to gel” — mirroring, the Australian believed, his own strokeplay.

When he reaches the very top of his game, however, Tendulkar has emphasised his ability to enter a state of zen-like calm. “It’s just a level of concentration when you forget everything else,” he said. “Against the same bowler, under the same conditions, at the same pace, when your mind is free you have time to play your shots; when you have too many thoughts in your mind, you are late.”

Two decades into his career he may not quite be able to replicate the jaw-dropping genius of his youth, but he can revisit this trance-like state. Against England in Chennai, in the Test that followed the Mumbai terror attacks last year, Tendulkar said that he did not realise that India had won until the opposition came to the crease to shake his hand. He scored an unbeaten 103.

“He hasn’t just survived, he’s left his imprint on every situation,” Harsha Bhogle, the doyen of Indian cricket commentators, said. “It is a colossal achievement. On his first tour of England he batted against Eddie Hemmings, who had made his first-class debut seven years before Tendulkar was born. He now shares a dressing room with kids who were having their umbilical cord cut when he was scoring his first century.”

Sachin Tendulkar gives The Times his top 20 moments in cricket:

1 Wearing the India cap for the first time against Pakistan in Karachi, aged 16 years 205 days
2 First Test hundred 119 not out at Old Trafford in 1990, aged 17 years 112 days
3 1992 Perth Test hundred 114 v Australia on lightning WACA pitch
4 Hero Cup semi-final v South Africa, 1993 Bowls the last over and concedes only three runs to secure victory
5 82 at Auckland, 1994 rapid match-winning one-day innings as an emergency opener
6 Titan Cup victory 1996 leads India to triumph
7 Sahara 1997 Cup, Toronto Captains under-strength India to 4-1 series win over Pakistan
8 155 not out v Australia, Chennai takes Shane Warne apart on turning pitch
9 Sharjah Sandstorm ton the first of back-to-back hundreds off Australia
10 Meeting Don Bradman with Shane Warne on the Don’s 90th in 1998
11 2002 Leeds ton a superb 193
12 2003 World Cup game v Pakistan 98 off 75 balls in a six-wicket win
13 first Test series win away to Pakistan in 2003-04
14 35th ton v Sri Lanka in Delhi passes Sunil Gavaskar’s 34 centuries
15 2007 Nottingham Test win a grafting 91 in the Jellybean Test
16 Perth Test win 2008 a fine way for India to come back from a controversial defeat in Sydney
17 2007-08 Commonwealth Bank series ton 117 not out to win first final at the SCG
18 Mohali v Pakistan, 2004-2005 Test century overhauling Brian Lara’s record run tally
19 Chennai Test v England 2008 103 not out to secure emotional win after Mumbai atrocities
20 175 v Australia Hyderabad the latest thrilling one-day innings

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/cricket/article6918018.ece[/tscii:892e07a6c8]

[Nerd]

I have actually wondered how many people read whatever we post here. :). I don't read everything I post. I actually read only very few.
Though I don't frequent this section these days, i read all the posts in this thread. But last ~10 pages-la 4 page dhAn padichirukkEn. naaLaikku office dhukku irukku :smokesmile:

[19thmay]

Indha vaaram Sportsstar padicheengala? :)

[ajithfederer]

http://www.hinduonnet.com/tss/stories/20091114500700400.htm

This one??.

[littlemaster1982]

Indha vaaram Sportsstar padicheengala? :)

Bought it yesterday. Last few pages thavira full-a thalaivar patthidhaan 8-)

AF,

Yeah, that's the one. Print-la innum super :P

[Nerd]

Yes, adhai pathiyum engayO padichEn, sach orkut community perhaps. naaLaikku padikkanum.

[19thmay]

Yes Stan. Great interview! 8-)

[wrap07]

sachin :clap: :notworthy:

[Movie Cop]

A rare picture of Gavaskar, Tendulkar, Vishy and Big B together 8-)

http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/content/image/434289.html

Wow! 2009 is a year of milestones. Gavsakar 60, Vishy 60 & Tendulkar 20! 8-)

[ajithfederer]

What the hELL?. I don't see the first part of sachin's thread in this section?. LM or PR can you please check?.

[Sourav]

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/getimage.dll?path=TOICH/2009/11/15/20/Img/Ad0200402.png

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/getimage.dll?path=TOICH/2009/11/15/20/Img/Ad0200501.png

:bow: :bow: :bow:

[Plum]

If we count T20s, doesn't sachin have 30k runs already?

[MADDY]

Sachin says "Mumbai is for all Indians" :bow:
Bal Thackeray warns "dont lose in political pitch watever u earned in cricket pitch"
ROI including BJP slams Bal Thackeray :lol: ......"chappani" raj thackeray, smartly, gives holiday to his marathi agenda and moves on :lol2:

[ajithfederer]

No. He has only 10 runs in one t20 match.

If we count T20s, doesn't sachin have 30k runs already?

[Plum]

Balasaheb is desparate. I suspect though if kris srikkanth was in a similar situation w.r.t to tamizh kaavalrgaL, he'd get much support like sachin is getting?
(Keeping in mind that the reasons fo the politicians would be simila. Keep aside the relative statutre of the cricketers in question)

Shiv Sena is in the stage of evolution where tn politicians were in the 70s. In a few decades, maybe raj thackeray will be a mellowed down, family empire builder, part timing as a marathi ina kaavalar? :-)

[ajithfederer]

Guys keep political discussions out please. I saw that article the other day itself and avoided posting for the same reasons.

[MADDY]

Plum, more on current affairs section

[19thmay]

Interesting articles from this week sportstar

Comparison between Sachin-Lara-Ponting (http://www.hinduonnet.com/tss/stories/20091114501601600.htm)

Tendulkar the bowler (http://www.hinduonnet.com/tss/stories/20091114502502600.htm)

Team mates Tributes (http://www.hinduonnet.com/tss/stories/20091114502802900.htm)

Thalaivar's interview (http://www.hinduonnet.com/tss/stories/20091114501300900.htm)

[littlemaster1982]

What the hELL?. I don't see the first part of sachin's thread in this section?. LM or PR can you please check?.

