THE LITTLE MASTER

This post is dedicated to one of the legend of Indian Cricket .. its none other than the little genius .. little master.. SACHIN TENDULKAR. The name strikes terror on the hearts of the bowlers. Sachin has been my idol for ages .. I just love his cricket .. the style .. the elegance .. the commitment .. I just love everything about Sachin Tendulkar.

Sachin was born on 24th April, 1973 in mumbai. Sachin's passion for cricket was identified at a very early age by his brother, who was instrumental in Sachin joining coach Mr. Ramakant Achrekar. It was Archrekar's effort to mould Sachin into a power packed technically sound batsmen.

Sachin's prowess as batsmen came into lime light after his 664 run partnership with his childhood friend Vinod Kambli for third wicket in a school match Sharadashram Vs St. Xavier's School. Sachin had scored 326 not out. Sachin was selected to play for Mumbai in Ranji Trophy Criket when he was in his ninth grade.

The greatest thing to have happened was when sachin got the opportunity to play under the Indian Cap for the Test at 16 Years & 205 days. He was the youngest test player in the history of Indian Cricket. No looking back since then ...

Gist of his achievements :

1. Scored his first test century at the age of 17 years and 112 days.
2. He made his first class debut at the age of 15 and scored a century on debut.
3. At the age of just 16 years and 205 days, he became the youngest player to play at the test level for India against Pakistan at Karachi.
4. Youngest batsmen to score 1,000 run in Tests at an age of 19 Years & 217 Days, during his 4th Test century during 1992/93 in Johannesburg.

5. He was the first ever-overseas player to play for Yorkshire.
6. The first batsman in the history of ODI cricket to score 10,000 runs.
7. Hold the record for maximum centuries in ODI's surpassing Desmond Haynes record of 17. Currently stands at 40.
8. Scoring 20th century in ODI's against Zimbabwe he broke the record for the maximum centuries in International cricket (ODI + Test), ie, 36 in total. He crossed Viv Richards and Sunil Gavaskar's record of 35 centuries in International cricket combined.

9. 2nd November 1999, Sachin scored his first test double hundred. (217 Vs New Zealand).
10. 8th November 1999, Sachin scored his highest One Day International score of 186 n.o against New Zealand beating his previous best of 143. Sachin's score of 186 n.o is the higest score by an Indian in One Day Cricket, beating Ganguly's 183. Incidentally during his knock of 186n.o, the partnership with Dravid for 331 was highest for any wicket in the history of One Day Cricket.

Sachin's Career Record

ODI - Matches - 370, Runs - 14,444, HS - 186*, Avg - 44.3, S/R - 85.75, 100's - 40, 50's - 73.
Test - Matches - 132, Runs - 10469, HS - 248*, Avg - 55.39, S/R - , 100's - 35, 50's - 41.

Oooh .. phew .. massive record by any means. Sachin's record, reminds of a scene in Jurassic Park i.e when Sam Neill looks at the massive creature (Dinosaur) with astonishment.

Sachin Tendulkar is our treasure. We need to preserve the treasure than debate about his temporary loss of form. The worst treatment in his whole career was given by the Mumbaikars .. when they booed him.. atrocious .. atrocious .. inexcusable.

Wish Sachin plays .. plays .. and keeps playing forever .. wish he is immortal .. so that we all can enjoy his cricket forever. Its getting too senti .. would like to end this post with the Don Bradman's quote -

"I asked my wife to come look at him ... now I never saw myself play, but I feel that this fellow is playing much the same as I used to play, and she looked at him on the television and said yes, there is a similarity between the two .... I can't explain it in detail. To me it's his compactness, his technique, his stroke production, it all seemed to gel as far as I was concerned ... that was how I felt."