aahaa mudilapA.. Thanks for the efforts.. I am teary eyed now :cry2:
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aahaa mudilapA.. Thanks for the efforts.. I am teary eyed now :cry2:
Sachin :clap: :notworthy:
Very good Name for this topic. "Sir" - :bow:
//Dig
"Sir maamannar imsai arasan 23am pulikesi" comes to mind :rotfl:
:thumbsup: Thalaiva.... :redjump:Quote:
Originally Posted by HonestRaj
Also, Kambli has told in a recent interview that Sachin will play next workld cup after which he may retire :bluejump:
Pudhu thiri arambitha ramakrishna avargaluku nandri.
Seythigal pala kondu vandhu sertha sourav/lm/Honest raj/viraajan avargalukkum nandri.
Palaya thiriyil ulla anaithu seythigalayum oru pon kalanjiyamagaa naam padhukaaga muyarchi seyvom. Adhanai archive seyyum velaigalil udanae idupadumaaru saga sachin visiri sridar avargalukku vendugol vidukinrein.
Mukyamana tharunathil naan ingae kurippaga illamal ponadhai yenni varutham adaiginrein. Ennai ethirpaartha anaithu ullangalukkum ennudaya nandrigal.
Thodarndhu sachin pala saadhanaigalai saathipaar ena nambi avar aadum aatangalai parthu magilvom
:D
Hey AF... :D
One before I arrive later in the day
Tendulkar a special talent, says Gavaskar
3 hours ago
NEW DELHI (AFP) — Former India opener Sunil Gavaskar on Saturday led a galaxy of cricketing greats in praising record-smashing Sachin Tendulkar, saying his compatriot had always been an extraordinary batsman.
Tendulkar became the leading scorer in Tests on Friday when he shattered retired West Indies captain Brian Lara's record of 11,953 runs during his 88 against Australia in the second Test in Mohali.
Gavaskar, the first batsman to complete 10,000 Test runs, said he was convinced that Tendulkar would achieve greatness when he first saw him bat in the nets two decades ago.
"I stood hidden in the players' enclosure and had my first glimpse of the genius of Sachin Tendulkar," Gavaskar wrote in his Hindustan Times column under the headline "A talent designed by God himself".
"He played a couple of forcing shots to midwicket off the backfoot off (former India paceman) Raju Kulkarni, and that was enough to convince me that he was a special talent.
"There wasn't the slightest of doubt that he was destined to bag all batting records."
The 35-year-old Tendulkar also holds three more world marks -- most runs in one-day internationals (16,361) and highest number of centuries in Tests (39) and one-dayers (42).
"It is hard to imagine any player in the history of the game who combines classical technique with raw aggression like the little champion does," said Gavaskar.
"There is not a single shot he cannot play. The batting records couldn't be in better hands, for here is a player with special talent who has been a role model for a generation."
Former Australian captain Allan Border said he was highly impressed with Tendulkar's ability to adapt himself to different conditions.
Tendulkar scored an unbeaten 148 in the Sydney Test and 114 in Perth against Border's team in 1992.
"I was amazed at his impeccable adjustments in technique and his stunning proficiency off the back foot," Border wrote in the same newspaper.
"He enjoyed playing strokes off the front foot, but his adjustments and supreme control off the back foot at Perth were a treat to watch."
Sri Lankan batsman Sanath Jayasuriya said it was always difficult to find weaknesses in Tendulkar's batting because the Indian was good against both pace and spin on fast and slow pitches.
"In my opinion, Sachin is unquestionably the best player of the modern era," said Jayasuriya, the only Sri Lankan to have completed 10,000 runs in one-day internationals.
"Brian Lara, the man he overtook yesterday, was his closest peer. But while Lara's strokeplay was breathtaking and spoke of genius, Sachin wins over him for his astonishing consistency in a career spanning over 19 years."
India Test captain Anil Kumble said Tendulkar's ability to keep cool in pressure situations separated him from the rest.
"I've watched Sachin have his ups and downs, battle injury and deal with everything with immaculate calm. It's an amazing quality, a blessing," said Kumble, the world's third-highest wicket-taker in Tests with 616 scalps.
"That calm is what has always fascinated me, apart from his game itself and the way he approaches it. The other thing I've admired is the way he takes nothing for granted and prepares meticulously for every situation."
Indian batsman Sourav Ganguly, quitting international cricket after the ongoing series against Australia, was all praise for Tendulkar's technique, saying it was "so simple, yet so solid."
"What has stood up in his success story is his ability to adjust and change his game according to the situation," said Ganguly, who has scored more than 7,000 runs in Tests and 11,363 runs in one-day internationals.
"At times I have seen him do completely different things in the middle of a Test innings and have wondered how he could do it straight in a game without trying it at nets. That's why he is such a great player."
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5...DMiES1YDRgx9yw
Sachin more consistent than Lara: Sanath
Mumbai: The comparison between the two great batsmen of the modern era – Brian Lara and the man who surpassed his Test aggregate Sachin Tendulkar – will be made for a long, long time to come according to Sri Lanka’s star batsman Sanath Jayasuriya the Indian star is more consistent than the former West Indies skipper.
"In my opinion, Sachin is unquestionably the best player of the modern era. Brian Lara, the man he overtook yesterday, was his closest peer. But while Lara’s stroke-play was breathtaking and spoke of genius, Tendulkar wins over him for his astonishing consistency in a career spanning over 19 years," Jayasuriya wrote in this column for the Hindustan Times on Saturday.
"Right from the time he played his first game aged 16, he has scored runs like a machine against all opponents. Only in 2006, when he averaged just 24.27 did his form dip. And against the best in the world, Australia, he’s played some of his finest innings, averaging 56 with nine hundreds," he added.
