Sachin – The GOD in the Cricket World….

Sachin – The GOD in the Cricket World….
Dedicated to all sachin’s Fans 


Still at 16

Sachin Tendulkar celebrates his 36th birthday with Team India and Mumbai Indian teammates in Durban . The batting maestro said he still feels like a 16-year-old boy. The right-hander, bracketed in the same league with the legendary Don Bradman, is currently leading the Mumbai Indians in the ongoing Indian Premier League in South Africa .


Another milestone?

Tendulkar is worshipped in India and equally revered across the world. He made his debut at the age of 16 against Pakistan before growing into a batsman who has given nightmares to bowlers across the cricketing globe. Tendulkar will be joined by his wife and kids in the birthday celebrations in Durban later.


Total fun

The birthday party was total fun. Tendulkar’s Mumbai Indian’s team mates Harbahajan Singh and Zaheer Khan and Kings XI Punjab's Yuvraj Singh smeared Sachin’s face with cake. Team Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and former chief selector Krishnamachari Srikanth were also present at the birthday bash.


Dreams alive

However, Sachin Tendulkar is still harboring the dream to win the World Cup for India . The man, who has set the standards in the modern era of the game, is yet to be on the champion side of World Cup. The Little Master is determined to change it in 2011.


Team man!

Sachin Tendulkar may have scored more than 12,000 Test and 16,000 ODI runs. But, he considers his team’s win more important than personal milestone. “Stats are merely a reflection of an individual's contribution to the team. Ultimately it's a team sport and though individual performances matter, it's more about winning matches,” he said, while speaking to the media after the surprise birthday celebrations in Durban .


Beginning of a long inning

On February 23rd, 1988, Sachin Tendulkar was still a schoolboy. Representing his school - Shardashram Vidyamandir he was having quite a season in the Harris Shield tournament. On this day in the semi-finals, Tendulkar teamed up with his buddy Vinod kambli to put a stand of 664 runs. When the innings was declared, Tendular was on 326 and Kambli was on 349. St. Xavier's school was at the receiving end.


Century on debut for Mumbai

On December 11, 1988, aged just 15 years and 232 days, Tendulkar scored 100 not-out in his debut first-class match for Mumbai against Gujarat, making him the youngest cricketer to score a century on his first-class debut.


First double century on debut

His first double century was for Mumbai while playing against the visiting Australian team at the Brabourne Stadium in 1998. Tendulkar is the only player to score a century in all three of his Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy and Irani Trophy debuts.


First Test

Tendulkar played his first Test match against Pakistan in Karachi in 1989 under the leadership of Kris Srikkanth and made just 15 runs. He followed it up with his maiden Test fifty a few days later at Faisalabad .


First ODI

His One Day International (ODI) debut on December 18, 1989 was equally disappointing. He was dismissed without scoring a run. His maiden Test century came in the next tour, to England in August 1990 at Old Trafford.


First ODI century

His first ODI century was against Australia in the 3rd match of the Singer World Series held in the R. Premadasa Stadium at Colombo in 1994. His highest ODI score is 186 not out in 150 balls, which he scored against New Zealand at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium, Hyderabad in 1999. He completed his 43rd ODI century in New Zealand early this year.


First Test century

Sachin’s first Test century was accomplished against England at Old Trafford in 1990 where he scored an unbeaten 119. His highest score is 248 not out against Bangladesh achieved in 2004. Today he has 42 Test centuries under his belt. In Test cricket, Sachin has scored centuries in opposition to all the Test cricket playing countries.


Wisden honour

In 2002, Wisden ranked him the second greatest Test batsman of all time, next to Donald Bradman, and the second greatest ODI batsman of all time, next to Viv Richards. In September 2007, the Australian leg spinner Shane Warne rated Tendulkar as the greatest player he has played with or against. Tendulkar was the only player of the current generation to be included in Bradman's Eleven, the dream team of Donald Bradman, published in his biography.