Yes :shock: Will check with admin.

[ajithfederer]

Please do the needful. Rendu varusha thread adhu. It would be seriously bad if i lose that thread. I specifically made a request to mods to archive that thread when the second one was started. The first thread had almost all centuries (both Test and ODI) covered extensively.


What the hELL?. I don't see the first part of sachin's thread in this section?. LM or PR can you please check?.

Yes :shock: Will check with admin.

[Movie Cop]

[tscii:9fffc89342]
Interesting articles from this week sportstar

Comparison between Sachin-Lara-Ponting (http://www.hinduonnet.com/tss/stories/20091114501601600.htm)


It beats me when the so called Aussie “experts” have been successful in selling it off to the rest of the world that Ponting is in the same league as Tendulkar/Lara. As a result, I tend to get worked up when I see a comparison chart of Ponting alongside Tendulkar/Lara.

In Test cricket, agreed, Ponting currently has a better statistics than Tendulkar & Lara. But still I can’t think of Ponting being in the same league as Tendulkar/Lara. Ponting has lot of chinks in his technique. He is not a complete ‘all round’ batsman like the ever consistent Tendulkar or a mercurial Lara. Ponting is not a good player of spin. A good/quality spinner can actually sort him out easily. Plus he is a bit suspect to swinging/seaming conditions. Traditionally, Aussies visit England for Ashes during the second half of the summer where the weather for the most part is not overcast and the wickets are generally dry. I bet he will be susceptible to seaming conditions if he were to play in England during May or early June.

Remember, Tendulkar scored a brilliant hundred in May '96 Edgbaston Test against a four pronged English seam attack. Even as the rest of the Indian batting started crumbling at one end, unable to cope up with the swing and seam on a lively wicket, Tendulkar composed a superb century (or a symphony, I should say) at the other end. That was an innings which every aspiring cricketer should watch to learn from the master on how to bat on a seaming wicket with cloud cover! :notworthy: Also, Ponting has a tendency to struggle when batting on slower wickets where there isn't enough carry.

You could compare batsmen in two ways - technique, elegance. On both counts, Ponting is not in the same league as Tendulkar. To me, the only modern day batsman who can play all the shots in the book, be at ease on any kind of wicket and can handle any kind of bowler with utmost comfort is Sachin Tendulkar. Period! :smokesmile:
[/tscii:9fffc89342]

[ajithfederer]

LM, What happened?. Have we lost the thread?.

[Benny Lava]

[tscii:ae63ca2b08]
Interesting articles from this week sportstar

Comparison between Sachin-Lara-Ponting (http://www.hinduonnet.com/tss/stories/20091114501601600.htm)


It beats me when the so called Aussie “experts” have been successful in selling it off to the rest of the world that Ponting is in the same league as Tendulkar/Lara. As a result, I tend to get worked up when I see a comparison chart of Ponting alongside Tendulkar/Lara.

In Test cricket, agreed, Ponting currently has a better statistics than Tendulkar & Lara. But still I can’t think of Ponting being in the same league as Tendulkar/Lara. Ponting has lot of chinks in his technique. He is not a complete ‘all round’ batsman like the ever consistent Tendulkar or a mercurial Lara. Ponting is not a good player of spin. A good/quality spinner can actually sort him out easily. Plus he is a bit suspect to swinging/seaming conditions. Traditionally, Aussies visit England for Ashes during the second half of the summer where the weather for the most part is not overcast and the wickets are generally dry. I bet he will be susceptible to seaming conditions if he were to play in England during May or early June.

Remember, Tendulkar scored a brilliant hundred in May '96 Edgbaston Test against a four pronged English seam attack. Even as the rest of the Indian batting started crumbling at one end, unable to cope up with the swing and seam on a lively wicket, Tendulkar composed a superb century (or a symphony, I should say) at the other end. That was an innings which every aspiring cricketer should watch to learn from the master on how to bat on a seaming wicket with cloud cover! :notworthy: Also, Ponting has a tendency to struggle when batting on slower wickets where there isn't enough carry.

You could compare batsmen in two ways - technique, elegance. On both counts, Ponting is not in the same league as Tendulkar. To me, the only modern day batsman who can play all the shots in the book, be at ease on any kind of wicket and can handle any kind of bowler with utmost comfort is Sachin Tendulkar. Period! :smokesmile:
[/tscii:ae63ca2b08]Exactly! Besides, throughout his career, the best bowlers in the world were always in his side and his most productive years were those when the test wickets had already become benign and batsman friendly (not to mean that he hasn't played on bowler friendly wickets, but he has faced fewer challenges than either Lara or Sachin, not to mention Sachin's overall mastery of all types of bowlings and conditions)

[ajithfederer]

need some stats help
I had argument with my frd ...
for
Sachin vs glenn Mcgrath ....

of course I was on the side that overall sachin had dominated this clash ....

can anyone put a light on it ....

for odis
this is the bowler by bowler list of sachin

http://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/35320.html?class=2;template=results;type=batting;v iew=bowler_summary

his average against mcgrath in odis is 24 and has been dismissed 7 out of 23 times.....
those 7 innings are

http://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/35320.html?bowler=2101;class=2;template=results;ty pe=batting;view=dismissal_list

for tests
well for test they have played 9 matches together in which sachins average is 22 and has been dismissed 6 times by him......

http://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/35320.html?class=1;template=results;type=batting;v iew=bowler_summary


those 6 innings are

http://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/35320.html?bowler=2101;class=1;template=results;ty pe=batting;view=dismissal_list

http://www.orkut.com/Main#CommMsgs?cmm=23803&tid=5405511105641925014

[Plum]

Edhukku innoru T20 tournamentla sign up paNdrAr(allegedly)? (http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2009/nov/19/mcc-middlesex-sachin-tendulkar-adam-gilchrist)

[ajithfederer]

Sachin Tendulkar's 20 years in cricket (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDIrn_PS59I)

Sachin Tendulkar's 20 years in cricket (2) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6DTAJOViDE&feature=related)

Sachin Tendulkar's 20 years in cricket (3) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdkjUwhQfTc&feature=related)

[ajithfederer]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJjg0mNMUV0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IazpoQfD1Q&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaasEIaTjPM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCCoTPbJPgA&feature=related

Sachin's first innings from the first test match against Pak at 1989.