"Sri Lankans have not been spared either. His record against us in 18 Tests is very impressive, seven hundreds at 64.38. And for us he has always been the prized scalp. Take Tendulkar and you are halfway to beating India. Now that is perhaps less true, but for over a decade it was how we thought," he said.
Major records held by Sachin
* Only batsman to make 12,000 runs in the history of Test Cricket.
* Only batsman to register 10,000 runs in Test cricket at No.4 position - 10,041 at an average of 56.09 in 201 innings, including 34 hundreds.
* Holds a world record for most Test centuries - 39.
* Holds the record for most Test centuries on foreign soil - 23.
* Holds the record for most runs on foreign soil - 6,821 at an average of 53.70 in 87 Tests.
Today, I miss my dad: Sachin Tendulkar | Progression of Test run-aggregate record
* Amassed 1,000 runs in a calendar year four times - 1997, 1999, 2001 and 2002.
* Sachin's 10th fifty against Australia is his 50th fifty in Tests.
* Sachin is the second Indian and the fourth in Test annals to have registered 50 fifties or more in Tests, joining Allan Border (63), Rahul Dravid (53) and Steve Waugh (50).
* Tendulkar, during his innings of 88, has established another record. He is now the leading run-getter at Mohali - 547 runs at an average of 54.70 in eight Tests, eclipsing Rahul Dravid's tally of 509 (ave.56.55) in seven Tests.
Feddy anne, vandhutteengala :D
WELCOME BACK :)Quote:
Originally Posted by ajithfederer
‘Is he human?’ British papers unite in praising Sachin
They may squabble over politics, but British newspapers sank their well-known political differences to heap praise on the genius of Sachin Tendulkar Saturday, with one former captain wondering: “Is he human?”"The archives recall not one single incriminating incident, not one drunken escapade, not one reported affair, not one spat with a team-mate or reporter,” wrote former skipper Michael Atherton in the Times, considered a pro-Establishment paper.
“As [political commentator] Mathew Parris wondered of [US presidential candidate] Barack Obama in these pages recently, is he human?”
The pro-Labour Guardian newspaper carried an editorial article which said: “Tendulkar’s greatness has been much foretold, not least by those whose standing in the game he now challenges.
“[West Indian batsman Brian] Lara said of him: ‘You know genius when you see it. And let me tell you Sachin is pure genius.’ Cricket’s greatest ever batsman Sir Donald Bradman had the same reaction.”
The Guardian’s veteran cricket writer Mike Selvey said Sachin’s feat in becoming the highest run scorer in cricket “serves to restart the debate over which of the record-holders should be regarded as the greatest of modern batsmen,” naming Viv Richards, Alan Border, Sunil Gavaskar, Brian Lara and Sachin.
“Coming up strongly, and almost certain to set new standards both in terms of runs and centuries, is Ricky Ponting who may render the argument superfluous,” Selvey said.
Former England Test player Peter Pringle wrote in the pro-Conservative Daily Telegraph: “Supreme greatness has been predicted ever since he made 326 not out in a school match, and yesterday, on the first day of India’s second Test against Australia in Mohali, that karma came to pass.”
Echoing Atherton’s comments, Pringle said: “…While occasionally lured into indiscretions outside off-stump, he has never been lured into any outside the laws. Nothing has stained Tendulkar’s saintliness over his 20-year career. Indeed, he appears to have no unnatural appetites, save for scoring runs and Formula One.
“Plenty are born with talent but few are as driven to express it in full and he is as much a product of the nets as blessed genes.”
The Importance of Being Sachin Tendulkar
http://www.khabrein.info/index.php?o...7791&Itemid=60
Sachin :thumbsup: :D :bluejump:
Vaanavedikkai, saravedinnu ground ae ninnuchu - unakku mattumthaan :smokesmirk:
Quote:
Originally Posted by sourav
:notworthy:Quote:
Every time he goes on to bat, the whole of India, if not the whole world that watches cricket, cheers, as if a gladiator has walked into an arena full of hungry tigers. The pious ones pray to God. The more pious ones put vermillion on the television screen (not kidding). The hysterical ones watch every ball he faces from behind a pillow bunker as if their eyes shot rays of misfortune that’ll go through the TV screen and bowl Sachin out. No matter what the opposition does, as long as Sachin is out there, there’s hope India can still win, even if it is mathematically impossible. Sachin is a superhero - he can even bend the rules of mathematics and take India to victory. Heck, Sachin can bend light.
Thanks sourav ! :D
ada yenga...mohali oru mattamana ground for making this record...very sparse crowdQuote:
Originally Posted by selvakumar
imagnie the atmosphere in mumbai or chennai...chumma stadiume konja neram aadeerukkum
as sangakara has said in his recent article
"I will always have one striking memory of Sachin that will be forever etched in my mind: his thrilling entrance onto a cricket field. The anticipation of him emerging from the pavilion, and his walk from the boundary to the centre, is almost surreal. The sound of a passionate Indian crowd all chanting "Sachin, Sachin" as they wait in anticipation, followed by the enormous roar when he emerges onto the field, is electrifying. "
what true words...his persona..the electrifying atmosphere when he enter the field... priceless :clap: matchless hero :notworthy:
Mumbai :notthatway:Quote:
imagnie the atmosphere in mumbai or chennai...chumma stadiume konja neram aadeerukkum
Chennai - :thumbsup:
:bow: Aiyo.... amazing lines.... pullarikkudhu... :bow:Quote:
Originally Posted by Vivasaayi
Done sir!Quote:
Originally Posted by ajithfederer
Welcome back, we missed you. Muyarchi veen pogala :)
Btw added some snaps in the first post let me know if anyother snaps needs to be uploaded.
Vaazhga Sachin!