A landmark year

On October 17, 2008, when he surpassed Brian Lara's record for the most runs scored in Test Cricket, he also became the first batsman to score 12,000 runs in that form of the game, having also been the third batsman and first Indian to pass 11,000 runs in Test cricket. He was also the first player to score 10,000 runs in ODIs, and also the first player to cross every subsequent 1000-run mark that has been crossed in ODI cricket history.


Following Sunny

When he was 14, Indian batting legend Sunil Gavaskar gave him a pair of his own ultra light pads. "It was the greatest source of encouragement for me," he said nearly 20 years later after surpassing Gavaskar's top world record of 34 Test centuries. Tendulkar never played for any Under-19 teams, crossing straight into the seniors.


Little master

Short by stature, Sachin Tendulkar is just 5'4" tall. Less than two times the height of a cricket bat, the top of the handle of his bat should have reached the top of his thigh! This is one of the key drivers for a successful batsman. Nature blessed him this way.




Sachin the magician

He played in 90 different pitches in the world. Obviously he had the trick to defend and attack any kind of bowlers at any point of time - be it in-swinger, out-swinger, reverse-swinger, fast or spin - both in Test Matches and in ODIs. Without such a technique in hand, perfect concentration, physical fitness and good mind set to handle pressures, it would not be possible for him to break and make records - 60+ in all.


For records’ sake

His records include highest run scorer in Test Matches and ODIs, most number of man of the match awards and man of the series awards, most centuries in Test and ODIs etc. The number of runs he scored till 11th Feb 2009 in Test, ODIs and First Class cricket are equal to a distance of 1450 Kms. We should remember that the length of the pitch between the wickets is just 22 yards!


Unusual records

Sachin Tendulkar was the first batsman to have been declared run out by a third umpire in 1992 against South Africa in South Africa . He holds the record for the most number of scores ranging in the nineties in the ODIs. Sachin has lost his wickets thrice on the score of 99, most by any batsmen in the ODIs!


Facts you should know

He was the first overseas cricketer to play for Yorkshire CCC in 1993. Sachin Tedulkar has made the highest runs in ODIs in a given calendar year. He has scored over 1000 runs in a calendar year in ODI's 7 times. He is the only player to be in top 10 ICC ranking for 10 years. The India Poised campaign run by The Times of India had nominated him as the Face of New India next to the likes of Amartya Sen and Mahatma Gandhi among others.


Sachin, the captain

He is a great thinker of the game and a good strategist too. It was his great cricketing mind that saw him being appointed as the captain of the Indian side in 1996-97 making him the second youngest captain in the history of Indian cricket (the youngest being M.A.K. Pataudi who was appointed captain at the age of 21).


Sachin the warrior

He initially justified the faith put in him by leading India to series victories against Australia (Border - Gavaskar Trophy), South Africa (at home) and also lifted the Titan cup (Triangular tournament featuring India , Australia & South Africa). But after that, the performances dropped. Azharuddin was credited with saying, “He won't win! It's not in the small one's destiny”.


Captaincy woes

Tendulkar, succeeding Azharuddin as captain for his second term, then led India on a tour of Australia , where the visitors were comprehensively beaten 3-0 by the newly-crowned world champions. Tendulkar, however, was at his usual best and won the player of the tournament award as well as player of the match in one of the games.


At the helm, still

After another Test series defeat, this time by a 0-2 margin at home against South Africa , Tendulkar resigned, and Sourav Ganguly took over as captain in 2000. Since then, he has flourished with both the bat and the ball, and is thus back to his true self and the job he loves the most - winning matches for India . However he remains an integral part of the Indian team's strategic
processes.


Captain of the ship

He is often seen in discussion with the captain, at times actively involved in building strategies. Always involved in the game, he never hesitates to give his inputs to the captain or to the bowlers. Former captain Rahul Dravid publicly acknowledged that Tendulkar had been suggesting moves such as the promotion of Irfan Pathan up the batting order which, although only temporary, had an immediate effect on the team's fortunes.


Sachin, the bowler

Initially Sachin Tendulkar aspired to become a fast bowler. He joined the MRF Pace Foundation to get training under Dennis Lillee, an Australian pace bowler. He could not impress Dennis with his bowling performance. Dennis advised him to concentrate on batting. This was the turning point and the cricket world got a legend.