[ajithfederer]

please confirm that what cricinfo has posted is correct

with mcgrath in team sachin has made 821 runs in 23 odis at an average of 35.7 and not 24 as u suggest

with mcgrath in team ,sachin has scored 662 runs in 9 tests at average of 37 and not 22 as u suggest .

If you want then i can give you list of each innings along with matches where mcgrath got srt

I would like to add one more thing - after seeing an average of 37 when mcgrath plays sachin critics or sachin haters will get a chance to question srt v/s mcgrath , i wud like to tell its just that sachin had 2 bad tests when mcgrath was in team -one the 1996 test at delhi where srt got 10 runs from 2 knocks and 2nd one the eden garden's historic 2001 match where srt made 20 runs from 2 knocks - if you take out these 2 tests then with mcgrath in team rest of 14 knocks srt has got 632 runs .

In these 14 knocks sachin was incorrectly given out on 4 occassions
1) 99 series at adelaide in 2nd innings -shoulder before wicket for 0
2)next match at mcg -given out bat pad when the ball was no where near bat for 52
3)in same series 3rd test at scg - sachin was given incorrectly given out LBW when ball was clearly missing stumps. he made 45
4)In last test of 2001 series at chennai again sachin was given out of no ball for a run a ball 17 chasing 155 to win

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
in these 4 knocks srt made 114 runs

since these innings were curtailed due to poor umpiring and for no mistake of srt,if we take these out ,in remaining 10 innings srt has made 518 runs at 51.8 with mcgrath in team

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

failing in 2 tests out of 9 tests is no indication of sachin being troubled by mcgrath ....
Moreover mcgrath has got srt out for 6 out off 18 innings , out of which 2 times with the help of umpires.



need some stats help
I had argument with my frd ...
for
Sachin vs glenn Mcgrath ....

of course I was on the side that overall sachin had dominated this clash ....

can anyone put a light on it ....

for odis
this is the bowler by bowler list of sachin

http://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/35320.html?class=2;template=results;type=batting;v iew=bowler_summary

his average against mcgrath in odis is 24 and has been dismissed 7 out of 23 times.....
those 7 innings are

http://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/35320.html?bowler=2101;class=2;template=results;ty pe=batting;view=dismissal_list

for tests
well for test they have played 9 matches together in which sachins average is 22 and has been dismissed 6 times by him......

http://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/35320.html?class=1;template=results;type=batting;v iew=bowler_summary


those 6 innings are

http://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/35320.html?bowler=2101;class=1;template=results;ty pe=batting;view=dismissal_list

http://www.orkut.com/Main#CommMsgs?cmm=23803&tid=5405511105641925014

[ajithfederer]

Regarding odis , getting sachin out for 7 out off 23 odis is not that great .
till the wc 99 match at oval , mcgrath had got srt out only twice in 7 odis . srt had scores of 6,110,47,90,7,88,62 in those matches . sachin scored a total of 410 in 7 knocks at avg of 59

it was only for a brief period from WC99 match to the vb series in 99 where srt struggled against aussies with scores of 0(WC 99 ),12,1,18,3 in 5 innings and then also mcgrath got him 2 times in 5 matches.In that vb series though srt failed against aussies , he was playing well against an even better attack of pakistan , which had
Wasim Akram,Waqar Younis,Shoaib Akhtar,Abdur Razzaq,Saqlain Mushtaq,Azhar Mehmood... So it was not that sachin struggled against Mcgrath .
After that again in nairobi in CT 2000 srt hit mcgrath for 3 sixes and made 38 runs ,and again dominated mcgrath for 2001 series . the next 6 scores for srt were 38,35,32,139,62,12=316 runs in 6 matches again at an avg of almost 53

Again the next 5 knocks cud not be as good as srt managed only 66 in those .here also sachin got a nice 36 in league match of WC03 but none cud support him and india made a poor 120+ score .in final srt got just 4 ,but the match was lost before india came out to bat
the next 3 knocks for sachin were when he was in his worst phase struggling with tennis elbow and many recurring injuries and hence cud not have any rythm ....
when you just see stats it is far too easy to feel that sachin was dominated by mcgrath , but when you see each phase of srt's career you will understand that it is not so.
one must understand that when one has a career as long as srt , then he is bound to have some downs ,but rather than crucifying sachin for his few downs we as sachin fans must enjoy the joy he has given us
@threadstarter
If aussies were dependent on a single man , glenn mcgrath then could never have become world champs , they too wud be like india before 2000

[ajithfederer]

@siddharth

you know what method do these statisticians employ for a batsman v/s bowler average ?

they only take the batsman's those innings where his wicket is taken by that bowler .
this means that if sachin and mcgrath are faced against each other 18 times in tests
.In which mcgrath has got sachin out 6 times and in these sachin's scores are 0,0,45,76,10,2

total of the above 6 knocks is 0+0+45+76+10+2=133

133 runs from 6 innings

hence avg= 133/6 =22 .16

now tell me what kind of a logic is this that you exclude a batsman's innings where that bowler has not got him out .what kind of reward are the statisticians giving to the bowler for not able to get the batsman's wicket or what kind of punishment are you giving to a batsman who has not given (protected) his wicket against a great bowler like mcgrath.

