Good Bye Sachin Tendulkar the greatest batsman of all time - Tribute Thread

[Sarkar]

Sachin Tendulkar the greatest batsman of all time the batsman who carried billions and billions of expectations over 23 years the batsman who was a lone warrior for India during 1990s i enjoyed every single four and six by you be it straight drive upper cut paddle sweep every shot had perfection. Sachin you made a lot of impact on cricket and you made it more popular it was due to you many people like me started watching cricket. I remember those innings at Sharjah i remember the CENTURION upper cut which sent Pakistan out of the world cup and the fighting 175 200 against best bowling attacks. You have made enormous contribution towards India more importantly in crucial tournaments in World cups .Indian cricket wont be the Same without Sachin Tendulkar thanks for the wonderful memories and glimpes of your batting A champion a sports star a greatest indian more importantly India greatest sporting icon for me you will always be the best batsman of all time and i am your biggest fan.

[JaFanatic]

welcome back sarkar:icflove:

[Sarkar]

cheers

[JaFanatic]

the perfect ambassador for world cricket:hail:

[ganeshran]

A career built on reinvention

On the night of April 2, 2011, the Wankhede Stadium was more than a stadium. It was a wall of volume, a tidal wave of noise that began on land and spread towards the Arabian Sea in the West, as India won the World Cup after 28 years. Then, the figure of Sachin Tendulkar was seen sprinting down from the dressing-room stairs onto the grass. From the other end of the field where we stood - my colleague Nagraj Gollapudi and I, at ground level - Tendulkar was a speck in a surging sea of specks. Yet, driven to an insane joy they will probably never experience again, the crowd spotted the speck. And the noise began to grow larger, as if it had a tangible, physical size. As if the air had expanded to fit in the sound of 40,000 lungs each calling to Tendulkar. The stadium, it felt, was about to be lifted off its architecturally solid foundations. This was the last time Sachin Tendulkar played an ODI in India. It was his best of times in the game's short form. Yet he played ten ODIs after the World Cup final, which gave rise to much hand-wringing and teeth-gnashing and plaintive queries of "Why didn't he quit right then?" The World Cup was Tendulkar's sixth, and his second final turned out to be successful. That would have been the ideal time to wave goodbye to the one-day game, a movie-script-finish, with thunderous music. But he didn't and maybe he will tell us why he didn't quit the ODI game right then. Or maybe he won't. For any neutral Tendulkar observer/watcher/analyst, the decision to linger on and retire from ODI cricket 20 months after winning the World Cup must be handled like a DRS-free, 50-50 umpiring decision. Deal with it, buddy. The last 20 months could either be interpreted as Tendulkar's blip or blemish, his private battle against time or his stubborn refusal to surrender one half of his cricketing identity. With the passing of time, though, the 20 months will pale against the monument created by Tendulkar's ODI career in its studious, raging pursuit. The numbers are formidable - 18,426 runs from 463 matches, 49 centuries, 96 fifties, at an average of 44.83 and a strike rate of 86.23 - and won't be matched. But the reason Tendulkar has become the standard by which batsmen must measure themselves in the limited-overs game requires the imagination to be stretched a little beyond those numbers. In limited-overs cricket, Tendulkar represents reinvention. Of form, of technique, of order, to some extent of the passage of time. His ODI career was crafted with a riotous method in the first half and scientific consistency in the middle. Towards the end, though, there came unexpected abandon. For everyone who thought they had understood Tendulkar and his approach to one-day batting, around the corner there lay surprise. If statistics can be turned into symbols, Tendulkar's highest score fits all this perfectly: 200 not out, the first double-century in ODIs, scored in his 442nd one-day match, when he was two months short of his 37th birthday. In a sport growing younger and faster, 200 off 147 balls came from the most experienced man in the game. Tendulkar's surge in ODI cricket - and in India's imagination - had much to do with his constant request to the team manager Ajit Wadekar to allow him to open the innings in 1994. He is believed to have said over and over again, "Give me one chance. One chance." The chance was given and Tendulkar and limited-overs batting and Indian cricket were forever transformed. The advent of the attacking opener came to public notice at the 1996 World Cup through Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana. Tendulkar did not have an opening partner to match his pace but by the time the 1996 World Cup began, he had played 32 ODIs as an opener, with four centuries and nine fifties, at a strike rate of 94. He has often spoken of the impact his ODI batting had on his Test career, in improvisation, widening and making flexible the canvas of his strokeplay in both forms. His peak as an ODI batsman was always carbon-dated to Sharjah 1998, particularly as he chose to play the anchor's role at No. 4 for a while. As a returning opener, Tendulkar accumulated scores with consistency and fluency but without the Sharjah aggro. Yet, once past the cricketing dotage of 35, with injuries set aside, Tendulkar the ODI batsman turned up at the top of the order and smashed the clocks. He won't play the ODI game anymore. His retirement from the short form, whether brought on by an inner voice or a nudge from the selectors, indicates that Tendulkar wants to give his Test match batsmanship another crack, against the Australians next year. It could be his final shot at reinvention. Tendulkar, Indian emotion, and in the past couple of years anguished questions, have always travelled together. So here are a few less anguished ones. Why didn't Tendulkar go crazy with the adulation and lose his way at the age of 25? Why didn't he turn into a boor or a prima donna? Or give the crowd the finger when they booed or heckled him, which they did? Or give up the hardship of Test cricket and coast, like he could have done, in ODIs? Stats cannot measure drive or ambition. Nor indeed its benefits or hindrances. For the moment, though, a favourite memory of Tendulkar in ODI cricket. It is not the teenager whose cherubic cheeks bulged from under the helmet visor and who wielded his chunky bat like a razor-blade in a knife- fight. Or the "desert storm" of 1998, or the upper cut of Centurion, or even the speck in a sea of specks rushing down the steps at the far end of the Wankhede Stadium. It is more recent and lasted all of a few, fleeting minutes, in Jaipur. This was the match before the Gwalior 200 not out, the first of three ODIs against South Africa, who needed seven to win with two balls left. On the penultimate ball, Charl Langeveldt pulled one that travelled at speed past short fine leg. Tendulkar, on the boundary, ran full tilt towards the ball and flung himself, diving and sliding along the ground like he was 16, to get his hands on the ball. The batsmen had taken three and Tendulkar saved a single. India won that match by one run.

