Sir Sachin Tendulkar - The Greatest Cricketer Ever

[Sourav]

<img src ="http://i42.tinypic.com/afai68.jpg">

:P

[ajithfederer]

http://www.mumbaimirror.com/article/...eb3/SORRY-GUYS

By Geeta Desai and Vickey Lalwani
Posted On Wednesday, December 17, 2008 at 02:16:37 AM

Gentleman on the field, gentleman off it, too: A hundred and twenty residents of Perry Cross road at Bandra have another reason to applaud Monday's Chepauk hero.

Sachin Tendulkar, who knows a thing or two about concentration, has sent out personal notes to everyone in this quiet neighbourhood across jogger's park, apologising for the disturbance caused by the construction activity at his new bungalow.

Tendulkar who had bought the sprawling Dorab Villa earlier this year, is dismantling the existing structure to create a new multi-storeyed home for his family. However the hectic construction activity—the bungalow is scheduled to be ready within a year—has not gone unnoticed. While none of the residents were willing to go on record about their reservations, our sources tell us that some members of the adjoining societies had complained about the constant noise.

But all that was put to rest with one master-stroke from the Little Master. Introducing himself as their new neighbour, Sachin wrote to the small neighbourhood apologising for the inconvenience caused, and asking for forbearance. The note was then hand-delivered to 120 residents.

“We appreciate the way Sachin has approached us. It was a very humble and sensible gesture. After we received the copy of the letter, we have decided to help him build his new house,” said Ajay Vazirani, a lawyer and a resident of the adjacent Geeta Villa. Sachin's letter has also quietened

whatever little discontent that was amongst some members of the Superstar Society which shares the compound wall with Dorab Villa.

"There were a few problems, as our building is the closest, after the work began. But now that he has made this gesture, we have decided not to raise any issue", said one of the residents.

"No other celebrity or a person of this calibre would even bother to recognise what pain one goes through when there is construction work going on just next door. But Tendulkar took extra effort to write letters to all the societies surrounding his property. He is truly a good human being," said one of the residents from the neighbouring Amore Society, not wishing to be quoted.



"House construction is a noisy business," conceded Tendulkar's wife Anjali, "and we don't want our neighbours to face any inconvenience." She said the letters had been sent after a pooja had been performed at the site ten days ago.

Additionally, the Tendulkars have instructed their builders not work till late into the night. "We are also going to make minimum use of the piling machine that makes a lot of noise. Instead, we're employing labour to do a lot of the work these piling machines could have done. This will delay the construction, but at least our neighbours will not have to put up with the loud noise," she said.

If only we could resolve problems with neighbours that easily. Except that you also need to be the world's highest run-getter.

[littlemaster1982]

[Sourav]

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Defau...Mode=HTML&GZ=T

[ajithfederer]

Stats No:28

The Little Master's favourite hunting grounds in Tests
Priority based on avg....

1)Bangabandhu National Stadium,Dhaka(BAN)
Matches : 2
Innings :2
Runs : 266
Top score : 248*
Batting avg : 266.00
100s : 1
India won both the matches

2)Sydney Cricket Ground(AUS)
Matches : 4
Innings : 7
Runs : 664
Top score : 241*
Batting avg : 221.33
100s : 3
50s : 1
India lost 2 matches & drawn 2 matches

3)Headingley,Leeds(ENG)
Matches : 1
Runs : 193
Top score : 193
Batting avg : 193.00
100s : 1
India won the match

4)Old Trafford,Manchester(ENG)
Matches : 1
Innings : 2
Runs : 187
Top score : 119*
Batting avg : 187.00
100s : 1
50s : 1
India had drawn the match

5)R.Premadasa Stadium,Colombo(SRI)
Matches : 1
Innings : 1
Runs : 143
Top score : 143
Batting avg : 143.00
100s : 1
India had drawn the match

6)K.D.Singh 'Babu' Stadium,Lucknow(IND)
Matches : 1
Innings :1
Runs : 142
Top score : 142
Batting avg : 142.00
100s : 1
India won the match

7)Queens Sports Club,Bulawayo(ZIM)
Matches : 1
Innings : 2
Runs : 110
Top score : 74
Batting avg : 110
100s : 0
50s : 1
India won the match

8)Vidarbha C.A. Ground,Nagpur(IND)
Matches : 6
Innings : 9
Runs : 679
Top score : 201*
Batting avg : 97.00
100s : 3
50s: 1
India had won 1,lost 1 match & drawn 4 matches

9)McLean Park,Napier(NZ)
Matches : 1
Innings : 1
Runs : 88
Top score : 88
Batting avg : 88.00
100s : 0
50s : 1
India had drawn the match

10)MA Chidambaram Stadium,Chennai(IND)
Matches : 9
Innings : 14
Runs : 876
Top score : 165
Batting avg : 87.60
100s : 5
50s : 1
Ducks : 2
India had won 5,lost 1 & drawn 3 matches.