in 12 innings where mcgrath has not got sachin's wkt , sachin has made 529 runs in 12 knocks

hence avg=529 / 12 = 44.08


this illogical technique by so called cricket's official website is misused by sachin haters and lara fanatics to degrade sachin as lara has been dismissed by mcgrath much more than mcgrath has dismissed sachin .... so naturally lara's great knocks like 213,132 etc will be included while calculating lara v/s Mcgrath avg since mcgrath got him and unfortunately for sachin he has never got out to Mcgrath once he has settled ... so that means srt's great knocks like 126 at chennai in 2001, 116 at mcg, etc will be discarded as someone else got sachin's wicket

[ajithfederer]

the way the cricinfo people have maintained sachin's profile itself shows how much they respect sachin . these chaps can find loads of space to mention even runs scored by chanderpaul in series, they find space and time to write loads of information on other players , they can maintain the test match strike rates of all mordern players even the zimbabawe and bangladeshi players ,except for one and that is "Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar"

they can mention heroics of someone in a county or a league match , but they don't find any space , time to mention sachin's ODI achievements in sachin's profile . they can write about the list of matches saved by a player who scores a 80 odd along with a regular test opener who too scores a 80+ against SA , but they can't remember a 176 made by "Sachin" on crumbling pitch at eden gardens on last day and 4 wickets down with india still about 200 behind windies total and not even mention it in his profile.

To whom have these stupid cricinfo people given the job of writing a legend's profile -
"Sambit Bal " that fool does not even find time to update the profile after oct 2008.
i don't think its updated till 2008 also.No mention of srt's contribution in taking india to 96 WC semis and 2003 WC finals ,No mention of CB series triumph in 2008, no mention of 103* chasing 384 v/s eng, no mention of the 193 at headingley in 2002 , ,nothing about the 1998 sharjah tournament,no mention of 1998 series v/s aus, no mention of 2007 series against aussies nothing about 169 v/s SA coming in at 58 for 5 , no mention of 155 when india were 68 for 4 v/s SA , no mention of grittiness involved in 241*,had the same knocks come from a ponting,lara,inzy then the cricinfo wud definitely have made a paragraph long description
Writing just that "Sachin is the most wholesome batsmen" does not mean that writer has done a great favour on sachin

[ajithfederer]

MCG test 99 sachin made 50 in the first innings....he hit mcgrath for 16 in the over but got out of the last ball...so they had a great rivalry


Well in MCG test of 99 series in 1st innings sachin got 116 and not 50 as u said. Also in 2nd innings sachin made 52 .In both innings sachin was not dismissed by Mcgrath

Check all matches ,only once has it happened in tests that sachin has got out to Mcgrath after scoring 50+ , this was in mumbai test of 2001 where sachin was out for 76
this proves that Mcgrath was only able to get sachin at the start of sachin's innings, which is not that special since all batsman are more susceptible at the beginning of innings ......

if at all it ever seems that Mcgrath had troubled sachin that was only the WC03 final and WC99 when Mcgrath got sachin early , but even that does not prove that Mcgrath troubled sachin as people remember Mcgrath getting sachin in those 2 matches but forget some gems from sachin where he thrashed Mcgrath

-110 in colombo in 1994
-47 in 40 balls in NZ centenary tournment in 94
-90 from 84 balls in WC96 where Mcgrath at one stage had bowled 1st 3 overs as maidens to others ,but still mcgrath's figures after 8 overs was 8 overs 3maidens 0 for 48
-88 in the 3rd match of titan cup when ind needed 213 and srt got the 88 off 150 scored till he was at crease
-62 off 60 balls ,this was a must win match
-38 of 31 balls in nairobi , where srt got 3 sixes off Mcgrath
-35 off 26 balls in 1st match off 2001 series where VVS got sachin run out .
-32 off 29 balls
-139 off 125 in 3rd match of 2001 series - only once did mcgrath get sachin after making 50+in odis that too after sachin had already scored a mamoth 139
-62 off 38 balls when india needed 338 to win and next highest scorer for india was harbhajan with 46
-36 in league match of WC03 ,although sachin took 59 balls ,he had hit Mcgrath for 3 fours in an over until wickets started falling around him and then he had to slow down

contd ....

[ajithfederer]

Guys

These are all the posts made by a lady orkuteer called Sheetal Bhosle (http://www.orkut.com/Main#Profile?uid=11511669316600008917). God she is such a sachin fanatic that when I posted the dravid article and quoted eventhough it is not true she started abusing me. I had to really explain her what I was trying to say there and i was not in anyway trying to demean Tendulkar :lol:.

She has really a great amount of cricket and sachin knowledge.

[ajithfederer]

@sachinindia

so you see who has been dominating whom .... getting sachin out for below 40 in only 3 times in 18 innings is not at all great (excluding the shoulder before wkt , which was umpire who got sachin out more than mcgrath ) where as sachin despite being given out incorrectly for 4 to 5 times in 9 tests still managed to score 662 runs that too despite playing against 13 players -11 aussies and 2 umpires.

even odis the scenario is same . people remember only 2 things the 99 WC match and the 2003 WC final . the 2003 WC final was lost well before india came out to bat and in 99 it was foolishness of Azhar which cost us the match , despite knowing that like at durban , at oval the ball swings too much in the evening , Azhar put aussies into bat for a reason best known to Azhar - as in those days india was not known to be great chasers .

but why don't anyone remember that same sachin has thrashed mcgrath in as many as 11 matches with mcgrath getting him only once for a score off 139 .

Agreed Mcgrath is one of the greatest bowlers, perhaps the best of 90's along with Allan Donald,Wasim Akram and Curtly Ambrose , Also sachin rated him as the most difficult to face (anyone would ) ,but to say that Mcgrath and Sachin are equal head o head is wrong . More than Mcgrath has troubled sachin , its sachin who has dominated the likes of Mcgrath and Warne more number of times as i have indicated in the earlier post stats.