Dedicating this picture to all the hardcore Sachin fans! :D
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http://i26.tinypic.com/xnrcr8.jpg%5C
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Mumbai :x naansens !Quote:
Originally Posted by selvakumar
They booed at Sachin in the England series 2006.
Chennai - the most knowledgable cricket audience in India- just lapped up Sachin. Chennai is his pEttai. 4 great Test centuries :bow:
It was 4 centuries in his first 5 tests ('93 England, '98 Australia, '98 Pakistan and '01 Australia). After that he has gone without a century or 50 for the next 4 matches played there. We have been witness to some nice strokes but then disappointing end to those innings. But we have only been 'disappointed', it was we who missed the 'treat'. It is the kind of crowd he deserves.
Thalaivaaaa :notworthy: :notworthy:
collection of quotes by lesser mortals about god over the years
Quote:
Andrew Symonds
wrote on an aussie t-shirt he autographed specially for Sachin. "To Sachin, the man we all want to be"
Mathew Hayden:
I have seen GOD , he bats at no.4 for india in Tests.
Ravi Shashtri:
He is someone sent from up there to play cricket and go back.
Brain Lara:
Sachin is a genius , i am a mere mortal!
Barry Richards:
Sachin is crickets GOD
Martin Crowe:
The shot played on this ball is only possible for the GOD of cricket.
Ian Botham:
If someone says that Sachin is not a big match player , throw that person from the highest peak of the world.
Shane Warne:
I would go to bed having nightmares of sachin dancing down the ground and hitting me for sixes.
Sourav Ganguly:
He batted like GOD today.
Viv Richards:
He is 99.5% Perfect.. I’ll pay to watch him play.
Dennis Lillie:
If I had to bowl to Sachin I would bowl with a halmet on. He hits the ball so hard.
Michael Kasprowicz:
Don't bowl him bad balls, he hits the good ones for fours."
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.
Richie Benaud:
He has defined cricket in his fabulous, impeccable manner. He is to batting what Shane Warne is to bowling.
Geoffrey Boycott:
Technically, you can't fault Sachin. Seam or spin, fast or slow nothing is a problem.
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.
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.
Hashim Amla:
Nothing bad can happen to us if we're on a plane in India with Sachin Tendulkar on it.
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
Martina Navratilova:
Tennis legend joins the Sachin Tendulkar fan club after watching him bat at Sydney.
Steve Waugh:
"You take Don Bradman away and he is next up I reckon."
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?'"
Allan Border: (after India won the Coca-Cola cup )
"Hell, if he stayed, even at 11 an over he would have got it."
Ajay Jadeja
"I can't dream of an innings like that. He exists where we can't."
Desmond Haynes
In terms of technique and compactness, Tendulkar is the best
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
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.
Anil Kumble -he's shy little gentleman
Navjot Sidhu:
"His mind is like a computer. He stores data on bowlers and knows where they are going to pitch the ball."
Azhar
The more I see him, the more I want to see him.
Harsha bhogle
if sachin plays well..india sleeps well
Andy Flower:
There are 2 kind of batsmen in the world. One Sachin Tendulkar. Two all the others.
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".
Rudy Kortzen
"I never get tired during umpiring whenever sachin is on crease"
Saurav Ganguly:
SACHIN MADE 9 CENTURIES IN ONE YEAR BUT MANY CRICKETER DIDNOT MAKE 9 CENTURIES IN THEIR WHOLE CARRIER.
Harsha Bhogle:
There’s no better sight on the cricket field than watch Tendulkar bat.
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".
:lol:Quote:
Michael Kasprowicz:
Don't bowl him bad balls, he hits the good ones for fours."
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=QXRkHervQJc
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=H3xYBiGBtAo
:notworthy:
Sachin Tendulkar's five greatest innings
Sachin Tendulkar has become the most prolific run-scorer in the history of Test cricket. Here are five highlights from the Little Master's Test career.
1) 119 not out, England v India, Old Trafford, 1990.
In England, this series will always be remembered for Graham Gooch's 333 in the first Test at Lord's. But that was not the only remarkable batting feat of the summer. For a 17-year-old playing in alien conditions, and under the most intense pressure, Tendulkar's century at Old Trafford was arguably even more impressive than Gooch's achievement. India were struggling to avoid defeat on the final day at 127 for five, but Tendulkar batted for four hours with the tail to guide his side to safety. It was his first Test century, and confirmed the arrival of a special talent.
2) 114, Australia v India, Perth, 1992.
Back in the days before Perth became just another batting track, Australia's quick men would start salivating as soon as their plane crossed into Western Australia. In 1992, the WACA was as its most lethal, but Tendulkar's innings of 114 brought Craig McDermott and Merv Hughes to their knees. With wickets tumbling at the other end, Tendulkar, still only 19, met the challenge head on. The Australian public have loved him ever since.
3) 169, South Africa v India, Cape Town, 1997.
Another epic counter-attack in hostile conditions. South Africa racked up 529 in the first innings before their stellar seam attack reduced the tourists to 58 for five. Tendulkar, then approaching his peak, wasted no time in taking the fight back to the Proteas. In partnership with Mohammad Azharuddin, Tendulkar hit 26 boundaries in his century, almost all of them absolute crackers.
4) 155 not out, India v Australia, Chennai, 1998
Many of Tendulkar's finest innings were played outside of India, or in a losing cause. But his greatest series came at home, against the world's best team, and ended in a glorious victory. With Shane Warne bowling around the wicket and into the rough, Tendulkar used his eye, his feet and his innovative stroke play to destroy the greatest slow bowler in history. Warne would later admit Tendulkar's fireworks left him clueless and the Australian named Tendulkar as No 1 in his list of 50 greatest cricketers.
5) 136 v India v Pakistan, Chennai 1999.