A phenomenon

While Tendulkar is not a regular bowler, he is adept at bowling medium pace, leg spin, and off spin with equal ease. He often bowls when two batsmen of the opposite team have been batting together for a long period, as he can often be a useful partnership breaker. With his bowling, he has helped secure an Indian victory on more than one occasion. He is the 9th highest wicket taker for India in ODIs.


Swing bowling

Sachin can bowl inswing, outswing, seamers, slower ones, you name it he has it in his armoury. He has perfect wrist position for in swing and outswing. His seam stay dead still when he releases the ball and he likes to keep the ball full when he bowls the swingers. It is only that he is small in physique that's why his swing bowling is not that effective. So Sachin could have been a very dangerous swing bowler had he got the physique of Lee or Bond.


Off Spinner

He is not a very deadly offspinner but certainly better that most of run of the mill spin bowlers that England , New Zealand , Australia (Shane Warner, Macgill being exception) have produced over the years. He has every variation except Murali’s infamous doosra.


Century of wickets

Not a regular bowler though, Sachin has been instrumental in getting the team important breakthroughs during crunch situations. In this picture Sachin Tendulkar is celebrating his 100th wicket in one-day cricket in Goa , on April 6, 2001.


Sachin, the brand

He is a cricketer and a brand all rolled into one. At any rate, he makes for a study in brand endorsement. His meteoric rise as a brand ambassador has been helped by the surfeit of cricket on television, the almost frenzied fan following for the game, and the man himself. Can you ever imagine Tiger Woods endorsing biscuits, or Michael Jordan selling tyres? Sachin does all this - and with aplomb.


King of endorsements

Sachin Tendulkar was an early pioneer in India on cricket business dealings when he signed a then record sports management deal with Worldtel in 1995, the value of the deal being Rupees 30 crore over 5 years. His next contract with WorldTel in 2001 was valued at 80 crores over 5 years. “You've got to create heroes and you've got to pay them," said Mark Mascarenhas back in 1996 after he made Sachin India 's first multimillionaire sportsperson.


Sachin, the foodie

Making use of his popularity, Tendulkar has opened two restaurants: 'Tendulkar's' (Colaba, Mumbai) & 'Sachin's' (Mulund, Mumbai). Sachin owns these restaurants in partnership with Sanjay Narang of Mars Restaurants. He has also got a new restaurant in Bangalore called Sachin's. So if you want to know the secret of Sachin’s health, go check out what he eats!


Sachin in cartoons?

In 2007, Tendulkar also announced a JV with the Future Group and Manipal Group to launch healthcare and sports fitness products under the brand name 'S Drive and Sach'. A series of comic books by Virgin Comics is also due to be published featuring him as a superhero.


Richest cricketer

He is at present the highest earning cricketer in the world. While figures are not available for the various products that Sachin endorses, rough estimates reveal he charges about Rs 1.5 crore per endorsement. The curly-haired, chubby picture of Sachin domineering advertising hoardings and television sets brings him under the microscope. But nobody would mind as long as he also makes runs when India needs him the most - out there in the middle.


Injuries and Sachin

Sachin Tendulkar believes that injuries are part and parcel of sports, but strong will and determination along with family support are necessary to make a comeback for a sportsperson. "When you push yourself 100 times, there will be injuries. It happens to every sportsperson some day or the other. It is part and parcel of sports," says the cricketing icon.


Show must go on

Tendulkar, who has struggled with various injury problems in the last few years, says it is important how a sportsperson manages the injury. "You may pull a muscle or twist an ankle. But that's not the end of the road for you. You always have the will and determination to come back. And, above all, you need the family's support," he adds.


No looking ‘back’

Sachin says he will continue to bat aggressively despite a spate of wear and tear injuries in the last few years. Such was the determination that in 2005 he made another successful comeback after being out for six months following elbow surgery, top-scoring with 93 and 67 not out in the then ODI series against Sri Lanka .