[littlemaster1982]

Guys

These are all the posts made by a lady orkuteer called Sheetal Bhosle (http://www.orkut.com/Main#Profile?uid=11511669316600008917). God she is such a sachin fanatic that when I posted the dravid article and quoted eventhough it is not true she started abusing me. I had to really explain her what I was trying to say there and i was not in anyway trying to demean Tendulkar :lol:.

She has really a great amount of cricket and sachin knowledge.

I've seen her posts too. Stats-lam finger tips-la vachiruppaanga andha ammani :lol:

[Plum]

AF, LM: ammaNI Dhoni pathi enna nenaikkarAnga? :-)

[littlemaster1982]

Most of her posts would be defending Sachin with proper stats and analysis. Haven't seen anything pro or anti Dhoni.

[ArulprakasH]

Sachin 100 and 30K international runs :clap: :notworthy:

[viraajan]

Thalaivaaaaa........ :clap: :bow:

[littlemaster1982]

[html:7da33ea2e3]http://i49.tinypic.com/1h9t3c.jpg[/html:7da33ea2e3]

[Plum]

LM, idhellAm nallA thAn irukku. But Ponting WI-ku edhirA pattaiya keLappuvAnE? epdiyum avanukku dhAN record. namma ippodhaikku sandhosha pattukkalAm avLO dhAn :-(

[littlemaster1982]

Neengalum unga negative chatterjee-yum :twisted:

[ajithfederer]

Other Important Milestones awaiting

1. 600 International matches(436 - ODI, 160- Test 1- t20). 3 more matches Needed

2. 123 runs needed for 13,000 Test runs.

[ajithfederer]

another record is waiting.................

Highest no. of innings in Test Cricket...

Just 2 away from Allan Border...

[ajithfederer]

43rd Test Century - 88th Int'l Century - 30,000 Int'l Runs.

:smokesmirk:

[ajithfederer]

boyfriendaa kooda nenaikalam.

AF, LM: ammaNI Dhoni pathi enna nenaikkarAnga? :-)

[Thirumaran]

43rd Test Century - 88th Int'l Century - 30,000 Int'l Runs.

:smokesmirk:
by end of this series 13000 runs in Test :boo:

[vasanth2006]

Interesting articles from this week sportstar

Comparison between Sachin-Lara-Ponting (http://www.hinduonnet.com/tss/stories/20091114501601600.htm)

Tendulkar the bowler (http://www.hinduonnet.com/tss/stories/20091114502502600.htm)

Team mates Tributes (http://www.hinduonnet.com/tss/stories/20091114502802900.htm)

Thalaivar's interview (http://www.hinduonnet.com/tss/stories/20091114501300900.htm)

The webpage can not be found.... :(

[ajithfederer]

Cricket
Tendulkar Sets Record With 30,000 Runs
Aijaz Rahi/Associated Press

Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar celebrated scoring a century during the match against Sri Lanka in Ahmadabad, India, on Friday.
Article Tools Sponsored By

By HUW RICHARDS
Published: November 20, 2009

Sachin Tendulkar became the first man to complete 30,000 runs in international cricket with a match-saving innings for India against Sri Lanka in Ahmedabad on Friday.

Tendulkar, who needed 39 runs to reach the mark, went on to score 100 not out, his 43rd score of 100 or more in five-day tests and his 88th in all forms of international cricket. India, which had begun its second innings with a deficit of 334, was 412 for 4 when the match, first of a series of three, ended as a draw.

Setting records has become commonplace for Tendulkar, with every innings building on an immense personal monument. He is the all-time leader for runs and centuries in both five-day tests and one-day internationals. He has reached 30,000 runs in all forms, with his closest rival, Ricky Ponting of Australia, still 6,000 behind.

His latest triumph came in the week when he celebrated 20 years as an international cricketer. At 36, still fit, in form and evidently still hungry he has power to add further achievements.

It was an appropriate conclusion to a match which, after a misleading first morning dominated by bowlers, became a stat-fest for the batsmen. Sri Lanka’s score of 760 for 7 was the highest in 76 years of test cricket in India.

It also saw the demise of one of the most venerable records in the game. The mark for the highest sixth wicket stand in tests — 346 runs by the Australians Donald Bradman and Jack Fingleton against England at Melbourne — was set in 1937.

It was beaten by Mahela Jayawardene and Prasanna Jayawardene, not related, who added 351 for Sri Lanka’s sixth wicket. They erased the last test partnership record from before World War II.

The old record was in every sense the product of another age. Bradman and Fingleton came in low down the order because, with the match in the balance, Australia sent in its specialist bowlers first. Batting was impossible on a wet wicket drying under the Melbourne sun. Bradman, as captain, reckoned the bowlers were as likely to survive as the specialist batsmen, with the time they took at the crease allowing the pitch to dry and become easier.

It worked brilliantly. Australia lost five wickets for 97 runs before Bradman, who usually batted at number three, came in at number seven to join Fingleton, usually an opener. Their stand of 346 runs turned not only the match, but a series and possibly Bradman’s career.

Australia had been two down in a five-match series. It ended by winning the series, 3-2, the only team ever to have won from two down. Bradman, in his first series as captain, had been under fire. His position was never again in serious question before his retirement, as Sir Donald, in 1948.

Such conditions are now impossible, as wickets are covered during rain delays.

Those in which the Jayawardenes batted could scarcely have been more benign, but they played with purpose to put Sri Lanka in a position where it could declare its innings closed with a day and a half left. This allowed it to press for its first ever victory in India, where it has played 14 tests on six previous visits.

Mahela underlined his appetite for huge scores with 275, his sixth score of more than 200 in tests. The more significant innings, though, was played by Prasanna. He is generally regarded as the best wicket keeper in the world, his skills honed by the demands of keeping to the varied and often unorthodox group of bowlers fielded by Sri Lanka.