[ganeshran]

The cricket fraternity on Sunday paid glowing tributes to Sachin Tendulkar on his retirement from one-day internationals, saying that the record-breaking batsman's feats cannot be surpassed. Tributes started pouring in soon after the 39-year-old cricketer announced his decision to quit ODIs today. "I felt that he might have played the series against Pakistan. But it is his decision and I think it is the right," said Tendulkar's long-time opening partner in ODIs, Sourav Ganguly. "There was a doubt on whether he would play ODI cricket or not. But I am not surprised by his decision. He has done what he thought was right. I don't think there was any pressure of selectors on him. It is his own decision. No one can drop him," Ganguly added. Former captain Kris Srikkanth said he was surprised by Tendulkar's decision. "I am surprised by his move but he is leaving ODI cricket on a high. I am sure he will want to leave on a high in Test cricket also. He will be looking forward to a good Test series against Australia." "He has always done well against Pakistan. But he always raises his bar on a good wicket against a strong attack. Be it in the 1992 World Cup against Pakistan or 2003, he did well against Pakistan in the 2011 World Cup also," Srikkanth said. "It is easy for us to say that he could have retired after the 2011 World Cup. He has got 100 centuries so he went to the Asia Cup. It is one thing that only few have achieved. His records cannot be surpassed," he added. Another former India skipper Dilip Vengsarkar said Tendulkar should have continued with ODI cricket. "Actually I am surprised. If he is continuing with international cricket (Test) then he should have continued with ODI also. We play almost 25 ODIs in a season. It is very important to keep playing international cricket." "As long as he is playing Test match cricket or international cricket, he should have continued playing in ODIs," Vengsarkar said. Tendulkar, considered the most complete batsman in modern cricket and one who was considered next only to the legendary Sir Donald Bradman, retires from the ODI format at the top of the run-getters' list with 18,426 runs in 463 matches. "Masters 463 matches, 23 years, 18426 runs !!!! These numbers no body else will be able to come close to. Salute salute salute to Sachin," tweeted teammate Harbhajan Singh. According to Kirti Azad, Tendulkar has "obliged" Indian cricket by calling it quits. "I think he has obliged Indian cricket by retiring. The god has ultimately decided," Azad said. "The selectors didn't take a call. I think he was also tired of the selectors not taking a call on him. I am very happy that he has ultimately taken a decision at the right time," he added. Another former player Bapu Nadkarni said Tendulkar's decision should be respected. "His retirement was expected for some time now and he must be thinking that he is good enough for the five day scene, which is why he hasn't retired from Tests. "He is the best man to decide when to retire from other formats because he knows his body well. All this time people were asking when is he retiring? Now that he has announced his retirement from ODIs, people are asking why he has retired. I don't understand the Indian people," he said.

[koolkarts]

What a man. Greatest to have ever played.

[The Outsider]

"He is the best man to decide when to retire from other formats because he knows his body well. All this time people were asking when is he retiring? Now that he has announced his retirement from ODIs, people are asking why he has retired. I don't understand the Indian people," he said.

