Sachin vs Virat: The "GOAT" Debate

In the last few days, a cricket argument that most Indian fans thought had been settled in their hearts, if not on paper, was reopened by one of the most respected voices in the modern game. AB de Villiers, a man who shared a dressing room with Virat Kohli at Royal Challengers Bengaluru for over a decade and who built his own reputation as one of the finest batters of his generation, said on his YouTube channel that Kohli had taken Indian batting overseas to "a level even Sachin Tendulkar had not reached." His reasoning was specific: Tendulkar was the first subcontinental batter to prove that Indian players could succeed on bouncy, seaming pitches outside Asia, but Kohli, in de Villiers' eyes, pushed that standard further and raised the bar for everyone who came after.

The comments landed exactly as you'd expect a match dropped in a room full of dry leaves to land. Former India pacer Dodda Ganesh fired back within hours, sarcastically telling de Villiers to "pass on the weed," a blunt dismissal of the claim. Fans picked sides across social media. Statisticians pulled up spreadsheets. And the oldest fault line in Indian cricket fandom — Sachin or Virat — cracked open again, right as India was busy handing Sri Lanka a 165-run hiding in the first Test at Galle.

Here is the thing about that fault line: it has always run deeper than "who scored more" or "who averaged higher in this particular sub-category of conditions." It is a debate about what greatness actually means in a team sport where one man's runs are only ever half the story. And when you look at the whole story — not just Kohli's overseas average, not just Tendulkar's overseas average, but the era each man batted in, the bowling attacks they faced, the burden they carried, and the shadow each man's career cast over the game that came after — the conclusion is not close. Sachin Tendulkar remains, and will likely remain for a very long time, the greatest cricketer India has ever produced. Virat Kohli is a magnificent, era-defining batter and the rightful heir to a piece of Tendulkar's throne. But heir is not the same as equal, and equal is not the same as superior.

Let's build the case properly, because this argument deserves more than nostalgia and more than a highlight reel.

Start With the Only Person Whose Opinion Should End the Debate: Virat Kohli Himself

Before we get anywhere near statistics, there's a simple truth that a lot of people conveniently skip past when they want to crown Kohli as the greater of the two: Virat Kohli has spent his entire adult life calling Sachin Tendulkar his idol.

This isn't a one-off quote dug up for convenience. It is a running thread through Kohli's career. He has spoken, repeatedly and emotionally, about watching Tendulkar bat as a child in Delhi and deciding then and there what he wanted his life to look like. He dedicated India's 2011 World Cup win to Tendulkar, famously saying the team carried him on their shoulders because Tendulkar had carried Indian cricket on his for twenty-one years. When Kohli surpassed Tendulkar's ODI century tally in 2023, reaching his fiftieth hundred in a World Cup semi-final at the Wankhede — the same ground, fittingly, where Tendulkar lifted the World Cup in 2011 — Kohli's reaction wasn't triumph. It was reverence. He pointed to the sky, he looked toward the stands, and he made sure the moment was framed as a tribute rather than a coronation.

There is something worth sitting with here. Kohli is not a falsely modest man. He is competitive to the point of ferocity, unapologetic about his ambition, and has never pretended to be anything other than a player who wants to be the best in the world. This is a man who talks trash on the field, who has had documented rivalries with opposition players, who built his entire captaincy identity around aggression and self-belief. And yet, when the conversation turns to Tendulkar, all of that competitive instinct softens into something closer to devotion. That is not a coincidence, and it is not humility theater. It is Kohli, more clear-eyed about the history of the game than most pundits arguing on his behalf, acknowledging what he saw with his own eyes growing up and what he has come to understand even more since retiring from Test cricket: that Tendulkar operated in a context that no batter since has had to fully replicate.

If the man himself, the one supposedly being crowned above his idol by outside observers, refuses to accept that framing, shouldn't that tell us something? De Villiers is entitled to his opinion, and it's an informed one from a great player. But Kohli's own voice on this subject carries more weight than anyone else's, and Kohli has never once suggested he sees himself as bigger than Sachin Tendulkar.

The Numbers, Properly Read

Let's deal with the stats, because they matter, even if they are not the whole argument.

Sachin Tendulkar retired with 15,921 Test runs from 200 matches at an average of 53.78, with 51 centuries — both figures that stood, at the time of his retirement, as the outright records in the format. He also holds the record for the most ODI runs ever scored, over 18,000 of them, and was for years the record-holder for most ODI centuries too, with 49, before Kohli eventually surpassed it. Across all international cricket, Tendulkar reached 100 centuries, a mark so far ahead of anyone else in the sport's history that when people talk about it, they usually just call it "the hundred hundreds," as if no further explanation is needed. It isn't.