Yet this is only his 28th test match in nine years. Wicket keeper remains the most specialized role in cricket, but keepers no longer win selection on that skill alone. They are required to be able to bat as well.

Prasanna Jayawardene’s score of 154 not out should have secured his place. This will be a relief not only to the bowlers, but to Sri Lanka’s captain, Kumar Sangakarra. He is the alternative wicket keeper — a job that he performs highly competently. But to keep as well as captain and bat at number three would be an intolerable burden.

India’s captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, keeps wicket — and scored a century in the first innings, making this only the second time in test history that both keepers have passed 100 in the same match — but bats seventh, giving him a break while his top order is batting.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/21/sports/cricket/21iht-CRICKET.html

I'm actually surprised that nytimes writes an article on sachin !!!. [tscii:bc871e89f6][/tscii:bc871e89f6]

[ajithfederer]

Tendulkar record as India draw Test
November 20, 2009 -- Updated 1739 GMT (0139 HKT)

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

* Sachin Tendulkar scores 43rd Test century as India draw first Test
* Tendulkar goes past 30,000 international runs in his unbeaten knock
* Gautam Gambhir hits century for third successive Test in rearguard action
* First one-day international between England and South Africa rained off

(CNN) -- Sachin Tendulkar was unbeaten on exactly 100 and passed 30,000 international runs as India batted out for a draw in the opening Test against Sri Lanka in Ahmedabad on Friday.

Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir, who made 114, helped India to 412 for four wickets when the match was called off on the fifth day.

The home side had faced a massive 334 runs deficit on first innings and were in danger of losing a Test to the Sri Lankans for the first time on home soil.

Batting maestro Tendulkar reached the new record landmark, he is the leading run-getter iin Test and one--day internationals, when he reached 35 soon after lunch, turning Chanaka Welegedara to square-leg for a routine single.

He was on his way to his 43rd Test century, but the result was still in doubt when Gambhir departed.
Fact Box
Sachin Tendulkar scores 43rd Test century

36 year-old also passes 30,000 international runs

Tendulkar has 12,877 Test runs

He has also scored 17,188 runs in one day and Twenty20 games

But Tendulkar compiled an unbroken fifth wicket stand of 137 with VVS Laxman, who finished unbeaten on 51.

It completed a high-scoring Test in which 1,598 runs were scored with just 21 wickets falling.

Sri Lanka placed their hopes on Test world record holder Muttiah Muralitharan but he was wicketless in the second innings despite bowling 38 overs.

Gambhir was making his third century in successive Tests, but once again it was Tendulkar who stole the headlines as the 36-year-old continues to add more runs to his massive tally.

The second Test of the three-Test series starts in Kanpur on Tuesday.

In other cricket news, the first one-day international between South Africa and England in Johannesburg was called off due to heavy rain at the Wanderers.

v

[CEDYBLUE]

[tscii:459d0bea4d]The Sachin Experience :D


It is impossible to outgrow Indian sport’s most celebrated Boy Wonder, writes Nirmal Shekar

Some time in the future, neuroscientists will perhaps have the answer. But right now it is impossible to say why there are distinctly different kinds of emotional reactions among Indian cricket fans while watching a) Sachin Tendulkar and, b) Other players.

The effect produced by a Sachin masterpiece — such as the against-all-odds 175 against Australia at Hyderabad recently — appears to be unique.

This is equally true of a Sachin failure. He doesn’t just botch paddle-scoops, he plunges an entire nation of a billion-plus people into a prolonged spell of mourning. As Roger Federer said of himself, Sachin has “created a monster.”

Moulding our moods

It is almost as if, as a people, we believe that we are as successful or unsuccessful as Sachin is. We owe him our ecstasy; equally, he is the cause of our despair. It is quite possible that the maestro activates a reward/punishment system in the cricket fan’s brain that might be inaccessible to the lesser mortals of Indian cricket.

If you believe that this is a lot of mumbo jumbo, then take time off from watching Sachin and, instead, watch people watch him on television or in the stands. It won’t take long for you to see the truth.

To be sure, there is no reference here to a particular brand of atavistic frenzy that all of us are familiar with — situations where a fired-up Tendulkar was leading run-chases and Team India was flirting with greatness against Pakistan or Australia. We will take no notice of such evolutionary excess baggage. The visceral anxieties of emotionally immature sports fans are not worth our time.

Nationalism and sport make for an explosive mix. It didn’t take Hitler and the Berlin Olympics (1936) to prove this; it goes back to the very beginnings of our shared group identities.

‘Peak experience’

But persist and see farther when Sachin is on song and you will slowly see the difference. Study a fan’s face carefully as she goes through something similar to what Abraham Maslow described as “peak experience,” even as the master makes room for a leg glance with the exquisitely refined sense of balance befitting of a Baryshnikov; or composes a consummate cover drive that Walter Hammond might have approved of. What the face registers on those occasions is nothing quite like what it might when anyone else is in action.

Awe? Admiration? Reverence? Or, is it an almost indescribable feeling that you are in the midst of something that is truly transcendental?

Whatever it is, this much is certain. If you have gone through the experience, you would be able to recall it even many, many years later.

There is a simple reason for this. When you watch Sachin at his best, the ego dies. This is not said in a mystical sense. It is not the oneness-with-the-universe phenomenon that spiritual seekers crave. It is a very material thing. The beautiful simplicity of his batting makes for an experience that shatters your ego in a sudden explosion of humility.

“Hey, someone is actually doing this,” you whisper to yourself, suddenly aware of your own smallness even as it hits you, yet again, that the feat is way beyond ordinary mortals. Watch Sachin when he bats as he did in Hyderabad and you will know all about this feeling as you are carried to hitherto untrodden peaks of sports-watching experience.

“We outgrow love like other things. And put it in the drawer,” wrote the poet Emily Dickinson.