[ajithfederer]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/art...-bat-pack.html

Sachin's top of my bat pack

Last updated at 11:43 PM on 16th December 2008

Sachin Tendulkar took his incredible career to its greatest heights yet when he won the first Test for India against England on Monday with a brilliant unbeaten hundred, played out in the shadow oftragedy in his home city of Mumbai.

But is ‘The Little Master’ the best there has been?

Sportsmail’s unrivalled columnist Nasser Hussain selects his list of the top 10 batsmen he played with or against in a career that culminated with him, too, reaching a century and winning a Test match with the same stroke — in his case against New Zealand at Lord’s in 2004.

1 Sachin Tendulkar

The best of my time and arguably the greatest of all time. Of the batsmen on this list, Sachin comes closest to perfection.

He simply has no mental or technical weakness. When I was England captain I found it incredibly hard to devise a plan to get him out. Also, think of the pressure he has had to deal with, being the icon of cricket in India for almost 20 years.

He handles himself incredibly well and that’s because he simply loves the game. When I interviewed him for Sportsmail last year he was just happy to talk cricket for ages and he has never lost that almost boyish enthusiasm.
Uniquely gifted: Tendulkar showed his class against England in Chennai

Uniquely gifted: Tendulkar showed his class against England in Chennai

He played Shane Warne better than anybody and Monday’s innings, his 41st Test hundred, was possibly the best yet considering the context in which it was scored.
Here was the man from Mumbai standing up for the people of India in their hour of need.

What I really liked about that was that it silenced once and for all the suggestion in India that, for all Sachin’s greatness, he has never actually won Tests for India. It is a
ludicrous suggestion but it existed and now it can finally be put to bed.

[ajithfederer]

http://www.orkut.com/Main#CommMsgs.a...654374&start=1

Some unknown records of sachin
Well, there are one hundered posts about the records and achievements of sachin tendulkar. I will try to enlist, those records which are less known to everyone.

1) It is a well known fact that sachin has scored the most number of runs in a single calender year in 1998, and that is 1894 runs. But in that year he created new records.

a) He became to player to hit maximum number of sixes in a single year. and that is 40. It is not jayasurya, afridi, ganguly or hayden. the record holder for maximum sixes hit in a calender year belongs to sachin.

b) He is the master of boundaries, so it comes without saying that he hit the maximum number of 4s as well. the total number of 4s hit by him that year was 188 and still it is the highest, nobody can even come close to it.

c) This is a special record, amongst the top 35 players with the highest run aggregate in a year the only person to finish the year with 100+ strike rate is sachin. he scored his 1894 runs at a strikerate of 102.15

he holds the maximum number of centuries against one particular country in odis. The record is 8 centuries against aussies. Welll who is his nearest competitor? himself. The second on the list is 7 centuries against srilanka, which is again held by sachin

he holds the record for scoring maximum number of centuries against different oppositions.

Against australia he has 8 - which is the highest by any batsman
Against srilanka he has 7 - again highest by any batsman
Against pakisthan he has 5 - again the highest by any batsman (there are also 5 more 90s against them)
Against zimbabwe - 5
Agaist kenya - 4

He is the only batsman in the world to score 4 or more consecutive 50s on maximum number of occasions

he has done it thrice

5 fifty plus scores in a row

62 1 India v New Zealand Delhi 3 Nov 1994 ODI # 944
66 1 India v West Indies Kolkata 5 Nov 1994 ODI # 947
54 1 India v West Indies Visakhapatnam 7 Nov 1994 ODI # 949
88 2 India v West Indies Cuttack 9 Nov 1994 ODI # 950
105 1 India v West Indies Jaipur 11 Nov 1994 ODI # 951

4 fiftly plus scores in a row (during 96 world cup)

127* 2 India v Kenya Cuttack 18 Feb 1996 ODI # 1052
70 2 India v West Indies Gwalior 21 Feb 1996 ODI # 1056
90 2 India v Australia Mumbai 27 Feb 1996 ODI # 1065
137 1 India v Sri Lanka Delhi 2 Mar 1996 ODI # 1070

4 fifty plus scores in a row (during 2003 world cup)

81 1 India v Zimbabwe Harare 19 Feb 2003 ODI # 1957
152 1 India v Namibia Pietermaritzburg 23 Feb 2003 ODI # 1964
50 1 India v England Durban 26 Feb 2003 ODI # 1969
98 2 India v Pakistan Centurion 1 Mar 2003 ODI # 1975

[ajithfederer]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cri...f-despair.html


Sachin Tendulkar, the gracious god who lifts his people out of pit of despair
He is an unlikely-looking god. He stands there in the middle dwarfed by the gigantic Andrew Flintoff and the strapping Yuvraj Singh, a boy-like figure with a cherubic face whose Michelin man-style pads come half way up his thigh.