Kohli, for his part, retired from Test cricket in 2025 with 9,230 runs from 123 matches at an average of 46.85 and 30 centuries, including seven double-hundreds — the most by any Indian batter in the format. In ODIs, he has gone past 14,800 runs and, as of early 2026, holds the record for the most centuries in the format at 54, having overtaken Tendulkar's mark back in 2023. Across formats, Kohli's international century count sits at 85, which puts him second only to Tendulkar on the all-time list — fifteen centuries behind, with only the ODI column still open to him since his Test and T20I tallies are now final.

Read quickly, that comparison might look competitive. Read carefully, it tells a different story, and the difference lies in three things: longevity, workload, and what each man's runs actually meant to his team's chances of winning.

Tendulkar played 200 Test matches. Kohli played 123. Tendulkar's international career spanned twenty-four years, debuting as a sixteen-year-old in 1989 and playing his final Test in 2013. Across that span, the sport itself changed shape multiple times over — helmets became mandatory rather than occasional, pitches were prepared differently across different decades, bowling attacks evolved from the express pace of the late eighties to the reverse-swing era to the two-new-ball ODI rules that flattened out swing bowling in the 2010s. Tendulkar didn't just survive one era of bowling. He survived four or five overlapping ones, adjusting his technique as his body aged, as his eyesight and reflexes inevitably slowed, and as opposition teams built entire bowling plans around dismissing him specifically, year after year, for over two decades.

Kohli's career, remarkable as it is, unfolded over a much shorter window and under substantially different conditions — better bats, shorter boundaries in white-ball cricket, fielding restrictions that favored batters, flatter pitches prepared by broadcasters who wanted more boundaries, and a support cast around him that, as we'll get to, was frequently strong enough to share the burden Tendulkar so often had to carry alone.

None of this is said to diminish what Kohli achieved. It is said to point out that "more centuries in a shorter career, in a batting-friendlier era, with more support" and "fewer centuries in a longer career, in a bowling-friendlier era, with far less support" are not directly comparable using century counts alone. You have to ask what each hundred actually cost the man who scored it, and what it meant for the team that received it.

The Bowlers They Actually Faced

This is where the AB de Villiers argument, and frankly most modern arguments in Kohli's favor, tend to fall apart the moment you look closely.

Sachin Tendulkar's twenty-four-year career put him directly in the crosshairs of what is, by any honest reckoning, one of the greatest concentrations of fast-bowling and spin talent the sport has ever assembled in a single era. Consider who he had to face, not once or twice, but across entire series, entire tours, entire decades:

Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis, two of the greatest exponents of reverse swing the game has ever produced, operating at the peak of their powers throughout the 1990s specifically against India, with Pakistan-India tensions adding an extra psychological weight to every ball. Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne, arguably the finest fast bowler and finest leg-spinner in the history of the sport, both peaking in the same Australian sides that toured India and hosted India across the late nineties and 2000s. Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh, the last great pairing of the West Indies pace factory, still terrifying batters well into the 1990s. Allan Donald, Shaun Pollock, and later Dale Steyn and Makhaya Ntini from South Africa. Muttiah Muralitharan, the greatest wicket-taker in Test history, operating for two full decades as a nightmare for every batting lineup in world cricket, India's included. Courtney rounding out with Brett Lee and later a fully-formed Steyn-Morkel South African pace attack in the 2000s.

That is not a list of good bowlers. That is a list that includes, by nearly every credible ranking exercise ever conducted by cricket historians, the actual GOAT of fast bowling (McGrath or Akram, depending on who you ask), the actual GOAT of leg-spin (Warne, unchallenged), and the actual GOAT of off-spin and of wicket-taking outright (Muralitharan, by a distance in the record books). Tendulkar didn't face one all-time great bowling attack. He faced, across the arc of his career, the peak version of nearly every all-time great bowling attack fielded by every major Test nation, because his career was simply long enough to overlap with all of them.

