Thanks Sachin...

Like any average Indian, I started following cricket as soon as I could hold a plastic bat in my hands. At that time the legends were Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev. I used to hate Ravi Shastri for his slow batting and then I was witness to the birth of a phenomenon. The first thing I remember about this baby faced teenager called Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar is how he danced down the track repeatedly and hit Abdul Qadir for 4 sixes in an over. Sunil Gavaskar was no longer my favourite batsman after that knock. That crown was awarded to this little genius. I grew up watching Sachin play...and play as only he could. As time went by it was getting clearer and clearer that this was no one hit wonder. This was a class act and he was here to stay.

He is often considered the next best batsman after Don Bradman. I wouldn't argue there. But I seriously doubt if any other batsman in the history of this game called Cricket has had a heavier weight of expectations on his shoulders. 1 Billion people hoping for a century every time he adjusts his crotch guard and takes strike....We even had a phase before the emergence of Ganguly and Dravid where the Indian Cricke Team rose and fell with Sachin Tendulkar. With his failure meaning the failure of the whole team, look how he has delivered....Just for that I would say that he is the best batsman ever.

Sachin was there when Ganguly and Dravid started playing ODIs. He is there even now when the senior-junior debate led to the axing of these two. When it was touted that the Juniors were going to rock Australia in the one dayers, finally it was Sachin who showed that age was not a criteria as long as one could perform.

He has been paid many complements by people all around the world. But I guess the best reference of his ability to single handedly win matches came from the bookies. According to them, as long as Sachin was at the crease, all bets were off. The betting would begin only once he got out.

Before we close, an excerpt from today's Cricinfo. "The silence when Micheal Hussey under-edged one from Dhawal Kulkarni was all-pervasive and it suggested that IPL fans are quickly becoming one-eyed, like every good home crowd should be. The sole exception was when Sachin Tendulkar was spotted on TV, talking to the commentators. God, after all, transcends parochial boundaries."

In India, where Cricket is a relegion more unifying than any other around, the highest seat on the pantheon of gods belong to one man and one man only: Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. Thanks Sachin....for all those memories....