By Simon Hughes in Mohali
Last Updated: 8:45PM GMT 18 Dec 2008
Sachin Tendulkar-Sachin Tendulkar, the gracious god who lifts his people out of pit of despair
Modest god: Sachin Tendulkar gave his Indian fans some joy after the devastation caused by the terrorist attacks in Mumbai Photo: GETTY IMAGES

He shuffles away from the conversation and brushes the Mohali pitch affectionately with a bat that looks too big for him. It is quite a weapon, 2lb 12oz with edges two inches thick and a pick-up like a magician's wand. It is curved like an oar. "I like a bow in it," he says, "I can't bat with anything else."

Sachin Tendulkar, the most prolific Test batsman who ever lived, is literally telling me that he wouldn't score a run with anyone else's blade. "I would not feel right at the crease," he says.

We chat in the middle for half-an-hour. He wants to talk, wants to express his genuine gratitude for England coming back to play. He speaks softly, sincerely, self-effacingly. We talk about the unusual way he acknowledged the crowd at Chennai. "Sometimes I do it," he says, "but it is not my way," he adds sheepishly. He casts his eyes down; an essentially shy, private person. He is not stiff or awkward but he generally avoids engaging with his fans. He has to. As soon as he makes eye contact with one, they will all expect it. And he will be trapped in adulation.

The Indian poet CP Surendran captured superbly what it is like to be Sachin Tendulkar:

Batsmen walk out into the middle alone.

Not Tendulkar. Every time Tendulkar walks to the crease a whole nation, tatters and all, march with him to the battle arena.

A pauper people pleading for relief, remission from the lifelong anxiety of being Indian, by joining in spirit their visored saviour.

The poor Indian lifts his hands to Sachin Tendulkar in supplication; Give us respite, a sense of liberation; lift us up from the dark pit of our lives to well-lit places of the imagination with your skill-wrought perfection.

Tendulkar never shirks this enormous responsibility. He spends almost every waking hour seeking that perfection, practising, planning, preparing. He rings his brother, the man who knows his game best, every day, talking bowlers and bat angles and shot selection. He looks at the pitch and contemplates how he will make runs on it. He is thankful of his talent and dutifully delivers it to his public, the majority of whom have nothing.

And yet the man who is the property of a billion Indians, who is escorted everywhere by a posse of policemen, who is photographed almost every second of his life, craves a normal life. His kids (aged 11 and nine) are his pride and joy and he treasures the precious times he has with them. Usually that is two weeks in December and a month in the English summer. He is taking his family to the hill country for Christmas. "There might be snow," he said.

He reflects quietly on the first Test, complimenting England on their batting, virtually overlooking India's win. I say the result was fated, it was meant to be, and that the way he manipulated the bowling was masterly and amazing to watch. He chuckles with a mixture of pleasure and embarrassment. He has not a scrap of ego.

Tendulkar lives in Bandra, in the north of Mumbai, Bollywoodville. But he often goes south to Colaba with family and friends, to eat in the Taj Mahal Palace hotel or the Oberoi. The Mumbai attacks were close to home and affected him deeply. The England players remarked on his extra patience and intensity at the crease. This time he was doubly determined to lift his people out of their pit.

We discuss our families some more. He is friendly and engaging. And then he is gone from the centre, from the roped off pitch, from the place where he is only truly at peace, there in the middle with a bat in his hand. He returns to the real world to be photographed and congratulated and bombarded with a million demands, all of which he handles with total equanimity. He is a gracious god. We will never see his like again. Or maybe we will. His nine-year-old son is just beginning to show signs of useful talent.