Now look at Kohli's era. He is a phenomenal player of fast bowling and built a genuinely excellent Test record against most attacks he faced. But be honest about who those attacks were built around: Dale Steyn in the back half of his career and Kagiso Rabada from South Africa, James Anderson and Stuart Broad from England — both excellent, workmanlike, but not spoken of in the same breath as an Akram or a McGrath by most historians — Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, and Mitchell Starc from Australia, a very good trio without a single bowler most panels would rank inside the all-time top five at their own discipline, and Trent Boult and Tim Southee from New Zealand. Good bowlers. Very good, in some cases genuinely great, bowlers. But nowhere in that list is there a consensus GOAT of pace bowling, a consensus GOAT of spin, and a consensus GOAT of wicket-taking overall, all operating in their pomp during the years Kohli was scoring his runs.

This is the part of the debate that gets flattened whenever people just compare batting averages side by side. An average doesn't know who was bowling. Fifty-three point seven eight against Akram, Warne, McGrath, and Muralitharan across two decades is not the same achievement, in terms of what it tells you about a batter's class, as a very good average against a collection of very good but not legendary attacks. Tendulkar didn't just play in a golden era of batting. He played through what is inarguably the single greatest concentration of bowling talent world cricket has produced in the sport's history, across pace and spin combined, and he still came out the leading run-scorer the format has ever seen.

Carrying a Team Alone vs. Batting in a Fab Four

There's a phrase that gets used a lot in this debate, and it's worth unpacking properly rather than throwing around as a slogan: "Sachin carried India alone."

For long stretches of the 1990s and into the early 2000s, that wasn't hyperbole, it was the literal batting lineup on the scorecard. India's top order for years rested overwhelmingly on Tendulkar's shoulders, with the rest of the batting frequently inconsistent, inexperienced, or simply not built to win matches on its own against elite attacks. There's a well-worn cricket saying from that era — "if Sachin gets out, India loses" — that existed because it was statistically, verifiably true across an enormous number of matches. Opposition captains built entire bowling and field-setting strategies specifically to dismiss one man, because they knew that removing Tendulkar early was often functionally equivalent to winning the match. That is an extraordinary, singular kind of pressure. It means every innings he walked out to bat, he wasn't just batting for his average. He was batting as the difference between his team having a chance and his team having none.

Kohli, by contrast, built the bulk of his career's white-ball legacy inside what the cricket world affectionately nicknamed the "Fab Four" era — himself alongside Steve Smith, Joe Root, and Kane Williamson, four batters from four different nations dominating world cricket at largely the same time, each pushing the others. That's a wonderful thing for the sport, and it speaks to the strength of competition Kohli faced from his peers. But within his own dressing room specifically, Kohli also had the benefit of batting alongside Rohit Sharma, one of the greatest ODI and T20 openers the format has produced, alongside a genuinely deep and skilled Indian middle and lower order across most of his prime years, and later alongside players like Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer who could shoulder scoring responsibility when Kohli himself had an off day. When Kohli failed, India frequently still had multiple other routes to victory. When Tendulkar failed for much of his prime, India often simply didn't have one.

This is precisely the distinction that gets lost when people wave stat sheets at each other and never ask what the runs were actually doing for the team around them. Kohli has, rightly, been immense in run chases — his fourth-innings and chasing numbers in ODIs are legitimately some of the best any batter has ever produced, and there is no attempt here to take that away from him. He has won India matches from impossible positions, has shown ice-cold composure under the weight of expectation in World Cups and ICC finals, and has been, by any measure, a phenomenal big-match player. But he has almost always done it as the best of several very good options, not as the only option standing between his team and defeat. Tendulkar spent the better part of two decades as exactly that: the only option, night after night, series after series, without the depth of support that Kohli enjoyed for most of his career.

What It Took an Entire Generation of GOATs to Even Approach

Here is, perhaps, the single most underrated argument in Tendulkar's favor, and it's one that doesn't get made nearly often enough: look at who it has taken to even get close to his records, and how many of them it has taken.

Tendulkar retired as the all-time leading run-scorer in Test cricket. The man currently chasing that record down is Joe Root, an England captain and, by any measure, one of the finest batters of his own generation — a genuine great of the modern game, closing in on both the most Test runs and the most Test matches played. It is entirely possible Root gets there. But note what that means: it has taken one of the very best batters of an entirely different generation, from an entirely different cricketing culture, playing an entirely different number of matches under different conditions, working across the majority of his own career just to have a realistic shot at a record Tendulkar set essentially by himself, in his own era, largely without a rival threatening to catch him at the time.

Tendulkar also held the record for most ODI centuries for years. It took Virat Kohli — a genuine, all-time great in his own right, one of the best white-ball batters the sport has ever produced — an entire career of sustained excellence, in a batting-friendlier era, with better bats and shorter boundaries and flatter white-ball pitches, to finally push past that mark.