‘Shoulder’ing the burden

His feats have taken a heavy toll on his body, however, and he has suffered hand, foot, ankle and finger injuries. “I’m quite happy that for the first 10 years I didn't miss a single game because of injuries. That, I feel, is a positive thing to have happened to me. Sometimes things can be very unfortunate. Not because of your fitness, but due to some freakish reasons and you just get injured," reveals Sachin.


God's importance in his life

Tendulkar is a God fearing person, a staunch devotee of Sai Baba, Ganpathi and frequently visits temples during night when it's calm and quiet. He and his wife offered prayers at the Shree Kukke Subramanya temple, about 300 km (187 miles) from Bangalore in 2006; a time when he was struggling to gain form due to a spate of injuries.


Sachin and T20

Not that Tendulkar dislikes the T20 format, but there’s something about it which can’t make him take it too seriously. Not that he would say it in as many words, but Tendulkar makes it clear that technique doesn’t really matter too much in T20 cricket. "If you play some of the T20 shots in Test cricket, you’ll be sitting there in the dressing-room for the next two days. But here you get runs for the same shot."


Captain of Mumbai Indians

The absence of a clear successor in the Mumbai Indians IPL team, may lead him to persist for some time in the captaincy role. In the IPL’s inaugural edition, the Mumbai Indians experimented with Harbhajan Singh and Shaun Pollock as the captain, but it is clear that a long term captain preferably from Mumbai, is needed to substitute Sachin as captain of the Mumbai IPL cricket team.


IPL ‘08

In 2008, Sachin Tendulkar celebrated his 35th birthday with Mumbai Indians in a five-star hotel in Chennai. Besides the Mumbai Indians team mates, commentator Harsha Bhogle was also present at the occasion. Sachin Tendulkar was gifted a biography called ‘TENDULKAR’.


IPL ‘09

Last year, an injured Sachin Tendulkar’s presence in the Mumbai IPL team was limited to the last few matches of the IPL cricket tournament. However, this time around he is in rollicking form - his recent batting exploits during India 's tour to New Zealand make it clear that Sachin still has a lot of batting in him. And well his 59 in the inaugural match of IPL '09 has already proved that!


Looking forward

Sachin Tendulkar does not have a great record in T20 cricket for India or the IPL for the Mumbai Indians cricket team. The IPL 2 2009 season is a perfect opportunity for Sachin to stamp his authority on T20 cricket just as he has done in Test and one day international cricket. Some critics as usual suggest that he is not the right person for the T20 format, but Sachin is sure to respond to them in his usual way- with his bat!


Dedicated son, dedicated player

Sachin's father professor Ramesh Tendulkar had passed away during the 1999 World Cup. He returned to India for the last rites, skipping the match against Zimbabwe , and then struck a 101-ball 140 against Kenya in the next match. Thereafter he has been dedicating all his centuries to his father, by looking skyward in celebration.


My father, my guru

Sachin gives the credit of his success to his late father. “My father gave my life the right direction. His best advice to me was- everything is temporary but your nature. Your nature will stay with you forever and if you are a good person, people will remember you. A man is successful only if people like him and want to be with him”, he recently told ET in an exclusive.


Love at first sight

They met through mutual friends at a do in 1990. And our little master knew instantly that Anjali was the woman of his life. In 1995, Sachin Tendulkar married Anjali, a pediatrician and daughter of Gujarati industrialist Anand Mehta. Sachin was 22 and Anjali 28 when they tied the knot.


The better half

Sachin's wife Anjali tends to become nervous; she doesn't even drink water or eat while Sachin is batting. On wifey, here’s what Sachin has to say – “She has played a momentous role in my life and I can't imagine an existence without her. She is the only one who understands me, she knows when I am stressed, when I am happy or when I am disappointed and knows just what to do.”


Little kids of little genius

Sachin and Anjali have two children, Sara (born October 12, 1997), and Arjun (born September 24, 1999). Arjun was recently in the news for following his father’s footsteps. Since there is enough cricket left in Sachin, to see father-son duo opening for India in the near future is not a bad idea. Wot say?