This kind of talk is perhaps the most annoying, one has to constantly endure either from posters and others. "People were asking him to retire, now people are asking why he retired". Moron, how do you know it's the same person who asked him to retire and is saying the opposite now? With so many "people" you are going to find every view under the sun expressed by the "people", so anything said can be attributed to the collective thought process of the "people" depending on convenience.

[Lurker]

This kind of talk is perhaps the most annoying, one has to constantly endure either from posters and others. "People were asking him to retire, now people are asking why he retired". Moron, how do you know it's the same person who asked him to retire and is saying the opposite now? With so many "people" you are going to find every view under the sun expressed by the "people", so anything said can be attributed to the collective thought process of the "people" depending on convenience.

Hahaha, so true. Amazing how even seasoned folks like Bapu Nadkarni miss this simple point. The folks who were wondering why he retired arent the same folks who are now wondering why he did, simple. :winky:

[koolkarts]

Hahaha, so true. Amazing how even seasoned folks like Bapu Nadkarni miss this simple point. The folks who were wondering why he retired arent the same folks who are now wondering why he did, simple. :winky:

Not true. Not all Indian fans have had the opinion that Sachin should retire. They just believe what they see in the mass media and adopt that as an opinion. So when they see Sachin being paraded with the Indian flag, they call him the greatest ever, and when they see the media calling for his retirement, they also call for his retirement. Of course, there are exceptions. All those fans asking for his retirement weren't off the same opinion as people like Ultimate Game and co here. They were just like the rest of Indian cricket fans... Sheep. The truth has hit home, the greatest ODI batsman of all time is now gone for good, and he wasn't in bad ODI form either (he had hit high quality 50s recently). So well done.

[Vinci]

Part of my childhood died today :(( At the very least, could have given us the chance to switch off the telly just this one last time. :sad_smile: But, I guess with his recent failures and keeping in mind the scheme of things for future, dropping him was the only justifiable option. However, I still think the retirement thing should have been totally left to him, a distinction I had sadly found lacking in most of the recent discussions revolving around him.

[harmuk]

This kind of talk is perhaps the most annoying, one has to constantly endure either from posters and others. "People were asking him to retire, now people are asking why he retired". Moron, how do you know it's the same person who asked him to retire and is saying the opposite now? With so many "people" you are going to find every view under the sun expressed by the "people", so anything said can be attributed to the collective thought process of the "people" depending on convenience.

This guy Bapu Nadkarni has gone senile. The fault lies with the people who went to him for quotes.

[harmuk]

V.V.S. Laxman: I am sure Sachin has thought this through and we must respect his decision. It was an absolute treat to play alongside him in the one-day format. I have very fond memories of the century he made against Australia in Sharjah when I was at the non-striker's end. He redefined the art of opening the innings in one-day cricket, and what was amazing was the consistency with which he continued to score over a period of 23 years and more than 460 matches. Rahul Dravid: Sachin's has been a phenomenal career. If you look at the statistics, his greatness becomes even more evident in the sheer volume of runs he has scored and the huge gap between him and the next batsman. To bat consistently at the top-order and the aggressive manner in which he did that is a staggering achievement. http://www.thehindu.com/sport/cricket/tributes-pour-in/article4232663.ece

[trundlerNO1]

Greatest ODI player ever and will always be

[Tendulkar_Bhai]

He had the 2015 WC in mind and hopefully this will prolong his test yrs for 2yrs+. ODI was always his strength if you had to choose ODI v Tests (though his test record is still the best ever!) he always scored at a SR of 120+ in matches without seeming to play "attacking" and taking risks like Sehwag and MS do.

[Old guy]

He had the 2015 WC in mind and hopefully this will prolong his test yrs for 2yrs+. ODI was always his strength if you had to choose ODI v Tests (though his test record is still the best ever!) he always scored at a SR of 120+ in matches without seeming to play "attacking" and taking risks like Sehwag and MS do.

:hmmm: but his career strike rate is in 80's

[Tiger-Don]

I really think he should've retired from Test and then think about ODIs.

[Nova]

No words really to appreciate Tendu's contribution in ODIs. :hatsoff: This doesn't make me very sad though, coz the writing was on the wall. We were used to not seeing him in the ODIs lately. When he retires from tests, then it will take some time to sink. If there was any player who I wanted to get a 100 every time he played, it was SRT.

[vamos_rafa]

I remember as a kid I used to cry when he got out coz he almost used to be in tears at times. I remember once going to a temple and actually praying for Sachin's 100s. Infact on the eve of an important match, I always used to pray for Sachin! It's all stupid but as a kid, that's the kind of grip he had on me. I always wore a bracelet on my right hand(still do) and adjusted it like he did. That nod of the head while batting. That mimicking of the adjustment of abdpominal guard while batting. The immitaiton of his running between the wickets, gosh, it's been like my whole childhood was built around him!

[Debutant]

Its really difficult to express in words what it was like to watch him bat