India were set an unlikely 271 for victory, which seemed impossible when they collapsed to 82 for five. Chronically hampered by a back injury, Tendulkar stood firm and refused to accept defeat. Through dogged will and astonishing skill, he coaxed India close to the winning line before falling to Saqlain Mushtaq. Tendulkar's wicket prompted an Indian collapse, and another superhuman effort ultimately ended in defeat.
Oz tour set up Sachin's magic show
SACHIN Tendulkar yesterday revealed his maiden tour of Australia 16 years ago had played a key role in shaping his brilliant career.
Centuries in Sydney (148 not out) and Perth (114) in that five-Test campaign of 1991-92 gave the man who is now Test cricket's leading run-scorer confidence to prosper in any conditions against any attack.
Tendulkar's coming of age in Australia came less than five months after he notched his maiden Test ton in England -- a match-saving and unbeaten 119 in Manchester.
"I think the first hundred will always be the important one," he said. "It was a special one because we kept ourselves alive in that series in England.
"The Australian tour immediately after in 1991-92 was extremely good for me because I had a good tour, scored a couple of hundreds at Sydney and at Perth, two different kind of surfaces.
"That gave me immense confidence. I felt I could tour anywhere in the world now and score runs. That was probably the turning point of my career, I would say."
Tendulkar's ton against a four-man battery of Craig McDermott, Merv Hughes, Mike Whitney and Paul Reiffel on a WACA Ground wicket which, in those days, was a haven for pace bowlers, remains one of the great innings played on Australian soil.
Only 19, Tendulkar cut, pulled and hooked Australia's quicks to all parts of the ground.
While he still is capable of the spectacular, Tendulkar isn't the force he once was and it's doubtful he would be able to craft such a knock now, aged 35.
He refuses to be specific about how long he would like to play, but the indications are he would like to play the 2011 World Cup to be held in across the subcontinent.
National selection chairman Kris Srikkanth said yesterday he believed Tendulkar could play for another two years, after he passed Brian Lara's run-scoring record on day one of the second Test against Australia.
Tendulkar holds the run-scoring records in Tests and one-day internationals.
‘Tendulkar an extraordinary batsman’
NEW DELHI: Former India opener Sunil Gavaskar on Saturday led a galaxy of cricketing greats in praising record-smashing Sachin Tendulkar, saying his compatriot had always been an extraordinary batsman.
Tendulkar became the leading scorer in Tests on Friday when he shattered retired West Indies captain Brian Lara’s record of 11,953 runs during his innings (88) against Australia in the second Test in Mohali.
Gavaskar, the first batsman to complete 10,000 Test runs, said he was convinced that Tendulkar would achieve greatness when he first saw him bat in the nets two decades ago.
“I stood hidden in the players’ enclosure and had my first glimpse of the genius of Sachin Tendulkar,” Gavaskar wrote in his column under the headline ‘A talent designed by God himself’.
“He played a couple of forcing shots to midwicket off the backfoot off (former India paceman) Raju Kulkarni, and that was enough to convince me that he was a special talent.
“There wasn’t the slightest of doubt that he was destined to bag all batting records.”
The 35-year-old Tendulkar also holds three more world marks — most runs in One-Day Internationals (16,361) and highest number of centuries in Tests (39) and One-Dayers (42). “It is hard to imagine any player in the history of the game who combines classical technique with raw aggression like the little champion does,” said Gavaskar. “There is not a single shot he cannot play. The batting records couldn’t be in better hands, for here is a player with special talent who has been a role model for a generation.” — Agencies
Sourav/LM please post the news links when posting them. :)
Tendulkar becomes leading Test run-scorer
'I can't be running after every record ' - Tendulkar
Cricinfo staff
October 17, 2008
Top Curve
Sachin speak
* On the journey:
Success is a process and during that journey sometimes there are stones thrown at you and you convert them into milestones. It's a great feeling.
* On how long he thinks he can keep the record:
I don't what is going to happen in future. I started as a 16-year-old, without any such targets. There might be another 16-year-old, who might not be having any targets and who knows where he is going to go.
* On the pressure:
"To be honest, I was not under any pressure for this record. I knew that I have to go out and play my game. It will come at some stage. There was no burden as such. Today I decided just to watch the ball as closely as possibly."
* On the sparse crowd to witness the record-breaking run:
"I did not feel anything about the poor crowd attendance. It's about quality not quantity. I got a fantastic reception in a pleasing moment. I appreciate it every applaud whichever came in my way I take it wholeheartedly."
* On the missing World Cup:
"That is something I would like to have. We were close to it in 2003. It was so close yet so far. I'm not looking that far ahead [2011]. I just want go out and enjoy myself and my game and not think of any targets. If it there is in the vicinity I will focus on it. Right now I want to enjoy myself."
* On getting there in Mohali:
"I always wanted to do it in front of the home crowd and I'm quite happy that an Indian has achieved that record. It is not my record, it is India's record. I'm happy it has been done here."
* On his family not being there at the ground:
"It is not my family style to go over at the top. I know they will be extremely happy."
Bottom Curve
It was about 15 minutes into Sachin Tendulkar's press conference. He had answered wide-ranging questions, not all pertaining to the match or his record. Before the next question came his way, the media coordinator asked him if he would like to continue. Tendulkar moved away from the mike, and although he could not be heard, it seemed he said something to the effect of "Why not?" The press conference continued for the next 11 minutes, way longer than the ones at the end of a day's play.
Tendulkar was in that kind of mood. He looked animated, spoke in three languages - English, Hindi and Marathi - and looked relieved and happy, and was subtly funny. He started off by admitting that although the record was not a big distraction, the anticipation around it did mean something. "During all the talk about the record, I concentrated on how to score runs for the team, but everybody I used to meet would talk about only one thing. Now that it is done, I know I wouldn't be asked the same question again and again."
