Sir Sachin Tendulkar - The Greatest Cricketer Ever

[Sourav]

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[Sourav]

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[Sourav]

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[Sourav]

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[littlemaster1982]

TENDULKAR TRIVIA

Named after legendary music director Sachin Dev Burman by his father.

Grew his hair and tied a band around it to copy his idol John McEnroe. Was called McEnroe by his friends. Admires tennis stars Boris Becker and Pete Sampras-and Argentinian football legend Diego Maradona.

Wanted to be a fast bowler and that desire took him to the MRF Pace Academy but head coach Dennis Lillee asked him to concentrate on his batting.

Has scored big runs on major Indian festival days like Gokulashtmi, Raksha Bandhan, Holi and Diwali.

Enjoyed vada-pav eating competitions with cricket buddies Vinod Kambli and Salil Ankola Loves sea food; Owns a restaurant in Mumbai.

SCG is his favourite ground. He has scored three hundreds there.

Is a great lover of Kishore Kumar and rock group Dire Straits. Guards his personal stereo like his life.

A devout worshipper of Lord Ganesha, Sachin visits the Siddhivinayak temple in Mumbai in the wee hours of morning.

Always wears his left pad first and has the tri-colour pasted inside his kit bag.

Enjoys dunking his glucose biscuits into his tea and devouring them with a spoon.

Has ambidextrous skills. Bats with his right hand, signs autographs and eats with his left Used to sleep with his cricket gear on during his junior days.

Refused to shoot for a soft drink ad of him smashing cricket balls with a fly swatter. He reportedly toldad film-maker Prahlad Kakkar, ‘‘it would make me greater than the game.’’ The ad was modified: he hit the balls with a stump.

Enjoys fast-cars.

Came back from the four-month tour of Australia after the 1992 World Cup and turned up to play for his college, Kirti College, in April 1992.

Was without a bat contract during the 1996 World Cup where he emerged as the highest run-getter.

Fielded for Pakistan as a substitute during a one-day practice match against India at the Brabourne Stadium in 1988.

Was a ball boy during the 1987 World Cup semifinal between India and England at Wankhede.

The first ad he shot was for sticking plaster In school, he was once mistaken for a girl by Atul Ranade because of his long curls.

Became a big fan of Amitabh Bachchan after watching blockbusters Deewar and Zanjeer.

Sang and whistled with Vinod Kambli during their 664-run record stand in the Harris Shield in 1988 to avoid eye-contact with the coach’s assistant, who wanted to declare while the duo wanted to bat on.

Was a bully at school but was kind to cats and dogs. His first captain, Sunil Harshe, said that he loved to pick a fight. Every time he was introduced to someone, his first reaction was, ‘will I be able to beat him?’.

Used to go fishing for tadpoles and guppy fishes in the stream that ran through the compound of his building.

Made his mother once look for a frog bhaji recipe.

He once put a hose pipe into Sourav Ganguly’s room, and turned on the tap. Ganguly awoke to find his gear floating.

Calls Ganguly, Babu Moshai. Sourav calls him Chhota Babu.

[littlemaster1982]

All the articles above are taken from Times of India.

[Sourav]

LM,
I had to del/edit 2 or 3 posts...Because u posted them seconds b4 me...

[Sourav]

SACH IS LIFE: SOURAV
Gaurav Kanthwal | TNN

Chandigarh: At the fag end of his career Sourav Ganguly crossed another landmark in the Test cricket, making him the fourth Indian batsman to cross the 7000 runs mark.
Not showing any sense of achievement and any emotion of relief on his face, a calm and composed Ganguly chose to play down his feat. “It is a great day for Sachin. Being the highest run scorers in both forms of the cricket and having maximum centuries under his belt, it is unbelievable,” he said, congratulating the Little Master.
“In two decades, Sachin has scored runs like no other cricketer in the world,” continued Ganguly, adding, “He is a phenomenon. He is such a big inspiration for the next generation of cricketers that every kid in India wants to emulate him. Every country has sporting heroes and we are lucky enough to have him in our side.”
Incidently, Friday’s is the second landmark that Tendulkar has crossed with Ganguly giving company at the non-striker’s end. When Tendulkar had crossed Sunil Gavaskar’s record of 34 Test centuries at the Feroz Shah Kotla in December 2005, the Kolkatan southpaw was at 39, weaving a partnership of 112 runs. “I recalled that partnership with Sachin and wished him luck just before he scored the record breaking runs,” he recalled. “What sets Sachin apart from other cricketers is his hunger for runs. Despite playing there for two decades, everytime he comes down to bat he shows the same zeal that he had when he made his debut as a 16 year-old,” said Ganguly. “His hunger for runs is insatiable. Though, he is happy with the way he is playing but he is not satisfied and wants to continue scoring runs.”

[Sourav]

When Sachin spoke...


It’s a coincidence that it’s happened against Australia. I’d have liked to get this record against any side. But Australia being the top side in the world, in the ICC rankings they’re No. 1, and so it makes it special to get it against the top side in the world.
I’m very happy I’ve made this record. There had been a lot of talk about this, and my concentration was only on what the requirement of the team was, and how I had to get as many runs as I could.
I’m quite pleased with the knock today. When I went to bat we’d lost three wickets within no time so it was extremely important that we got into a good partnership and continued from there.
When I looked up, I obviously had two thoughts on my mind. One was that I thanked the Almighty for everything he’s given me; the second one, obviously, that I thanked my father because today I miss him. He definitey would have been a proud man… yes, I thought of them.
The wicket is on the slower side, I would say. It’s not kind of wicket which’s got extra bounce or extra spin. As the game goes on, it will keep changing its nature so a big firstinings score is important.
I was disappointed to get out because we had targets and I thought if especially after those crackers went off… we (Sourav and me) both decided that we had to focus on our game and continue batting for a long time. That was the idea. But the reversing (old) ball and then the new ball to play, it’s completely different. And it took me that just fraction too long to adjust and I paid a heavy price for that.
It’s been a fantastic journey, and I’ve enjoyed it. It’s not been only about success, there have been ups and downs and through that various challenges, I have been able to overcome those obstacles. I think it’s been fantastic. 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.
I’ve been able to overcome a lot of challenges and that’s been because of my family, my well-wishers and everyone around. Everyone wants me to do well and so it’s a huge strength.
I’m sure the next target would be to just continue to play like this. I’ve enjoyed my game and I need to just continue with that because I started as a 16-year-old, there were no targets. I just wanted to go out and enjoy every moment, and I wish to continue that… because it’s important to enjoy the game. When you enjoy the game, you always are in a different mood to go out there and there and deliver the goods, the needful. That’s what I’d like to continue, not think about too many things. Not to complicate my game.
I think all records are meant to be broken, and it’s just that we need to see what happens in future. Talk about today, and I’m pleased that it’s come my way. I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future. As a 16-year-old, I didn’t have any targets, but this happened. Now there may be another 16-year-old who wouldn’t have any targets and who knows where he’s going to go?!
To be honest, I was not under so much pressure about this record. I knew that I just had to go out and play my game and it would come at some stage.

[Sourav]

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