In Real; I mean in Reality - 'Only God bats better then Him"

Yep folks you all got it correct; its none other than Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar; who we are talking about immensely since the day he scored 200; nothing comes to my mind but the days when I was at NDTV studio just after the day when Australia won 2007 World Cup.

We were all discussing why India lost and blaming one player or the other and I was pretty much vocal about Sachin retiring from the game. I was debating none other than Ajay Jadeja & Navjot Singh Sidhu. Rarely did we all envisage that this day would come when he would prove me and millions like me wrong on the statements we made back in 2007. Every body wrote so much about him right from the day he entered International Cricket, World Cup 1992, his heroics in 1996 World Cup, his battle for the lost cause in 1999 against Pakistan at Chennai. His 6 over 3rd man of Shoaib Akhtar at 155 kph + speed; till the time he scored the first double hundred in 2010.

There is a lot to write about him like the way he didn’t play Single Cover drive during his marathon 248* innings against Australia at Sydney in 2003-04. Lot of people would argue with the fact that Sachin has never played a match finishing innings or an innings when his team would require the most of him, but mind you; he has played hell lot of innings where India have won comfortably without any hassles. In short the list of achievements is long and guess I am not qualified yet to even comment on his greatness. What impress me about Sachin is his sheer work ethic and hard work and discipline towards his profession. Mind you the talent in an individual would give you a good opening but from there onwards its just the sheer hard work & discipline which would give you consistency. Its speaks volumes about the individual who peels of centuries with so much ease and when ever he walks out to bat; century is just an incident rather being a milestone.

I would leave you all with the compilation of quote found on facebook guess this would be an apt post after his 200* in a ODI.

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

Yaseer Hameed:
“Sometimes you get so engrossed in watching batsmen like Rahul Dravid and
Sachin Tendulkar that you lose focus on your job.”

“To Sachin, the man we all want to be”
- What Andrew Symonds wrote on an aussie t-shirt he autographed specially
for Sachin

BBC on 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 “


“But the finest compliment must be that bookmakers would not fix the odds -
or a game - until Tendulkar was out.”


“Tuzhe pata hai tune kiska catch chhoda hai?” Wasim Akram to Abdul Razzaq
when the latter dropped Sachin’s catch.


Brian Charles Lara:
“Sachin is a genius. I’m a mere mortal.”

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)
M. L. Jaisimha:
“The more I see of him the more confused I’m getting to which is his best
knock.”

Glenn McGrath:
“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,”

Anjali
“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,”

Matt HAYDEN:
“I HAVE SEEN GOD, HE BATS AT NO.4 FOR INDIA”


“Even my father’s name is Sachin Tendulkar.”
– Tendulkar’s daughter, Sara, tells her class her father’s name after the
teacher informs them of a restaurant of the same name in Mumbai


KUMBLE:
“I am fortunate that I’ve to bowl at him only in the nets!”


Shahrukh (quoting Shahrukh from an interview)
“Que: Who do you think as most important celebrity ?
Shahrukh: There was a big party where stars from bollywood and cricket were
invited. Suddenly, there was a big noise, all wanted to see approaching Amitabh Bachhan.
Then Sachin entered the hall and Amitabh was leading the queue to get a grab of the GENIUS!!”


Navjot Singh Sidhu:
“India me aap PrimeMinister ko ek Baar Katghare me khada kar sakte hain..Par
Sachin Tendulkar par Ungli nahi utha Sakte..”


Waqar Younis
“He can play that leg glance with a walking stick also.”
A banner once said-’ I WILL SEE GOD WHEN I DIE BUT TILL THEN I WILL SEE
SACHIN ‘ that quiet defines Sachin-The greatest.


Allan Donald:
“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”And i remember reading in one of Allan Donald’s interview.
This interview was in Cricket Talk 7-8 yrs ago.
“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) tobe 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 delivery outside off stump. 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. At least u wont regret if he hits you for boundaries.”


Peter Rebouck, Aussie journalist
“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!!”


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. “


Andy Flower:
“There are 2 kind of batsmen in the world. One Sachin Tendulkar. Two all the
others.
This brought a tear ..its easy to get caught in the hype and the halo effect and all..but seeing is believing! This are the tributes when he is still playing for India. I shudder to think what will happen if he quits. Not just cricket.