LEGENDS' QUOTES ON SACHIN TENDULKAR

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Andrew Symonds:
Wrote on an aussie t-shirt he autographed specially for Sachin. "To Sachin, the man we all want to be"
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Mathew Hayden:
I have seen GOD , he bats at no.4 for india in Tests.
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Ravi Shashtri:
He is someone sent from up there to play cricket and go back.
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Mark Taylor:
We did not lose to a team called india...we lost to a man called Sachin.
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Brain Lara:
Sachin is a genius , i am a mere mortal!
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Barry Richards:
Sachin is crickets GOD
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Martin Crowe:
The shot played on this ball is only possible for the GOD of cricket.
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Ian Botham:
If someone the highest peak of the world, It is Sachin.
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Paul Strang:
What we [zimbabwe] need is 10 tendulkars.
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Steve Waugh:
There is no shame losing to such a great player(sachin).
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Shane Warne:
I would go to bed having nightmares of sachin dancing down the ground and hitting me for sixes.
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Mathew Hayden:
His life seems to be a stillness in a frantic world... [When he goes out to bat], it is beyond chaos - it is a frantic appeal by a nation to one man. The people see him as a God...
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Viv Richards:
He is 99.5% Perfect.. I’ll pay to watch him play.
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Dennis Lillie:
If I had to bowl to Sachin I would bowl with a helmet on. He hits the ball so hard.
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Steve Waugh:
After being defeated in the Coca-Cola Cup finals in Sharjah) "It was one of the greatest innings I have ever seen. There is no shame being beaten by such a great player, Sachin is perhaps only next to the Don''
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Sir Don Bradman:
I saw him playing on television and was struck by his technique, so I asked my wife to come look at him. Now I never saw myself play, but I feel that this player is playing much the same as I used to play, and she looked at him on Television and said yes, there is a similarity between the two...hi compactness, technique, stroke production... it all seemed to gel! in reference to Sachin Tendulkar.
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Michael Kasprowicz:
Don't bowl him bad balls, he hits the good ones for fours."
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Shane Warne:
I'll be going to bed having nightmares of Sachin just running down the wicket and belting me back over the head for six. He was unstoppable. I don't think anyone, apart from Don Bradman, is in the same class as Sachin Tendulkar. He is just an amazing player."
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Wasim Akram:
Today, he showed the world why he is considered the best batsman around. Some of the shots he played were simply amazing. Earlier, opposing teams used to feel that Sachin's dismissal meant they could win the game. Today, I feel that the Indian players, too, feel this way.
Wasim Akram, after game at Hobart, CUB series, 1999
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Brett Lee:
You might pitch a ball on the off stump and think you have bowled a good ball and he walks across and hits it for two behind midwicket. His bat looks so heavy but he just waves it around like it's a toothpick. Brett Lee, on Sachin Tendulkar’s batting, 1999
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Viv Richards:
I think he is marvellous. I think he will fit in whatever category of Cricket that has been played or will be played, from the first ball that has ever been bowled to the last ball that’s going to be. He can play in any era and at any level.
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Barry Richards:
Consensus is that Sir Donald Bradman was the best batsman ever to play Cricket. Sir Don did not play One-Day Cricket but if he did, he could easily be Sachin Tendulkar.
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BBC Sports:
Beneath the helmet, under that unruly curly hair, inside the cranium, there is something we don't know, something beyond scientific measure. Something that allows him to soar, to roam a territory of sport that, forget us, even those who are gifted enough to play alongside him cannot even fathom. When he goes out to bat, people switch on their television sets and switch off their lives.
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Wasim Akram:
"I dont know what to bowl at him. i bowled an inswinger n he drove me thr covers of d front foot. then i bld an outswinger n he again punched thr covers of d backfoot(for tamil fans-dai avan eppadi pottalum adikaranda). he is d toughest batsmen i 've bowled to. he shold live long n score lots of runs, but not against pakistan(smiling) "--LEGENDARY WASIM AKRAM on our own SACHIN on 24th april 2004 on espn Sachin's 30th B day program.(i think) on his knock in 2003 worldcup.
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Sunil Gavaskar:
India's fortune will depend on how many runs the little champion scores. There is no doubt Tendulkar is the real thing.
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Richie Benaud:
He has defined cricket in his fabulous, impeccable manner. He is to batting what Shane Warne is to bowling.
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Geoffrey Boycott:
Technically, you can't fault Sachin. Seam or spin, fast or slow nothing is a problem.
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Eddie Barlow:
He is Sachin Tendulkar. I hope he stays Sachin Tendulkar. We need a new player, a player in his own way. He has a technique which is the hallmark of a great player. Everything indicates that he will be a great player and I am sure he will prove me right. Reminds me of Barry Richards.
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Greg Chappell:
He is a perfectly balanced batsman and knows perfectly well when to attack and when to play defensive cricket. He has developed the ability to treat bowlers all over the world with contempt and can destroy any attack with utmost ease.
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Abdul Qadir:
I Was fielding in the covers Tendulkar came out to bat in his debut Test at Karachi. I still remember Waqar Younis was at his peak form at that time. Tendulkar tried to drive Waqar through the covers off his very first ball in Test cricket but was beaten all ends up. But I walked to captain Imran Khan and told him 'this kid looks very good' and Imran agree with me.
