Nikhil Shantala

I am not such a great follower of cricket nor an ardent fan follower of Sachin, but thought that I will not be out of place by putting up this compilation during the CWC World Cup 2011 fever.  Check it out!!

Following is a compilation of quotes from current and former cricketers and other eminent personalities paying tribute to Indian batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar:

“It can be said that he is the Bradman of our times and I do feel privileged to have played a lot of cricket against him.” - Former Australian captain Steve Waugh.

“I think, apart from Sir Garfield Sobers nobody else has played 20 years in international cricket and 20 years playing at the very highest level and to the very highest standard is an achievement beyond compare.” - Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar.

“He continues to give more than 100 per cent and his schoolboy-like enthusiasm for the game is something I envy and admire. For the team he is the best available coaching manual.” - Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

“There will never be another Sachin Tendulkar.” - Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiash Muralitharan.

“The way he has taken on the role of India’s greatest sporting ambassador… He has, among other things, inspired a generation and more to play cricket.” - India’s 1983 World Cup winning captain Kapil Dev.

“His humbleness and simplicity has helped him to achieve what others could not. His dedication is one of the main reasons for his achievements and he is role model to up and coming youngsters. In India every youngster who is in to school or college cricket wants to become a Sachin.” - Former captain and Chairman of India’s selection panel Kris Srikkanth.

“What I admire about Sachin is his humility, respect for elders and the passion for the game that he has retained even after so many years and after achieving so much in cricket. He has not changed at all.” - Former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar.

“He is a great human being, a great player and I have been very lucky to have a friend like Sachin Tendulkar. I want to wish him all the luck. I want to congratulate him for finishing his 20 years in international cricket. He has dominated world cricket for 20 years and I hope that he will continue to dominate it.” - Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh.

“I have delayed my shoots many times to watch Sachin bat” - Filmstar Amitabh Bachchan.

“…when he is in full flow, the mild-mannered boyish cricketer can look extremely intimidating. If there is a resonance, I find of myself in his batting, it is in that intent that he communicates.” - Former West Indies captain and batting great Vivian Richards.

“Over the years Sachin has remained remarkably consistent and has more records than anybody I can remember. His talent and versatility are unquestioned which is why the only question that rankles is why he did not win enough games for his team?” - Former Pakistan captain Imran Khan.

“His biggest strength as a batsman is his adaptability. And that is something really. really amazing, something so special.” - Former India captain Sourav Ganguly.

“In his life cricket comes first. When he is on tour he is thinking about nothing but cricket, and when he is not on tour he dedicates quality time to his family. That shows his dedication to the game and to his family. He has found the right balance.” - Tendulkar’s India teammate and opening partner Virender Sehwag.

“He loves cricket and with his hardwork, focus and commitment he has truly become a outstanding ambassador for the sport at a time when commercialism is so rampant.” - Former Pakistan captain and coach Javed Miandad.

“I think Tendulkar has outdone all the other greats with his hunger for the game which is amazing.” - Former Pakistan leg-spinner Abdul Qadir.

“What has impressed me the most about Tendulkar all these years is his humble and simple nature. I never saw him ever let the fame and adulation he enjoys get to his head.” - Former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul Haq.

“I don’t watch cricket much but I admire Sachin Tendulkar. I like the way he has conducted himself over the years. He has been such a huge star for so long but has not had a single controversy against his name.” -Olympic bronze medallist boxer Vijender Singh.

“The best thing about Sachin Tendulkar is that he’s completely rooted, down to earth, and a thorough gentleman. He’s probably the best thing to have happened to Indian cricket and maybe Indian sport as a whole.” - Indian tennis star Sania Mirza.

“I see him continuing until more landmarks like 50 hundreds. 100 centuries is not difficult for him because the passion for the game is still very much there even after 20 years,” - Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif.

Virendra Sehwag:

Both of us have come a long away and it is a great honour that Tendulkar thinks I come close to resembling him as a batsman. It is a great honour, like a dream come true. If I die tomorrow I’ll be the happiest man because I played this game because of Tendulkar, and Tendulkar himself saying that I resemble him – there is no bigger compliment than that.