It has been impossible to outgrow Indian sport’s most celebrated Boy Wonder. When it comes to Sachin, at no point in our lives have we been able to say, “Ah, I’ve been there. I’ve done that.”

New vistas

He has made sure that there is always some place else to go to, there is always something new to experience vis-À-vis his batting. After two long decades marked by remarkable changes in the game, that sense of wonder — Wow, how does he do it? — has not taken leave of us.

When Sachin was packing his bags to go on his maiden overseas tour — surely, he didn’t need to worry about a shaving kit — to Pakistan in 1989, the Berlin Wall was still in place; reports appearing in these pages were mostly being typed on manual typewriters; apartheid was still in force in South Africa; and Pete Sampras hadn’t yet won his first Grand Slam title.

Through 20 glorious years — although some of them were not quite as glorious as others — as participants in one of the country’s most popular cultural rituals, Tendulkar-watching, we have noticed that his genius has been malleable enough for each of us to try and shape it to fit our own fantasies, our own imagination. Of course, as Samuel Taylor Coleridge pointed out, there is a difference between the two.

Your Sachin is a slightly different athletic/aesthetic package from your neighbour’s…and so it goes on and on. No matter all this, we are all agreed on one thing: Sachin’s astonishing achievements have created a new national benchmark for excellence over the last 20 years.

Peter Pan of world cricket

In recent years, we have seen him struggle, we have seen him play and miss, we have seen him fail more often. But an ageing Sachin seems impossible to imagine, perhaps because the image would render futile our own longing for immortality. Wrinkles, grey hairs and all, he is still the golden boy we first got to know of all those years ago.

Children born when he made the first of his record 42 Test centuries — a brilliant, unbeaten 119 at Old Trafford in 1990 — are now old enough to cast their votes in an election. In the event, it is time to toast the old boy again.

The Sachin Experience — there is nothing quite like it in the history of Indian sport.

http://www.hindu.com/2009/11/15/stories/2009111556421800.htm[/tscii:459d0bea4d]

[CEDYBLUE]

[tscii:adde3968ed]He has permeated a nation’s collective consciousness effortlessly



R. Narayanan & Kunal Diwan







An inescapable product of life in the public eye is the division of popular opinion. One cannot please everybody all the time, and only a few famous people command the universal admiration of an audience whose primary characteristic is its fickle nature.

Even fewer personalities permeate into the collective consciousness of a country as effortlessly as Sachin Tendulkar has India’s. Living out more than half his years on earth under the scrutiny of an obsessive audience, Tendulkar has been a sign of hope and a shoulder of strength under the brunt of expectation.

The little master’s appeal has transcended demarcations of class, caste, gender and geography.

And any discussion, at least in this country, on the great man is likely to take one and one course alone — of affection, admiration, deification and deference.

Here’s what cricket fans have to say:

Dr. R. Ramanujam (45), Ophthalmic surgeon: Tendulkar is a rare combination of a supremely gifted player and a down-to-earth human being. The way he has carried himself is an example to others. He has survived for so long due to his passion for the game and his single-minded dedication. He’s easily the all-time superstar of Indian cricket.

Favourite knock: 136 vs. Pakistan, Chennai Test, 1999.

Naman Sharma (25), Operations Manager in a Multi-National Company: Tendulkar is the only reason I watch cricket. There was a time when I changed channels the moment he got out. Twenty years on he’s still going strong… it has been an unbelievable career. It is difficult to imagine an Indian cricket team without him.

Favourite knock: 98 vs. Pakistan, 2003 WC.

Renjith Jose (40), Businessman: Even though I prefer football to cricket, I take the time to tune in as long as Tendulkar is at the crease. Cricket is slow-paced, but watching the master blaster is something special. There is a sense of personal involvement in whatever he does, and very few sportspersons can lay claim on that kind of following. A career of such integrity and consistency under such pressure deserves double the credit.

Favourite knock: 241 n.o. vs. Australia, Sydney Test, 2004.

Akshay Ramaseshan (24), Management Professional: I was lucky to be part of the generation that grew up on Tendulkar’s exploits. My first memory of watching a televised match is Sharjah, 1996, where he scored a hundred against Pakistan and India posted its first total in excess of 300. What he has come to signify for India goes beyond the purview of mere sport.

Favourite knock: 103 n.o. vs. England, Chennai Test, 2008.

Lakshmi (33), Homemaker: I began to like cricket more after I started watching Tendulkar. He’s undaunted by any bowler and never allows anybody to get under his skin. I also admire his ability to perform under pressure. I hope he wins the 2011 World Cup for us.

Favourite knock: 143 vs. Australia, Sharjah, 1998.

C. Murugan (21), Parking attendant: I first watched Tendulkar when he made a century against Kenya in the 1999 World Cup. He had lost his father just a few days earlier, but came back for the sake of the country.

He’s a true patriot. Tendulkar doesn’t bother even if a bowler sledges him and that’s what I like most about him.

Favourite knock: 186 n.o. vs. New Zealand, Hyderabad, 1999.

Sai Shashank (11), Student: I admire Tendulkar’s character. Though he’s aggressive as a batsman, he looks very friendly as a person. Despite achieving so much as a player, he’s very humble.

He has played for 20 years because he likes the game a lot and dreams about it all the time.

Favourite knock: 175 vs. Australia, Hyderabad, 2009.

http://www.hindu.com/2009/11/15/stories/2009111556411800.htm[/tscii:adde3968ed]

[Kalyasi]

Cedy Welcome Back!! After Such a Long time!!

[Kalyasi]

http://www.cricinfo.com/ausvwi09/engine/current/match/417773.html

Queensland e ivingala intha porattu poratti edukaraanunga... appo ponting min 3 senjuri enna ella game WI innings defeat thaan

Thalaivar shld score min 3 centuries in the next 4 innings to keep the lead going....