On a personal level, he doesn't have a "what next" now? "I started as a 16-year-old, and there was no targets then," he said. "I just wanted to go enjoy every moment. That is what I like to continue with - not to think of too many things and complicate my game in the process.
"I have not played for records. I can't be running after every record [answering a query about breaking Brian Lara's 400]. I would be looking after what the team needs. The team obviously needs it. If it comes my way, I will take it. If it doesn't come, there will be no regrets."
Despite that attitude there must have been moments when he would have realised he could end up the leading run-getter in both Tests and ODIs. "As the career progresses, there is sub-consciousness mind starts thinking about it," he said. "You know that people start talking about it the records. That is how you are aware of all these things.
"There have been occasions that I didn't know how many runs I needed [to get to the record]. A couple of team-mates did not believe. I was willing to swear on anyone that I don't know. That is when they believed. The beauty is just to go out and play, and while doing that the records were meant to be broken and various milestones achieved."
What was he thinking when it happened? The steer towards the third-man boundary that got him past Brian Lara? "When I looked up, obviously I had two thoughts in my mind," he said. "One was I thanked the almighty and the second, I thanked my father. Today I miss him. He would definitely be a proud man, and I just thought of him."
Sourav Ganguly was a special partner to have when the record happened. He reminded Tendulkar of the fact that he was his partner when Tendulkar got his 35th century. "If you can remember that in the middle of all that ..."
He also dedicated the record to Ramakant Achrekar, his childhood coach, his family who have been by his side "whether or not he did well", and especially "my mother".
Almost in paternal manner, he subtly put his critics in their place. "I don't need to prove anything to anyone," he said. "I have been around for 19 years, and those 19 years I did not play cricket to prove anything to anyone, whether it was first year of my cricket or 10th, or 15th, or 19th.
"I'm not here to answer to what x, y and z is writing or saying about me. It is their opinions, and I don't take all those opinions seriously ... But sometimes I don't know how they can figure out what's going on in my mind when sometimes I myself can't figure that out."
That was the only time he sounded mildly sour, but only mildly. The talk eventually went back to the celebration when he got the record. "The duration [of the fireworks] was bit worrying." When a journalist informed him they had planned 11,954 crackers, he said, "Eventually I figured out it was 11,954 crackers or something like that."
© Cricinfo
http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/indv...ry/374396.html
http://www.cricketnext.com/news/tendulkar-is-master-of-adjustments-border/34891-13.html
Tendulkar is master of adjustments: Border
Cricketnext.com
Posted on Oct 18, 2008 at 11:43
Mumbai: Former Aussie skipper Allan Border said the secret of Indian batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar’s phenomenal success is his technique to adjust to all kinds of wickets anywhere in the world.
"My earlier insight into Sachin’s precocious talent was on India’s 1992 tour to Australia. The visitors struggled in the series, but Sachin stood out, and it was clear that he had arrived. During that I was amazed at his impeccable adjustments in technique, and his stunning proficiency off the back foot," Border wrote in his column in the Hindustan Times.
"Sachin made a brilliant 148 on a Sydney featherbed, but it was his 114 at Perth that convinced me that he would be a force to reckon with in future. In early 90s WACA was far quicker and bouncy, putting batsmen’s technique to tight scrutiny. He enjoyed playing strokes off the front foot, but his adjustments and supreme control off the back foot at Perth were a treat to watch," he added.
"Sachin has dominated a number of world-class performers in his outstanding Test career. He has outsmarted Shane Warne on numerous occasions, and has performed exceptionally against fast bowlers of the caliber of Curtly Ambrose, Courtney Walsh and Waqar Younis," Border observed.
"He can play shots all-round the wicket like most great batsmen, but is particularly among the best at playing straight. His trademark straight drive with the high elbow and full face of the bat is a purist’s delight, and a few play that shot better than Sachin," he added.
http://www.cricketnext.com/news/cnni...4916-13-0.html
CNN-IBN Exclusive: Little Masters look back & at road ahead
Rajdeep Sardesai | CNN-IBN
Posted on Oct 19, 2008 at 18:46 | Updated Oct 19, 2008 at 19:02
Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar are among an elite group of men who know what its like to hold the world record for most Test runs. And now for the first time, the two legends reflect on their feats and the road ahead.
They sat down with Editor-in-Chief Rajdeep Sardesai in a CNN-IBN world exclusive.
Rajdeep Sardesai: What is the one piece of advice you would like to give Sachin Tendulkar today, if there is anything? I am sure you gave him when he was 15 or 16, when you first saw him but today after he has scored 12,000 runs would you want to set more targets for him?
Sunil Gavaskar: I think I did that four years ago but I am not going to do that. I won't advice him but want to make a plea, 'Please regain the World Cup for us in 2011.'
Rajdeep Sardesai: You are putting pressure on him!
Sunil Gavaskar: If this is pressure then just imagine the pressure he is under otherwise.
Page 2 of 2
Rajdeep Sardesai: Do you believe that he is still fit enough?
Sunil Gavaskar: Yes, of course he is.
Rajdeep Sardesai: Are you one of those who believe that age should not be a factor or in fact, a batsman gets better with age?
Sunil Gavaskar: Yes, a batsman get better with age.
Rajdeep Sardesai: So he can certainly play World Cup 2011?
Sunil Gavaskar: Yes, it is only a couple of years away.
Rajdeep Sardesai: Sachin, is that a goal? Is that a goal left?
Sachin Tendulkar: It has always been a dream because that is the ultimate thing that you can get for your country.
Rajdeep Sardesai: Is that the one thing perhaps that is missing from this fantastic career?
Sachin Tendulkar: We came so close to it in 2003 and it is by far the best World Cup that I have played and has been a part of. We came so close to it but I think in the finals we just tried too hard to get the Cup back home.