[ajithfederer]

http://www.orkut.com/Main#CommMsgs.aspx?cmm=23803&tid=52811585782177545 34&na=1&nst=1

Sachin writes his own script - by Ajithkumar
It has been months since I made a post in orkut. With marriage, new business venture and now got a kid last month; life was not the same as it used to be. So, I couldn't post articles as I used to. Nevertheless I visit the forum and delete some rubbish every day.
This century made me feel “On top of the world”. May be by these twin centuries he gave my new born baby a gift. I wish it becomes hatrick century.
Now coming to the knock; it is not his best, it will not even feature in this top 5 innings. It can come nowhere close to the knock of 136 against Pak. Winning or losing has no meaning in sport it is the way you play the game that matters. It is because of some superb support given by sehwag, yuvi and gambhir that sachin could take india to a victory. So it is because of his team mates that he took India to a victory, but back in the 90s the statement will be “Despite his team mates he took India to victory”. With match fixers and third rated players who got into the team through backdoors he took india to victory or at least to the brink of it, by his sheer genius.
But, this knock has a significance of its own. The reason being, it is a gift from sachin not only to the victims, but also to his fans. Now whenever to defend sachin we have one more ace. Well, the knock was near flawless, artistically made. It was like Picasso using his brush on a screen or even an expert surgeon using his knife. It is very true that “a thing of beauty is a joy forever”; this innings for sure is a thing of extreme beauty. The concentration was top notch; he brought in his chest guard and took some blows wishfully on his shoulders of balls bowled by spinners. Such was the bounce and turn in the wicket. The number of singles tells you a story. It can be framed in MCC as a coaching CD of how to bat on a fifth day pitch in the sub continent where the ball bounces and turns in a big way. Sehwag scored but against a hard new ball, yuvi scored but got two huge lives and sachin did not score, but weaved a magic.

KP or the English players will never understand how sachin scored 103 runs in such a quick time without any risk on such a track. It is well known to everyone that he is someone who can bring the best out of players who are temperamentally weak and he did the same with Yuvi (like what he did with bajji in Sydney, bajji now is a much better test batsman than what he was before that knock). Yuvi is really fortunate (I have a similarity with yuvi, even I had the dream of winning a test match for india playing along with sachin; the only difference is he went on to live his dream)
Many call this knock as sachin’s answer to Lara’s 153, I will never agree with that. There was a lower order and a gritty ambrose to help lara win that match? Can you recollect how srinath played that shot when he got out? I was shattered; sachin played in a subcontinent 5th day pitch against a quality bowling attack with saqulain mustaq in his peak and without any support? Even as an unbiased cricket lover I would rate that knock above lara’s 153. He was fighting against a quality attack, against his breaking back, the heat and lack of support from the other end. If you put those factors into picture sachin’s 136 should be rated much higher than lara’s 153. I would just rate it after greenidge double ton which he scored with an injured leg on the final day.

The problem is sachin plays great knocks way too often. He is being criticized for not playing well in the fourth innings. But how many knocks he has ever played? 33 completed knock of which he has scored 3 centuries. Scoring 3 centuries on a final day pitch is not that easy (add to that the fifties he has scored in the fourth innings)

His first century incidentally came against the same opposition when he was 18 years old at an age, when my cousin brother is taking a girl for first date, this legend scored his first ton to save the match for india in the fourth innings. (The reason is he had some support from prabhakar).

The second century was on a losing cause, but I don’t think I need to elaborate on his 136. He had some support from mongia. Only when mongia got out, he played aggressively because of the fear of running out of partners. Whom to blame? Sachin or the other 10 players

His third century: We are used to see knocks by good players and great players. But sachin is neither a good player nor a great player. HE IS A LEGEND, only they can write script for themselves. The LEGEND of sachin will live as long as cricket lives. When a critic blames him, he immediately answers it in his own way, only heroes can do it or it can happen in movies.

Sachin was blamed for not scoring a century and taking India to victory in fourth innings, he just did that and the beauty is he just did both in a single ball and the last ball of the match and also the first and only century of the match by an Indian. Who can write a better script? Just before those overs he was speaking for RBS on how he plays for India ‘Now more than ever’ and showing tremendous concentration and focus and taking India to the victory. (And a point which is often ignored is his contribution in the first innings, that 37 was the highest score by the top 6 batsman and had an important partnership with laxman)


KP forgot one thing when he asked “Who is writing the script for sachin”. This is not the first time the legend is writing his own script. There are quite a few scripts which I can tell as bed time stories to my kid

1) In his very first series in pak, when sachin hit a six of the then young mustaq, abdul quadir went down to him and told him “Why are you hitting sixes against a kid, try hitting my ball”. You all know how sachin answered that. 4 sixes in a row against the great abdul quadir. Hitting 4 sixes in a over against an international team is a huge achievement, that too when he was 16 and that too against a great spinner and that too after he threw up a open challenge. How do you rate this script?

