Cricketer - The God
The God retires': Tributes pour in for Sachin Tendulkar, read the headlines NEWS.
I still remember the first cricket match which I watched, when I was in my first grade.
India lost the match, I din't even know the players' names back then.My friend always used tell some player's name and tell he is that player, when we played cricket.I used to wonder what is it with this game that people like it so much that made them take a day off even from work, skip their food.Later I realized that the love for this game has no bounds.All those nail biting last balls, breath taking last runs, that one wicket we always pray for.
I started following cricket because of this one person Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. According to most of us it is him who re-defined cricket. There is a lot that I admire from him as a person few of them are his patience, respect for people & there talent, his love for his fans and there is a lot more. Best of all "Don't let success go to your head" attitude.
Every game has it's own players, trend setters and Sachin is one such player for cricket. Love for a sport is always because of an inspiring player & my love for cricket is always because of you. I love this Time Magazine's quote about Sachin,
"When Sachin Tendulkar travelled to Pakistan to face one of the finest bowling attacks ever assembled in cricket, Michael Schumacher was yet to race a F1 car, Lance Armstrong had never been to the Tour de France, Diego Maradona was still the captain of a world champion Argentina team, Pete Sampras had never won a Grand Slam. When Tendulkar embarked on a glorious career taming Imran and company, Roger Federer was a name unheard of; Lionel Messi was in his nappies, Usain Bolt was an unknown kid in the Jamaican backwaters. The Berlin Wall was still intact, USSR was one big, big country, Dr Manmohan Singh was yet to "open" the Nehruvian economy. It seems while Time was having his toll on every individual on the face of this planet, he excused one man. Time stands frozen in front of Sachin Tendulkar. We have had champions, we have had legends, but we have never had another Sachin Tendulkar and we never will. "- Time Magazine
Sachin Tendulkar as a person, as a cricketer has his own identity,
"Even if my Grandchildren don't remember the fact that I scored 10,000 runs in one day and test cricket... But they will surely talk about the fact that I was a team-mate with Sachin Tendulkar!"
Rahul Dravid.
"I have seen God, he bats at number 4 for India."
Mathew Hayden
"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.
"Sometimes you get so engrossed in watching batsmen like Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar that you lose focus on your job."
- Yaseer Hameed in pakistani newspaper.
"To Sachin, the man we all want to be"
- Andrew Symonds wrote on an aussie t-shirt he autographed specially for Sachin.
"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 TV sets and switch off their lives."
- BBC on Sachin
"Tuzhe pata hai tune kiska catch chhoda hai?" (Do you even realize whose catch you've dropped?")
- Wasim Akram to Abdul Razzaq when the latter dropped Sachin's catch in 2003 WC.
Sachin is a genius. I'm a mere mortal.
- Brian Charles Lara
"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)
"The more I see of him the more confused I'm getting to which is his best knock."
- M. L. Jaisimha
"The joy he brings to the millions of his countrymen, the grace with which he handles all the adulation and the expectations and his innate humility - all make for a one-in-a-billion individual,"
- Glen McGrath
"I can be hundred per cent sure that Sachin will not play for a minute longer when he is not enjoying himself. He is still so eager to go out there and play. He will play as long as he feels he can play,"
- Anjali Tendulkar
India me aap PrimeMinister ko ek Baar Katghare me khada kar sakte hain..Par Sachin Tendulkar par Ungli nahi utha Sakte.. "
- Navjot Singh Sidhu on TV
He can play that leg glance with a walking stick also.
- Waqar Younis
'I Will See God When I Die But Till Then I Will See Sachin'
- A banner in Sharjah
Sachin Tendulkar has often reminded me of a veteran army colonel who has many medals on his chest to show how he has conquered bowlers all over the world. I was bowling to Sachin and he hit me for two fours in a row. One from point and the other in between point and gully. That was the last two balls of the over and the over after that we (SA) took a wicket and during the group meeting i told Jonty (Rhodes) to be alert and i know a way to pin Sachin. And i delivered the first ball of my next over and it was a fuller length delevery outside offstump. And i shouted catch. To my astonishment the ball was hit to the cover boundary. Such was the brilliance of Sachin. His reflex time is the best i have ever seen. Its like 1/20th of a sec. To get his wicket better not prepare. Atleast u wont regret if he hits you for boundaries.
- Allan Donald
On a train from Shimla to Delhi, there was a halt in one of the stations. The train stopped by for few minutes as usual. Sachin was nearing century, batting on 98. The passengers, railway officials, everyone on the train waited for Sachin to complete the century. This Genius can stop time in India!!
- Peter Rebouck - Aussie journalist
"Sachin cannot cheat. He is to cricket what (Mahatma) Gandhiji was to politics. It's clear discrimination. "
- NKP Salve, former Union Minister when Sachin was accused of ball tempering
There are 2 kind of batsmen in the world. One Sachin Tendulkar. Two all the others.
- Andy Flower
Dear Sachin,
I don't know your match records by heart , but My love for Cricket started with you and will end with you.I don't think i'll ever watch a match after you retire.
Love,
Sana.
Will Miss You..