[littlemaster1982]

Sachin vs Australia, 5th ODI HQ Highlights

http://www.mediafire.com/?m3zxz21zbmy
http://www.mediafire.com/?dt3ynwma1yj
http://www.mediafire.com/?ddfmwtwy1zl
http://www.mediafire.com/?iygbmyyyqy5
http://www.mediafire.com/?hwchgqrminm
http://www.mediafire.com/?ooyz0yzyly1
http://www.mediafire.com/?azujvmeummw
http://www.mediafire.com/?fmzzq1qnyvz
http://www.mediafire.com/?5wowznz2c5t


Part 5 & 9 are corrupted :sigh2:

Download this instead: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=YV55VTK6 [186 MB, 20 mins runtime].

[Plum]

Future press conferences of Sachin (http://www.boredcricketcrazyindians.com/2009/11/future-press-conferences-of-sachin.html)

Take that, Thackeray.

[ajithfederer]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQZTuBzW2bQ&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1tFxJDhT9g&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekIa5S4vyzA&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tq6Dpyqw7QI&feature=related

Star News special on Sachin Tendulkar- Pran 1 to 4.

[ajithfederer]

Police apologise to Sachin fan
Tuesday, November 24, 2009, 11:24 [IST]

Kanpur: A senior police official was forced to tender apology after assaulting a die-hard Sachin fan at Green Park Stadium on Sunday.


Sudhir Kumar Gautam, a native of Muzaffarpur Bihar, was thrashed by the police when he tried to shake hands with his 'idol' during Indian team's practice session on Sunday evening. His his body was painted in tri-colours and he had a national flag in his hand. The die-hard Sachin fan was kicked and dragged by policemen including a senior official.


Tendulkar felt sympathy for the man and he himself came to the rescue of his fan when he was told that the fan was being thrashed by police. He reported the whole incident to IG GL Meena and also asked him to inform him of the action taken on guilty policemen.
Gautam, a cricket buff, came to Kanpur by cycling all the way from his home town Muzaffarpur.

Gautam said that he had been following Tendulkar since 2003 and the Master Blaster had always given him entry passes so that he could cheer the members of the Indian team. "This has happened with me for the first time," he said in a choked voice

IG GL Meena said that the concerned officer did not know whether the person was known to Tendulkar and he had tendered an apology in this regard.

http://thatscricket.oneindia.in/news/2009/11/24/police-apologise-to-sachin-fan.html

[littlemaster1982]

There was a mention about this guy in one of the articles posted last week. He attends all the matches in India to cheer Sachin and our team (Sachin provides free match passes for him). In return, Sudhir sends 1000 Leichi fruits every year to Sachin.

I don't think any other cricketer would have fans like this :notworthy:

[ajithfederer]

Even any sportsman*

[littlemaster1982]

:yes:

AF,

Do you remember another guy (physically challenged)) who serves as a ball boy most of the matches? Read somewhere that Sachin provides match passes to him too.

After India won the Chennai test last year against England, Sachin presented him the souvenier stump :notworthy: :notworthy:

[ajithfederer]

I am sorry I am unaware of such a fan :oops:. Is there any article about him in herE>?.

[littlemaster1982]

I'm not sure AF if there is any article here. I'll try to find out any article regarding this in webspace.

If you could access youtube, check the last few minutes of Chennai test. Sachin walks back after hitting the winning runs, Shastri and few others rush to congratulate Sachin. You can see this guy collecting the stump from Sachin with a proud smile.

[ajithfederer]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FYBpahb-EE&feature=related

From 2:06 stump-ae eduthu yaarukko kodukka poraaru aana there are atleast 10 groundsmen near him. Yaaruku kodukuraarunnu dhaan theriala and also the camera pans away.

[ajithfederer]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvr04ApYUOY&feature=related

One tube comment:

i was shoutung sachin!!! for the whole day in the stadium .....also remember peolpe chering yuvrajs for defending the ball and not hitting it for four only for tendulkar to score the century and win the match....i bet even an ipl match wouldnt have had such a crowd sound amazing still rimgimg in my ears!!!!

[littlemaster1982]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FYBpahb-EE&feature=related

From 2:06 stump-ae eduthu yaarukko kodukka poraaru aana there are atleast 10 groundsmen near him. Yaaruku kodukuraarunnu dhaan theriala and also the camera pans away.

I noticed this only last week in some special program for Sachin. It's actually a blink and you would miss moment. TV-la clear-a therinjudhu. Let me check this after I go home :)

[Plum]

aNNan figures in 52% of India's test wins (http://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/team/6.html?class=1;filter=advanced;orderby=start;order byad=reverse;player_involve=1934;result=1;template =results;type=team;view=results)
This must be another record right? I dont think any other player would have starred in this bit a percentage of his country's wins?

[ajithfederer]

http://forumhub.mayyam.com/hub/viewtopic.php?p=1595261#1595261

lm, Is this guy the sachin fan u r talking about??

[littlemaster1982]

AF,

This is the guy you have posted about (who got hit by the police).

[ajithfederer]

Thanks LM. Posting this 100 from 91/92.

Sachin Tendulkar 148* v Australia, Sydney 1991-92 (First 100 v Australia) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUD8QtA_Jq4)

[ajithfederer]

Sachin Tendulkar 241* v Australia, Sydney 2003-04 (Epic Innings)
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yDmp4Pvykg)

[littlemaster1982]

:ty: for the vidoes AF. Star Cricket had a program called "Sachin the Great" during last weekend. It lasted for nearly six hours showing most of his test centuries. I could watch only the last one hour.

The videos are up in a torrent site, which I don't have the access to :|

[ajithfederer]

Ennadhu 6 hours eh?? :shock:. Actually I (we) want to collect most of his 90's centuries. We are very short on that account. Endha torrent site nnu sollunga. Let me see what i can do!!

[littlemaster1982]

All Tendulkar the Great episodes (http://www.bwtorrents.com/showthread.php?t=249176). We've got to download them before the torrent becomes dead :(