2) In 1998, in sharjah just before the sandstorm match steve Waugh rated bevan as the best odi player in world. You know what happened? He won 3 man of the matches award in that tournament along with the man of the series (twin hundreds) and made the same Steve Waugh, to say we won against the 10 but lost to one man. This is the total event, just think about the sand storm knock. When he promised the coach that he will take india to the finals and he just did that. Had he got some support from laxman he would have taken india to victory. (In this series, he really ruined the career of a very good bowler called as kasprowich)

3) Against Zimbabwe a genuinely quick olonga got sachin out twice in the same match. He got him out of a noball and then again by a legal delivery. He rejoiced like anything. How sad, sachin nearly ended the career of olonga in the finals. What an assault? (P.S: by the highlight was his six against Andy whittal which sailed out of the ground crossing the tallest stand)


4) The much anticipated india-aus series was underway, even before the start of the series the mind games started. The first match was between a sachin led Mumbai and a full strength aussies. Sachin waited for nearly a decade to blast shane warne and co to score his first firstclass double ton. That was his first firstclass double century. He captained the side beautifully and took india to a massive victory against aussies. Then the first match was in Chennai, and shane with a good spinning delivery got sachin out when sachin tried a lofted shot. India finished the innings conceded a first innings lead of 80 odd. Shane went on to say, that he never used all his tricks in the warm up match and that is why sachin scored a double ton and in the test match he got sachin out cheaply. He also added that he will never reveal all his tricks in a tour match. Sachin never replied anything, and what happened after that was a part the famous folklore of shane’s nightmares. (I was really fortunate to witness this match in Chennai and sachin hit 4 sixes and two of that was hit in my direction in midwicket) his 155* sealed the match in india’s favor and from then on, shane gave the due respect to the cricketing God.


5) 1999 – one of the saddest years of sachin’s career. The 99 world cup. Again the match fixers and crappy people pushed him down to number 4. He lost his father when india was participating in the world cup. Without him india even lost to Zimbabwe. He returned after the funeral of his father. It was a match against Kenya, but Indians were morally down, there was even a placard saying “india can win Kenya, miracles do happen”. He is always the hero of his scripts, so what else can happen? He dedicated a rapid fire century to his father. His father would have been the proudest father in india. Every indian man dreamt of having a son like sachin.


6) From the 2000s talks of sachin slowing down, injuries and other stuff came up. People wrote off sachin for the 2003 world cup. As usual, india wobbled against Holland (though sachin scored a 50) and india was treated like kids by aussies (sachin again was the top scorer and all others fell very cheaply). Indian fans as usual burnt the effigies of ganguly and co and pelted stones at the houses of people. Where else can the indian team go other than to the cricket GOD? Sachin promised the people, that the team will fight till the last ball is bowled and will give 100% He is a man of his word, and he did exactly what he said, took india to the finals. On the way to the finals he decimated the pakis. Caddick before the match told the press that he will sort out sachin and has plans to get him out.. Only one thing got out; that was the ball, it went out of the stadium and never returned. Infact that shot was considered to be one of the best shots of this century. The same thing happened to the big mouthed sohaib akthar. Incidentally sachin gave farewell to saeed anwar as sachin made that match as his last match. The legend of world cup 2003 will be spoken till there is world cup for odis.

7) He was accused of not scoring a century in Australian soil in odis. His average was poor in Australia in the odis. India played reasonably well to enter the finals. Sachin played a beautiful knock of 40 odd, which helped india to win a low scoring match against aussies. As usual the critics pointed out that india has never won a tri nation series after the natwest series, and sachin lately has not scored in the finals (which was wrong) and sachin has never scored a century in Australia and his performance is below par. Above all in an interview Ponting said “We are very confident. We will never go to Adelaide (as the third final was scheduled there), in the history of vb series it always gets over in the first two matches”.


Then when reporters asked sachin to comment about Ponting’s statement, sachin said “Yeah, we will not go to Adelaide, because we will win both the finals”. He is a man of few words but when he speaks, he will exactly do that. He scored an unbeaten century(117*) to win the first final and an awesome 92 in the second final to get india the trophy, which Indians rate on only after the 83 world cup and the world series.

All these things are just the tip of an iceberg. Many great cricketers can boast about good knocks played by them, but how many of them can speak about such legendary events? This will not happen even in the dreams of cricketers. This unbeaten century, after the unfortunate events happened in Mumbai will be another episode of this legend.

Guys you add other interesting stories of sachin where the master weaved his magic and wrote his own script and reminded the cricketing world, that he is the GOD of Cricket.

A must read for Sachin Fanatics .

[ajithfederer]

SRT/After WC 2007/Tests

Matches:21
Runs:1745
NO:5
H.S:154*
Ave:54.53
100's:6
50's:8