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Sir Garfield Sobers:
I have watched a lot of Tendulkar and we have spoken to each other a lot. He has it in him to be among the very best.
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Peter Roebuck:
Sometime back I had written a piece that said that Sachin's the master and Lara a genius with his head high up somewhere. That's it!
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Jeff Thompson:
Sachin is an attacker. He has much more power than Sunny. He wants to be the one to set the pace. He has to be on top. That's the buzz about him.
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Ian Healy:
Tendulkar is the most comouncy pitch with Hughes, McDermott and Whitney gunning for him he only had 60-odd when No 11 came in. I've seen him against Warne too.
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Mike Coward:
Sachin's the best. I've had this view since I saw him score that hundred in Sydney in 1992. He's the most composed batsman I've ever seen.
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Hashim Amla:
Nothing bad can happen to us if we're on a plane in India with Sachin Tendulkar on it. Hashim Amla, the South African batsman, reassures himself as he boards a flight.
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Shane Warne:
"Sachin Tendulkar is, in my time, the best player without doubt - daylight second, Brian Lara third."
Shane Warne delights the Indian press with his views on batting greats of this era
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Shahrukh Khan:
"Maybe the country doesn't pray for me like they do for Sachin Tendulkar, but I know I'm on a good wicket as well. "
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"Sachin was so focused. He never looked like getting out. He was batting with single-minded devotion. It was truly remarkable. It was a lesson."
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Martina Navratilova:
Tennis legend joins the Sachin Tendulkar fan club after watching him bat at Sydney.
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Alistair Campbell:
After loosing to India in the Coca Cola Cup final at Sharjah in November '98
"He has everything a top batsman needs. Tendulkar is a classic example of a player being so good that his age is an irrelevance"
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David Boon:
"Technically he stands out as the best because of his ability to increase the pace at will"
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Cricket Historian Vasant Raiji:
"I have always felt C. K. Nayadu was the best. I now think sachin has the honour of being the most outstanding batsman of all time."
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Steve Waugh:
"You take Don Bradman away and he is next up I reckon."
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Adam Hollioke:
"In an over I can bowl six different balls. But then Sachin looks at me with a sort of gentle arrogance down the pitch as if to say 'Can you bowl me another one?'"
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Tony Greig:
He is cool, has magnificent temperament, and is so mature you tend to forget his age. I can't think of any other example of a player who has so dominated the world before the age of 25.
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Allan Border: (after India won the Coca-Cola cup )
"Hell, if he stayed, even at 11 an over he would have got it."
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Ajay Jadeja
"I can't dream of an innings like that. He exists where we can't."
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David Gower
"In the last session in Nagpur, when the Indian chase was still on, Tendulkar hit a reverse sweep, an orthodox sweep and a lofted cover drive to (Ian) Blackwell. They were all exquisite cricket shots. To play those shots deliberately in such quick succession, off almost similar deliveries, was genius. That was a little jewel, just those 3-4 minutes.
"It reminds you how very few people are special. It was a case of great thinking and good technique."
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Gavaskar..back in 1988 to tom alter
I sat in the office of Sportsweek magazine with that same Sunil Gavaskar. Ayaz Memon and I were listening to Gavaskar in one of his rare, priceless moods. The ?Little Master? was delving deep into his own experience, his own genius, and bringing forth pearls of wisdom as sudden, and as effective, as his straight- drives back past the bowler. Then Gavaskar came up with the following statement (remember, this was in 1988, when Dilip Vengsarkar was about to become captain of India): "The two best batsmen in Bombay today are Vengsarkar and Sachin Tendulkar." Full stop. End of statement. The ball crosses the boundary-line underneath the sight- screen.
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Desmond Haynes
In terms of technique and compactness, Tendulkar is the best: Desmond Haynes.
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Mark Taylor
He's a phenomenon. We have to be switched on when he plays allow him no boundries, for then he doesn't stop
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Wasim
"Cricketers like Sachin come once in a lifetime and I am privileged he played in my time,"
"Tuzhe pata hai tune kiska catch chhoda hai?" Wasim Akram to Abdul Razzaq when the latter dropped Sachin's catch.
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Allan Donald
His shot selection is superb, he just lines you up and can make you look very silly. Everything is right in his technique and judgement. There isn't a fault there. He is also a lovely guy, and over the years I've enjoyed some interesting chats with him… Sachin is in a different class to Lara as a professional cricketer. He is a model cricketer, and despite the intolerable pressures he faces back home, he remains a really nice guy… Sachin is also the best batsman in the world, pulling away from Brain Lara every year…
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Anil Kumble -he's shy little gentleman
I am very privileged to have played with him and seen most of the runs that he has scored. I am also extremely happy to have shared the same dressing room... He is a very reserved person and generally keeps to himself. He is very determined, committed and doesn't show too many emotions. He just goes about doing his job.
The thing I admire most about this man is his poise. The way he moves, elegantly without ever looking out of place in any condition or company, suggests his pedigree. I remember he had once come to New Delhi in the 1990s to collect his Arjuna Award (India's highest award to its top sportspersons) and he asked me if I would attend the function. He is a very sensitive human being….