Mathew Hayden:

I have seen GOD , he bats at no.4 for india in Tests.

Ravi Shashtri:

He is someone sent from up there to play cricket and go back.

Barry Richards:

Sachin is crickets GOD

Martin Crowe:

The shot played on this ball is only possible for the GOD of cricket.

Ian Botham:

If someoom the highest peak of the world.

Paul Strang:

What we [zimbabwe] need is 10 tendulkars.

Steve Waugh:

There is no shame losing to such a great player(sachin).

Shane Warne:

I would go to bed having nightmares of sachin dancing down the ground and hitting me for sixes.

Mathew Hayden:

His life seems to be a stillness in a frantic world… [When he goes out to bat], it is beyond chaos – it is a frantic appeal by a nation to one man. The people see him as a God…

Viv Richards:

He is 99.5% Perfect.. I’ll pay to watch him play.

Dennis Lillie:

If I had to bowl to Sachin I would bowl with a halmet on. He hits the ball so hard.

Steve Waugh:

After being defeated in the Coca-Cola Cup finals in Sharjah) “It was one of the greatest innings I have ever seen. There is no shame being beaten by such a great player, Sachin is perhaps only next to the Don”

Sir Don Bradman:

I saw him playing on television and was struck by his technique, so I asked my wife to come look at him. Now I never saw myself play, but I feel that this player is playing much the same as I used to play, and she looked at him on Television and said yes, there is a similarity between the two…hi compactness, technique, stroke production… it all seemed to gel! in reference to Sachin Tendulkar.

Michael Kasprowicz:

Don’t bowl him bad balls, he hits the good ones for fours.”

Shane Warne:

I’ll be going to bed having nightmares of Sachin just running down the wicket and belting me back over the head for six. He was unstoppable. I don’t think anyone, apart from Don Bradman, is in the same class as Sachin Tendulkar. He is just an amazing player.”

Wasim Akram:

Today, he showed the world why he is considered the best batsman around. Some of the shots he played were simply amazing. Earlier, opposing teams used to feel that Sachin’s dismissal meant they could win the game. Today, I feel that the Indian players, too, feel this way.
Wasim Akram, after game at Hobart, CUB series, 1999

Brett Lee:

You might pitch a ball on the off stump and think you have bowled a good ball and he walks across and hits it for two behind midwicket. His bat looks so heavy but he just waves it around like it’s a toothpick. Brett Lee, on Sachin Tendulkar’s batting, 1999

Viv Richards:

I think he is marvellous. I think he will fit in whatever category of Cricket that has been played or will be played, from the first ball that has ever been bowled to the last ball that’s going to be. He can play in any era and at any level.

Barry Richards:

Consensus is that Sir Donald Bradman was the best batsman ever to play Cricket. Sir Don did not play One-Day Cricket but if he did, he could easily be Sachin Tendulkar.

BBC Sports:

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 television sets and switch off their lives.

Wasim Akram:

“I dont know what to bowl at him. i bowled an inswinger n he drove me thr covers of d front foot. then i bld an outswinger n he again punched thr covers of d backfoot. he is d toughest batsmen i ‘ve bowled to. he shold live long n score lots of runs, but not against pakistan(smiling) “–LEGENDARY WASIM AKRAM on our own SACHIN on 24th april 2004 on espn Sachin’s 30th B day program.(i think) on his knock in 2003 worldcup.

Sunil Gavaskar:

India’s fortune will depend on how many runs the little champion scores. There is no doubt Tendulkar is the real thing.

Richie Benaud:

He has defined cricket in his fabulous, impeccable manner. He is to batting what Shane Warne is to bowling.

Geoffrey Boycott:

Technically, you can’t fault Sachin. Seam or spin, fast or slow nothing is a problem.

Eddie Barlow:

He is Sachin Tendulkar. I hope he stays Sachin Tendulkar. We need a new player, a player in his own way. He has a technique which is the hallmark of a great player. Everything indicates that he will be a great player and I am sure he will prove me right. Reminds me of Barry Richards.