(You can catch the world exclusive with Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar in conversation with Rajdeep Sardesai on Friday 24th October at 8 pm )
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/mr...anguly/374696/
India will need Tendulkar for next 2-3 years: Srikkanth
Posted: Oct 17, 2008 at 1716 hrs IST
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Chairman of Selectors Srikkanth said that Sachin Tendulkar still has a lot of cricket left in him.Chairman of Selectors Srikkanth said that Sachin Tendulkar still has a lot of cricket left in him.
Chairman of Selectors Srikkanth said that Sachin Tendulkar still has a lot of cricket left in him.
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Mohali, October 17: : Sachin Tendulkar still has a lot of Cricket left in him and India will need him for the next 2-3 years to guide the youngsters in the team which is ‘in the transitional phase’, Chairman of Selectors Krishnamachari Srikkanth said.
"He should play cricket for another 2-3 years. We need him as the team is going through a transition phase. He is a fantastic team man, very involved cricketer and we need him so that he is able to guide cricketers of future," Srikkanth said after Tendulkar became the highest run-getter in Test cricket.
The master batsman on Friday surpassed Brian Lara's earlier record 11953 runs in the second Test against Australia at PCA grounds in Mohali.
Heaping praise on Tendulkar, Srikkanth said when youngsters make it to the team in near future ‘we would need somebody like Sachin to be there to guide them’.
hi stan, :D
nice to see u back.
flooded with so much information about sachin. Yes, Chennai would have been fabulous for this record. :D
The perfect stance
The Billion expectations
Snap of Shots - 1
Snap of shots - 2
Sridhar Upload any of them in the first page.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1081019/jsp/sports/story_9989012.jsp
Adjustment more important than perfection, says Sachin
- ‘If you respect cricket, the game will take you everywhere’
LOKENDRA PRATAP SAHI
A TELEGRAPH EXCLUSIVE
Sachin Tendulkar
Chandigarh: Sachin Tendulkar didn’t wake up feeling any different, on Saturday, but the country continues to toast Test cricket’s No. 1 run-getter.
Sachin has always been pressed for time and the demands have got more after he eclipsed Brian Lara’s record. Late on Friday, though, he found some time to speak to The Telegraph at the Taj.
The following are excerpts
Q After such an exhaustive media conference, there’s little left to ask... However, is perfection possible?
A Look, you can always try and get close to being perfect... But I’d say that perfection isn’t everything... I know of players who haven’t been absolutely correct, or perfect, technically, but have still been able to adjust to the demands of big-time cricket... For me, then, adjustment is more important than perfection.
What about excellence?
It can be achieved, yes... It won’t come on a platter, though.
After almost 19 years, what are your memories of your Test debut in Karachi?
It’s all a blur and it has been that way for quite some time and not related to everything that has been happening after this record... About the only thing I remember is that I was so, so excited to play for India... Remember, I was just 16... Those five days went by so fast... (After a pause) What I also recall is that I’d been tense and nervous while batting.
At the media conference, you spoke of having converted the stones thrown at you into milestones. What exactly did you mean?
(Emotionally) It’s not only about me... I was also thinking of the other seniors (in the present team) when I made that comment... I think people need to show more respect to the seniors... We’ve achieved a certain level because of the sweat and tears we’ve put in and nobody should run us down... We’ve never taken anything for granted... We’ve been committed to our job and, to give a personal example, I’d be very hurt if somebody said and wrote (negative) things about my heroes... I’m so disappointed at what’s being written and said about Anil Kumble... He’s been around for over 18 years and his achievements do all the talking. Should he be subjected to what has been going on?
If anything, the seniors have always tried to raise the bar...
Absolutely... We’ve tried to put up a better performance... Getting better, irrespective of the achievements, has been our driving force.
So, what’s the legacy you’ll be leaving?
That’s not for me to say... If the next generation of cricketers find something that’s useful then they’ll try and do the same thing... It will be for them to say if they found something in me to motivate them.
Your message for young cricketers...
Take to cricket wholeheartedly and respect the game... Indeed, if you respect cricket, the game will take you everywhere. I didn’t take to cricket so that I could do certain things and go to certain places, but the game has done everything for me... I’ve stayed focused and being that would be my advice to others.
The final one: You’re seen as a unifier, among the few Indians whose following cuts across regional and religious lines. Does that, in a different way, add to the pressure?
I consider myself very fortunate that I’m able to bring people together... I stay the way I am 24x7... I don’t make an effort to do anything special, don’t try and change my behaviour... If I am a role model, it’s because people have appreciated the things I’ve done and, yes, I’m grateful to them. I guess I’ve been blessed.
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The world’s best batsman?
Sachin Tendulkar became the top runscorer in Test history last week, but how does he compare with the rest. SIMON WILDE attempts to find out
Anybody who has had direct dealings with Sachin Tendulkar — who on Friday became the leading runscorer in Test history — will have their own memories of the man, and mine are his slippers. Bear with me: there is a point to this story.
Last year, during India’s tour of England, I had the rare opportunity to interview the great man in the lead-up to the first Test. The Indian team were staying at a hotel in the Essex countryside and I was told to go there and await my summons. After much hanging around, and some last-minute negotiations, it was decreed that Tendulkar would grant an audience but, Howard Hughes-like, only in his room.
There, in his curiously soft, highpitched voice, Tendulkar spoke for the best part of an hour about his career and — this view burned bright - his constant love of cricket. When it was put to him that his game was in decline, and that he had become vulnerable to shortpitched bowling, he bristled. As photographs were taken afterwards (again, in the room) I took in the scene. Tendulkar’s room was very tidy. Clothes lay over furniture rather than on the floor; most possessions were stowed neatly in an open suitcase.