Sometimes you feel he really hasn't felt the kind of competition in the world his talent deserves. I would have loved to see him perform against top quality cricketers of the previous generation. It would really have brought out the best in him.
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Greame Pollock
Tendulkar is the best in the world at the moment. Why I've always liked him is that batsmen tend to be negative at times and I think batting is not about not getting out - it is to play positively. I think you got to take it to the bowlers and Sachin is one such player. When you do so, you change the game, you change bowlers because they suddenly start bowling badly because they are under pressure.
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Ian Chappell
Whenever I see Sachin play I am reminded of the Graeme Pollock quote of Cricket being a 'see the ball, hit the ball game.' He hits the ball as if it's there to be hit.
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Ravi Shastri:
"We always knew that Sachin Tendulkar is a great cricketer, but after the Coca-Cola Cup here, we have seen the birth of a legend. I can't think of anybody who has batted more authoritatively in one day cricket for India, or even in the world except for Vivian Richards."
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Navjot Sidhu:
"His mind is like a computer. He stores data on bowlers and knows where they are going to pitch the ball."
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Mark Taylor:
"We did not lose to a team called India...we lost to a man called Sachin" - Mark Taylor, during the test match in Chennai (1997)
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Dravid
Playing in the same team as Sachin is a huge honour. His balance of mind, shrewd judgement, modesty and, above all, his technical brilliance make him my all-time hero... You can't get a more complete cricketer than Sachin. He has everything that a cricketer needs to have.