Greg Chappell:

He is a perfectly balanced batsman and knows perfectly well when to attack and when to play defensive cricket. He has developed the ability to treat bowlers all over the world with contempt and can destroy any attack with utmost ease.

Abdul Qadir:

I was fielding in the covers, Tendulkar came out to bat in his debut Test at Karachi. I still remember Waqar Younis was at his peak form at that time. Tendulkar tried to drive Waqar through the covers off his very first ball in Test cricket but was beaten all ends up. But I walked to captain Imran Khan and told him ‘this kid looks very good’ and Imran agreed with me.

Sir Garfield Sobers:

I have watched a lot of Tendulkar and we have spoken to each other a lot. He has it in him to be among the very best.

Peter Roebuck:

Sometime back I had written a piece that said that Sachin’s the master and Lara a genius with his head high up somewhere. That’s it!

Jeff Thompson:

Sachin is an attacker. He has much more power than Sunny. He wants to be the one to set the pace. He has to be on top. That’s the buzz about him.

Ian Healy:

Tendulkar is the most comouncy pitch with Hughes, McDermott and Whitney gunning for him he only had 60-odd when No 11 came in. I’ve seen him against Warne too.

Mike Coward:

Sachin’s the best. I’ve had this view since I saw him score that hundred in Sydney in 1992. He’s the most composed batsman I’ve ever seen.

Shane Warne:

“Sachin Tendulkar is, in my time, the best player without doubt – daylight second, Brian Lara third.”
Shane Warne delights the Indian press with his views on batting greats of this era

Shahrukh Khan:

“Maybe the country doesn’t pray for me like they do for Sachin Tendulkar, but I know I’m on a good wicket as well. “

Martina Navratilova:

“Sachin was so focused. He never looked like getting out. He was batting with single-minded devotion. It was truly remarkable. It was a lesson.”

Tennis legend joins the Sachin Tendulkar fan club after watching him bat at Sydney.

Alistair Campbell:

After loosing to India in the Coca Cola Cup final at Sharjah in November ’98
“He has everything a top batsman needs. Tendulkar is a classic example of a player being so good that his age is an irrelevance”

David Boon:

“Technically he stands out as the best because of his ability to increase the pace at will”

Cricket Historian Vasant Raiji:

“I have always felt C. K. Nayadu was the best. I now think sachin has the honour of being the most outstanding batsman of all time.”

Steve Waugh:

“You take Don Bradman away and he is next up I reckon.”

Adam Hollioke:

“In an over I can bowl six different balls. But then Sachin looks at me with a sort of gentle arrogance down the pitch as if to say ‘Can you bowl me another one?’”

Tony Greig:

He is cool, has magnificent temperament, and is so mature you tend to forget his age. I can’t think of any other example of a player who has so dominated the world before the age of 25.

Allan Border: (after India won the Coca-Cola cup )

“Hell, if he stayed, even at 11 an over he would have got it.”

Ajay Jadeja

“I can’t dream of an innings like that. He exists where we can’t.”

David Gower

“In the last session in Nagpur, when the Indian chase was still on, Tendulkar hit a reverse sweep, an orthodox sweep and a lofted cover drive to (Ian) Blackwell. They were all exquisite cricket shots. To play those shots deliberately in such quick succession, off almost similar deliveries, was genius. That was a little jewel, just those 3-4 minutes.
“It reminds you how very few people are special. It was a case of great thinking and good technique.”

Gavaskar..back in 1988 to tom alter

I sat in the office of Sportsweek magazine with that same Sunil Gavaskar. Ayaz Memon and I were listening to Gavaskar in one of his rare, priceless moods. The ?Little Master? was delving deep into his own experience, his own genius, and bringing forth pearls of wisdom as sudden, and as effective, as his straight- drives back past the bowler. Then Gavaskar came up with the following statement (remember, this was in 1988, when Dilip Vengsarkar was about to become captain of India): “The two best batsmen in Bombay today are Vengsarkar and Sachin Tendulkar.” Full stop. End of statement. The ball crosses the boundary-line underneath the sight- screen.