Stop and actually sit with that for a second. It has not taken one great player to challenge Tendulkar's standing in the record books. It has taken multiple, separate, era-defining greats — Root chasing one record, Kohli chasing another, each of them among the two or three best batters of their own respective generations — each working an entire career just to get within range of, or eventually surpass, individual pieces of what Tendulkar built. That is not a coincidence, and it is not just a function of him having played a long time. Plenty of players have played long careers without leaving marks this durable. It's a testimony to the sheer scale, consistency, and quality of what Tendulkar produced, sustained without serious interruption across more than two decades, that the sport has needed several of its most gifted modern successors, operating independently across different formats and different eras, just to individually approach different fragments of his overall body of work. No single successor has matched the whole picture. It has taken the sport's best collectively chasing pieces of it.

That is what real, generational, structurally unmatched greatness looks like. It isn't that no one has ever come close in any one category — it's that coming close in any single category has required the best that an entirely new generation of the sport had to offer.

Kohli's Own Greatness Deserves to Be Stated Plainly

None of this should be read as diminishing Kohli, because that isn't the intent, and it wouldn't be honest either. Virat Kohli is, by any reasonable measure, one of the five or six greatest batters India has ever produced, and arguably the finest chaser of totals white-ball cricket has ever seen. His fitness standards changed the culture of the Indian dressing room permanently, dragging a generation of cricketers toward professionalism in a way that outlasted his own playing career. His captaincy turned India into a fast-bowling nation with genuine overseas Test ambitions, something that simply hadn't existed at that level before him. His conduct under pressure in ICC knockout games, his hundred-plus centuries across formats, his seven Test double-centuries, his all-time record for ODI hundreds — these are not small things, and nobody serious about the sport pretends otherwise.

He has been the standard-bearer for a full decade and a half of Indian cricket, carrying the emotional weight of an entire nation's cricketing expectations through a social media era that Tendulkar never had to navigate, where every single innings is dissected, memed, and criticized in real time by millions of people within minutes. That is its own unique pressure, and Kohli has largely handled it with remarkable resilience.

But being a worthy successor to a throne is not the same as being greater than the man who built it. Kohli inherited a game, a fanbase, and a set of expectations that Tendulkar's career had already shaped and elevated to unprecedented heights. He took that inheritance and did something genuinely special with it. That is admirable. It is not, however, evidence that he surpassed the man whose legacy he was inheriting — and, again, it is worth returning to the fact that Kohli himself has never claimed otherwise.

Beyond the Numbers: Conduct, Class, and What Neither Stat Sheet Can Capture

There's one more dimension to this that rarely gets its due weight in these debates, because it can't be reduced to a spreadsheet, and that's conduct — both on the field and off it.

Tendulkar played for twenty-four years under an intensity of public scrutiny that is difficult to overstate, carrying not just batting responsibility but something closer to a national emotional burden, and in all that time built a reputation for dignity that remains, to this day, essentially uncontested. There is no notable controversy attached to his name across more than two decades in the public eye — not with umpires, not with opponents, not with teammates, not off the field. He handled genuine adulation bordering on deification with a level of humility that friends, rivals, and journalists across every cricketing nation have independently and consistently described the same way. When he retired in 2013, the tributes came not just from India but from every corner of the cricketing world, including from bowlers who had spent entire careers trying and failing to dismiss him, because the respect he commanded was earned as much through how he carried himself as through what he scored.

Kohli, to his credit, has grown remarkably in this regard over the course of his career too, mellowing from a fierier, occasionally combative young cricketer into a senior statesman of the game who is now widely respected across cricketing nations. That evolution is genuinely admirable and worth acknowledging. But it is an evolution — a journey from a more turbulent starting point toward the kind of consistent, unwavering conduct that Tendulkar simply exhibited from the very beginning of his career to its very end, without the same visible arc of change required to get there.

This isn't a small, sentimental footnote to bolt onto the end of a stats argument. Greatness in cricket, particularly in a country where cricketers occupy something closer to religious significance than sporting celebrity, has always been judged by more than numbers. It's judged by what a player represents, how they carry the weight of a billion people's expectations without letting it curdle into arrogance or controversy, and how they leave the game relative to how they found it. By that measure too, Tendulkar's record is essentially spotless across an almost impossibly long career, and that consistency of character across such a demanding, unrelenting spotlight is its own form of greatness.

So, Who Wins the Debate?