As a batsman, he has the technique, the hunger and the desire for runs. He always contributes with the bat as well as on the field. He also is a good fielder and bowls when needs. You really can't ask for a better cricketer than Sachin... He is a terrific person and has handled pressure brilliantly. He has handled his success very well and doesn't have any airs about him. He is a great guy and very good team man. In his heart of hearts, he is a very simple and down to earth person.
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Azhar
The more I see him, the more I want to see him.
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Sunil Gavaskar:
India's fortune will depend on how many runs the little champion scores. There is no doubt Tendulkar is the real thing
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Harsha bhogle
if sachin plays well..india sleeps well
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SOURAV GANGULY
The thing I like most about Sachin is his intensity. After being in the game for so long, he still has the same desire to do well for India in any international match.I tell you what, this man is a legend.
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Kris Srikkanth
"He is the only match-winning batsman we have"
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Ranatunga
"You get him out and half the battle is won"
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Andy Flower:

There are 2 kind of batsmen in the world. One Sachin Tendulkar. Two all the others.
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Martin Crowe:
A flighted full toss on Leg stump by spinner. any other will play this shot on leg side by pull shot or glance or flick. but sachin made a space and played a perfect cover drive for four runs.
Martin Crowe (New Zealand's ever best bats man) said " the shot played on this ball is only possible for GOD Of CRICKET "
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Shane Warne:

You have to decide for yourself whether you're bowling well or not. He's going to hit you for fours and sixes anyway. Kasprowicz has a superior story. During the Bangalore Test, frustrated, he went to Dennis Lillee and asked, "Mate, do you see any weaknesses?" Lillee replied, "No Michael, as long as you walk off with your pride that's all you can do".
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Rudy Kortzen
"I never get tired during umpiring whenever sachin is on crease"
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sunny gavaskar
This was after a wonderful century by sachin(in england i guess in a test match..not sure)
Sunny: The other day i was just trying to think of a bowler who can go through sachin's defenses when sachin is in total defense. I am sorry but i could not think of even one name who could do that. If sachin decides he doesnt want to give away his wicket, he wont. be it any bowler in the world.
Cheers to Sachin...
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PONTING
Ponting make comparisons btn sachin,Lara& jayasuriya.
Sachin is the best ever batsman in the world. He is brilliant in his technique. He is always hungry for runs.Sachin is better than Lara in his techniques & thats why he is No.1 among others.On his day,Lara wiil be more destructive. He is the only man 2 fight for west indies. Jayasuriya also played gr8 knocks 4 his team. But compared 2 them Sachin is the BEST
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Pradeep Mandhani ..a Photographer
“Barely two hours after landing in Johannesburg on the 1992-93 tour to South Africa, the team was to visit Tolstoy Farm, Mahatma Gandhi’s first Satyagrahi Commune founded in 1910. It was situated 35 kms from Jo’burg and most of the Indian players showed little interest, longing to rest in the hotel after the long flight. But Tendulkar, still a teenager, looked keen and hungry to learn more about Gandhi. His volley of questions to the guide reflected his national pride.”
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NKP Salve, former Union Minister
This was when he was accused of ball tempering

“Sachin cannot cheat. He is to cricket what (Mahatma) Gandhiji was to politics. It’s clear discrimination.”
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Allan Donald
"In my several years of international cricket, Tendulkar remains the best batsman I have ever bowled to. It’s been a pleasure to bowl at the master batsman even though one hasn’t always emerged with credit from the engagements."
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Allan Donald
"During our team meetings, we often speak about the importance of the first 12 balls to Tendulkar. If you get him then you can thank your stars, otherwise it could mean that tough times lie ahead."
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Saurav Ganguly:
SACHIN MADE 9 CENTURIES IN ONE YEAR BUT MANY CRICKETER DIDNOT MAKE 9 CENTURIES IN THEIR WHOLE CARRIER.
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Ricky Ponting:
“Sachin is the most complete batsman I have seen. His technique is so good and he has played well in all conditions. To have 41 one-day international tons shows what an appetite he has for scoring runs.”
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Harsha Bhogle:
There’s no better sight on the cricket field than watch Tendulkar bat.
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Rev David Shepherd, England.
"Sachin Tendulkar! If he isn’t the best player in the world, I want to see the best player in the world".