Desmond Haynes

In terms of technique and compactness, Tendulkar is the best: Desmond Haynes.

Mark Taylor

He’s a phenomenon. We have to be switched on when he plays allow him no boundries, for then he doesn’t stop

Wasim

“Cricketers like Sachin come once in a lifetime and I am privileged he played in my time,”

Allan Donald

His shot selection is superb, he just lines you up and can make you look very silly. Everything is right in his technique and judgement. There isn’t a fault there. He is also a lovely guy, and over the years I’ve enjoyed some interesting chats with him… Sachin is in a different class to Lara as a professional cricketer. He is a model cricketer, and despite the intolerable pressures he faces back home, he remains a really nice guy… Sachin is also the best batsman in the world, pulling away from Brain Lara every year…

Anil Kumble -he’s shy little gentleman

I am very privileged to have played with him and seen most of the runs that he has scored. I am also extremely happy to have shared the same dressing room… He is a very reserved person and generally keeps to himself. He is very determined, committed and doesn’t show too many emotions. He just goes about doing his job.

The thing I admire most about this man is his poise. The way he moves, elegantly without ever looking out of place in any condition or company, suggests his pedigree. I remember he had once come to New Delhi in the 1990s to collect his Arjuna Award (India’s highest award to its top sportspersons) and he asked me if I would attend the function. He is a very sensitive human being….

Sometimes you feel he really hasn’t felt the kind of competition in the world his talent deserves. I would have loved to see him perform against top quality cricketers of the previous generation. It would really have brought out the best in him.

Greame Pollock

Tendulkar is the best in the world at the moment. Why I’ve always liked him is that batsmen tend to be negative at times and I think batting is not about not getting out – it is to play positively. I think you got to take it to the bowlers and Sachin is one such player. When you do so, you change the game, you change bowlers because they suddenly start bowling badly because they are under pressure.

Ian Chappell

Whenever I see Sachin play I am reminded of the Graeme Pollock quote of Cricket being a ‘see the ball, hit the ball game.’ He hits the ball as if it’s there to be hit.

Ravi Shastri:

“We always knew that Sachin Tendulkar is a great cricketer, but after the Coca-Cola Cup here, we have seen the birth of a legend. I can’t think of anybody who has batted more authoritatively in one day cricket for India, or even in the world except for Vivian Richards.”

Navjot Sidhu:

“His mind is like a computer. He stores data on bowlers and knows where they are going to pitch the ball.”

Dravid

Playing in the same team as Sachin is a huge honour. His balance of mind, shrewd judgement, modesty and, above all, his technical brilliance make him my all-time hero… You can’t get a more complete cricketer than Sachin. He has everything that a cricketer needs to have.

As a batsman, he has the technique, the hunger and the desire for runs. He always contributes with the bat as well as on the field. He also is a good fielder and bowls when needs. You really can’t ask for a better cricketer than Sachin… He is a terrific person and has handled pressure brilliantly. He has handled his success very well and doesn’t have any airs about him. He is a great guy and very good team man. In his heart of hearts, he is a very simple and down to earth person.

Azhar

The more I see him, the more I want to see him.

Sunil Gavaskar:

India’s fortune will depend on how many runs the little champion scores. There is no doubt Tendulkar is the real thing

Harsha bhogle

if sachin plays well..india sleeps well

SOURAV GANGULY

The thing I like most about Sachin is his intensity. After being in the game for so long, he still has the same desire to do well for India in any international match.I tell you what, this man is a legend.

Kris Srikkanth

“He is the only match-winning batsman we have”

Ranatunga

“You get him out and half the battle is won”

Andy Flower:

There are 2 kind of batsmen in the world. One Sachin Tendulkar. Two all the others.

Martin Crowe:

A flighted full toss on Leg stump by spinner. any other will play this shot on leg side by pull shot or glance or flick. but sachin made a space and played a perfect cover drive for four runs.
Martin Crowe (New Zealand’s ever best bats man) said ” the shot played on this ball is only possible for GOD Of CRICKET “

Shane Warne:

You have to decide for yourself whether you’re bowling well or not. He’s going to hit you for fours and sixes anyway. Kasprowicz has a superior story. During the Bangalore Test, frustrated, he went to Dennis Lillee and asked, “Mate, do you see any weaknesses?” Lillee replied, “No Michael, as long as you walk off with your pride that’s all you can do”.