Then, behind an armchair in a corner, I spied a pair of slippers. They were like Aladdin’s slippers, curled up at the front and studded with jewels (at least they looked like jewels). Immediately it occurred to me that Tendulkar had placed them there because he didn’t want a stranger to see them, and I felt like an intruder. Tendulkar has spent all of his adult life fighting for every precious moment of privacy he can find - the stories are legion of him going out in the dead of Mumbai’s night, sometimes in disguise, to escape the crowds — and here was I prying into one of the few remaining spaces he could call his own, the space behind an armchair in a nondescript hotel room in Essex.
And yet this is precisely why Tendulkar has proved such a great cricketer. The suffocating intrusions and the unbearable expectations of a billion fans must be intolerable; indeed, they have often been survivable only thanks to a phalanx of lathi-wielding policemen who would corral him into cars or on to coaches, away from the outstretched arms of blind worshippers. Tendulkar is in the 20th year of this madness and throughout has remained mentally stable, professional and decent. Despite all the riches that have come his way, he never lost sight of his job, scoring runs for his country. This is easier said than done. Remember Vinod Kambli, Tendulkar’s fellow schoolboy prodigy, who went off the rails within a few years, never to be seen again. Remember Brian Lara, who was forever riding an emotional rollercoaster. There were times when Lara fell out of love with cricket but that was never the case with Tendulkar. He remained true to his quest for perfection and there were times when he got awfully close.
When the identity of cricket’s alltime greats are discussed, Tendulkar is assured a prominent place in the debate. There are obvious reasons for this. For starters, there’s his unrivalled number of runs in Tests and one-dayers. In the not-too-distant future his combined aggregate in these two forms will top 30,000, an astonishing tally. Then there is the testimony of Sir Donald Bradman, who said Tendulkar’s batting style was the closest to that of Bradman himself, and Shane Warne, who places Tendulkar top of his list of contemporary cricketers.
But is he the greatest batsman of the modern age? Some of us think not and here is why. Watching Tendulkar bat is fascinating but his method is clinical, unemotional and largely predictable. Watching Lara - and bowling to him - wasn’t like this. With Lara, it was always a seat-of-the-pants ride. With Lara, we asked ourselves what would happen next; with Tendulkar we pretty much know. Warne may have been disingenuous when he said Tendulkar was better than Lara, for Lara tore him to shreds more often and to greater effect: Warne experienced defeat to West Indies seven times, to India four times.
Tendulkar coped with the immense burden of mass expectation remarkably well, but to say it did not affect him, or alter the way he played, is nonsense. Tendulkar always played like a man being watched by a billion pairs of eyes a man conditioned against undue risktaking. Sunil Gavaskar, the last Indian to hold the world runscoring record, also played like this, as does Rahul Dravid, the third Indian to top 10,000 Test runs. Nor were either of these two, like Tendulkar, great captains.
It is already being predicted that Tendulkar won’t hold the runscoring record for long. Don’t be so sure. Dravid is older, while Ricky Ponting is 20 months younger but is 1,700 runs behind. Jacques Kallis is a further 500 runs behind but 30 months Tendulkar’s junior. He could be more of a threat but has just had a poor tour of England and is now injured.
Back to the hotel room in Essex. As we parted, Tendulkar asked to see the piece when it was written, an indication of how closely he guards his reputation. I e-mailed him a copy. He sought several changes, including the removal of the reference to the slippers (it stayed in). He revised his defence of how he played short-pitched bowling to “no comment”, but within months gave a more eloquent reply with two scintillating hundreds in Australia. The Sunday Times
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A batsman for all ages -- By Saurav Ganguly
Web posted at: 10/18/2008 0:51:55
Source ::: PMG
The first time I saw Sachin was in Kanpur where he had come to play for West Zone in the Vijay Hazare tournament. Obviously, there was huge attention on him as they were touting him to be the next big thing in Indian cricket.
I had not seen him before, but the knock he played against us, gave ample proof that if he had his head in right place, he would dominate international cricket.
He was using an Ihsan bat, which easily could have been a bench press rod for fitness work because of its heavy weight.
It amazed all of us that the man of a short stature could pick up such a heavy bat and still manouvre it. Obiovusly, in future he continued using a heavy bat and still had so much time to play genuine fast bowling.
We went on to be a part of under-17 camp under the great Vasu Paranjpe in Indore and what amazed us how much he loved batting in the nets, for hour after hour.
With time, over the years, by sharing the same dressing room, going through the highs and lows of Indian cricket, he has become a very good friend.
He is still as humble and soft spoken as he used to be and so keen and childish in narrating his childhood stories to the team-mates – whether batting for 54 days in a row in different matches when he was 14 years old and the way his coach Mr Ramakant Achrekar used to take him on his scooter around the maidans (grounds) of Mumbai.
I see no reason to say that he transformed into one of the best batsman of the modern era with hard work. His technique is so simple, yet so solid. What has stood up in his success story is his ability to adjust and change his game according to the situation. At times, I have seen him in Test matches do completely different things in the middle of an innings and asked him a few times that how could he do it straight in a game without even doing it in the nets? That’s why probably he is such a great player.
After being around for 18 years, his hunger for the game has not reduced at all and every time I see him walking out to play Test match as if he is play his first game.
I have been fortunate enough to witness some of his best Test and one-day knocks.
To my mind his best Test innings is the hundred he scored at Perth in 1992 during the tour of Australia 18 years ago.
His best one-day inning innings would be the hundred against Australia at Sharjah and also the innings of 97 against Pakistan at Centurion in the 2003 World Cup.
He has never been a fitness fanatic in an era where training is such an important criteria.
He never believed in all these and would always be spending his energy and time in harnessing his cricket skills rather than lapse around the park. He considers bowling in the nets is the way to keep him fit and that also is one of the reasons he has survived 18 years. In recent times, obviously, his body has broken down a few times, but I still feel he has got good two to three years of international cricket left in him. For the good of Indian cricket, we all hope that he continues to fire as long as he plays.