Rudy Kortzen

“I never get tired during umpiring whenever sachin is on crease”

sunny gavaskar

This was after a wonderful century by sachin(in england i guess in a test match..not sure)
Sunny: The other day i was just trying to think of a bowler who can go through sachin’s defenses when sachin is in total defense. I am sorry but i could not think of even one name who could do that. If sachin decides he doesnt want to give away his wicket, he wont. be it any bowler in the world.
Cheers to Sachin…

PONTING

Ponting make comparisons btn sachin,Lara& jayasuriya.
Sachin is the best ever batsman in the world. He is brilliant in his technique. He is always hungry for runs.  Sachin is better than Lara in his techniques & thats why he is No.1 among others.  On his day,Lara will be more destructive. He is the only man 2 fight for west indies. Jayasuriya also played gr8 knocks 4 his team. But compared 2 them Sachin is the BEST

Pradeep Mandhani ..a Photographer

“Barely two hours after landing in Johannesburg on the 1992-93 tour to South Africa, the team was to visit Tolstoy Farm, Mahatma Gandhi’s first Satyagrahi Commune founded in 1910. It was situated 35 kms from Jo’burg and most of the Indian players showed little interest, longing to rest in the hotel after the long flight. But Tendulkar, still a teenager, looked keen and hungry to learn more about Gandhi. His volley of questions to the guide reflected his national pride.”

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.”

Allan Donald

“In my several years of international cricket, Tendulkar remains the best batsman I have ever bowled to. It’s been a pleasure to bowl at the master batsman even though one hasn’t always emerged with credit from the engagements.”

Allan Donald

“During our team meetings, we often speak about the importance of the first 12 balls to Tendulkar. If you get him then you can thank your stars, otherwise it could mean that tough times lie ahead.”

Saurav Ganguly:

SACHIN MADE 9 CENTURIES IN ONE YEAR BUT MANY CRICKETER DIDNOT MAKE 9 CENTURIES IN THEIR WHOLE CARRIER.

Ricky Ponting:

“Sachin is the most complete batsman I have seen. His technique is so good and he has played well in all conditions. To have 41 one-day international tons shows what an appetite he has for scoring runs.”

Harsha Bhogle:

There’s no better sight on the cricket field than watch Tendulkar bat.

Rev David Shepherd.

“Sachin Tendulkar! If he isn’t the best player in the world, I want to see the best player in the world”.

“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

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

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

-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 during the India Pakistan match in the 2003 World Cup.

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

“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)

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

“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”
-Glenn McGrath

“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.”
-Anjali, Sachin’s Wife

“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.

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

Question: 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!!
-A quote of Shahrukh Khan from one of his interviews

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

“He can play that leg glance with a walking stick also .”
-Waqar Younis

“I WILL SEE GOD WHEN I DIE BUT TILL THEN I WILL SEE SACHIN “
-Displayed on a banner at a cricket ground

“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. “
- Allan Donald

“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) to be 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 delevery outside offstump. 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. Atleast u wont regret if he hits you for boundaries.”
-From Allan Donald’s interview in Cricket Talk.

“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!!”
- Peter Rebouck – Aussie Journalist

“Sachin cannot cheat. He is to cricket what (Mahatma) Gandhiji was to politics. It’s clear discrimination.”
-NKP Salve, former Union Minister. This was when he was accused of ball tempering.

“There are 2 kind of batsmen in the world. One Sachin Tendulkar. Two all the others.”
-Andy Flower

“I think he will fit in whatever category of cricket that has been played.. He can play in any era and at any level. I would say he is 99.5 % perfect.”
-Vivan Richards

“Commit all your crimes when Sachin is batting, they will go unnoticed, bcouz even Lord is busy watching him play”
-A banner in Sydney by the Australian fans

He has been in form longer than some of our guys have been alive