To us, he will not just be remembered as a great player and lovely human being, but also as somebody who has been trying to learn Bengali for the last fourteen years: unfortuntaley, he has never managed to do that.
http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/maga...ppertype=print
Beyond legendary
He has played for two decades, carrying the hopes of a nation, and done it with grace and class. Tendulkar has transcended every other cricket hero there is
October 18, 2008
This is the first in a new series where Kumar Sangakkara looks at his favourite contemporary players.
Out of this world but down to earth: part of Tendulkar's greatness is how he has stayed humble and unassuming all through © AFP
As an international cricketer of the current generation, the Tendulkar era, I will always have one striking memory of Sachin that will be forever etched in my mind: his thrilling entrance onto a cricket field. The anticipation of him emerging from the pavilion, and his walk from the boundary to the centre, is almost surreal. The sound of a passionate Indian crowd all chanting "Sachin, Sachin" as they wait in anticipation, followed by the enormous roar when he emerges onto the field, is electrifying.
That experience also tells you much about Sachin and his special place in the game's history. He is not just the finest and most complete batsman of the past two decades. In a country that is cricket-mad, where players are deified and worshipped, he stands out and stands alone. In a continent of cricketing legends of the calibre of Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev, and in a tradition of cricket that has produced other great heroes, Sachin seems to have transcended all of them and achieved a revered, almost superhuman, stature.
I remember playing in a charity game in 2003 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Thousands of people turned out to watch the match and the familiar chant filled the ground as he walked out to take strike with Virender Sehwag. However, two overs later, Sachin's dismissal was followed by pin-drop silence. As he left the field, the only sound was the murmur of the dispersing crowd. For me, that kind of pressure every single day, and the lack of a truly private life, would, I believe, prove too much.
But Sachin, somehow, has taken it in his stride for an incredible 20 years almost. To my mind that ranks as a higher achievement than the long lists of statistical records he has claimed. Playing for India is no easy task. The pressure to perform in every single outing, to win every single match, is tremendous. Magnify that a thousand-fold and that is what Sachin has to deal with.
He may have millions of fans, but he has his share of critics as well. Many times over the years India has failed to convert an appearance in a final into a win, and when this happens the first barbs of criticisms are invariably aimed at one man. "Sachin," they say, "does not win India finals." The man who has been rewriting the record books has been judged by some to have failed India in some crucial games that everyone seems to remember and talk about.
This criticism is totally unfounded and unfair. Sachin is extremely strong mentally. You have to be, to last 20 years at the top. That he is still able to carve out match-winning performances now, despite all the injuries and the physical and mental overload that comes with being a top-flight international cricketer, is testament to his mental toughness. India have not lost so many finals because of Tendulkar; they have lost because of poor team performances.
Therein lies the danger of having individual brilliance in your cricket team. Many are the times I have sat in the dressing room, watching Sanath Jayasuriya single-handedly win matches. However, without realising it, we reached the stage, at one point, where our whole confidence hinged on the rise and fall of Sanath. His early dismissal would sow seeds of doubt, and his continued presence in the middle would fuel confidence. We have succeeded now in breaking free of that dependence. It is a similar battle that India have fought with Sachin.
I first watched Sachin on TV when I was 12 years old, and for me the most striking thing about his batting has been its beautiful simplicity. The picture-perfect stance; the straight, measured back-lift; the neat forward-defensive and the checked-drive have changed little over the years. Of course, he was blessed with enormous natural talent, but that talent has been fulfilled because of a rock-solid technical foundation.
That he is still able to carve out match-winning performances now, despite all the injuries and the physical and mental overload that comes with being a top-flight international cricketer, is testament to his mental toughness. India have not lost so many one-day finals because of Tendulkar; they have lost because of poor team performances
His simple technique has helped him adapt to, and dominate, all formats of the game under all conditions. Use Cricinfo's Statsguru to assess his overall record and you can only marvel at the completeness of his career. He has scored runs in every cricketing country, on every type of pitch, against every bowling attack. Furthermore, his dominance extends from Test cricket to one-day cricket, and even to the newest format, the Twenty20 game.
Various teams have used different tactics against him over the years, probing his technique to find weaknesses. However, even if they did find any, he was always able to adapt and evolve his game to overcome the challenge. That is what great players do. To my mind, his only obvious weak spot has been against the ball that nips back in from outside off stump - a delivery that troubles several of India's batsmen, though for different reasons.
Since 2003, life does seem to have become tougher for Sachin, mainly because of injuries and the physical toll of the international treadmill. I sense that this - especially the injuries - has introduced a more cautious attitude to his batting. Which is why the appearance of Sachin today does not bring with it a cloud of doom for the fielding team, as it used to do. His increased conservatism has dulled his threat, although he remains very capable of compiling match-winning scores.
Despite his great achievements Sachin has managed to stay an unassuming, humble and very approachable human being. He is a family man whose life is steeped in good moral and religious values. His interaction with players, both in his own team and in the opposition, has given many a cricketer a humbling insight into the mind of this genius. He is always ready to accommodate his fellow cricketers in conversations that might range from cricket to his family, food, travel, and his two other passions: cars and watches.
This is all revealing because it helps explain where he gets his mental strength from. His simple private life, his clear values and strong ethics, and a very good support system in terms of his family and close friends, have given him the foundation and strength to be able to shoulder the hopes and expectations of millions. Underpinning him is a natural zest for life, a passion for cricket and also for humanity. To me, he is the embodiment of the gentleman cricketer. He does not need aggressive rhetoric or psychological battles to prove his worth. He has his bat and he lets it do the talking.
© Cricinfo
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vivasaayi