AB de Villiers is a legend of the game, and he's entitled to look at overseas Test conditions specifically and conclude that Kohli's average in that narrow slice of the format edges Tendulkar's. That's a defensible, specific, narrow claim, and reasonable people can debate the exact numbers behind it.

But that narrow claim is not the same as the sweeping one that gets attached to it in the retelling — that Kohli is simply the better cricketer, full stop. That claim doesn't survive contact with the whole picture. It doesn't survive the length and difficulty of the era Tendulkar batted through. It doesn't survive the sheer concentration of all-time great bowlers — the actual GOATs of pace and spin — that Tendulkar had to face, tour after tour, for twenty-four years, compared to the very good but rarely legendary attacks Kohli built his numbers against. It doesn't survive the difference between being the one man an entire batting lineup depended on and being the best of several very good options in a talented dressing room. It doesn't survive the fact that it has taken not one but multiple all-time greats of an entirely new generation — Root chasing his Test aggregate, Kohli chasing his ODI century count — each spending an entire career just to individually approach different fragments of what Tendulkar built alone. And it doesn't survive Kohli's own, repeated, unforced testimony about who he considers the standard he has always been chasing.

Virat Kohli is a phenomenal cricketer, one of the best India has ever seen, and a completely worthy heir to the ODI throne Tendulkar once occupied. He deserves every ounce of the praise and admiration he receives, and this debate losing him the title of "greatest" takes nothing away from what he's built.

But heir is the correct word. Not equal. Not successor-who-surpassed. Heir.

Sachin Tendulkar remains the standard the entire sport, across generations, is still measuring itself against. No one trumps him. Not yet, and — based on what it has taken the game's best modern talents just to chase pieces of his legacy — perhaps not for a very long time to come.

As they say, Virat and all are fine but Sachin is Sachin yaar!

Jai Ho!

Many happy returns, champ: Thank you for simply being you!

Every year on Sachin Tendulkar’s birthday, the instinctive response is nostalgia. We remember cover drives, straight drives, upper cuts that defied logic, centuries that carried a nation, and an extraordinary statistical mountain that no one may ever climb again. We relive Sharjah, Chennai, Perth, Manchester, Kolkata, Sydney, and countless other landmarks etched not just in scorebooks but in collective memory.

Yet, to focus only on the runs is to miss the most enduring reason Sachin Tendulkar continues to matter.

The real awe lies not merely in what he did, but in how he did it across nearly a quarter century of relentless scrutiny, unrelenting pressure, and a billion expectations pressing down on a single individual. Sachin Tendulkar is not just the greatest cricketer many of us have seen. He is arguably the finest living example of how to carry oneself before success, during success, and after success.

And that makes him far bigger than sport.

Beyond superstardom: a study in conduct under constant surveillance

There have been many great sportspeople. There have been global icons. There have been child prodigies who turned into champions. But never before, and perhaps never again, has one individual lived under such unbroken observation for so long.

From the age of sixteen, Sachin Tendulkar was never off stage.

Every net session, every dismissal, every press conference, every advertisement, every personal choice, every missed century, and every team defeat was dissected. His facial expressions were analysed. His silences were interpreted. His body language was psychoanalysed. In an era before social media matured, he still lived under what would today be called round the clock public surveillance, except it spanned almost twenty five years without pause.

What is remarkable is not that he survived it.

It is that he emerged from it without bitterness, without defensive arrogance, without public resentment, and without losing his essential gentleness.

This was not accidental. It was character.

Sachin Tendulkar showed the world how to exist with dignity when the noise never stops. He did not push back loudly. He did not weaponise victimhood. He did not cultivate enemies to justify himself. Instead, he let restraint become a form of strength.

At a time when outrage is currency and defensiveness is rewarded, Sachin’s calm now appears almost radical.

The burden of being India’s dream and carrying it without bitterness

At various points in his career, Sachin Tendulkar did not merely represent Indian cricket. He was Indian cricket. To share my perspective on the enormity of expectations and unprecedented pressure on him, I had written a piece long ago - in the heartbroken aftermath of his retirement - about why there will never be another Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.

When he was dismissed early, televisions went off across cities. When he was injured, national moods dipped. When he failed, it was framed as betrayal. When he succeeded, it was treated as expectation rather than achievement.

This unusual relationship between an individual and a collective placed a moral weight on him that no job description could ever capture. He was expected to score runs and heal Indian pride and guarantee victories and serve as a role model and never complain.

That is an impossible contract.

And yet, he honored it with astonishing composure.

He never publicly questioned the unfairness of expectations. He never accused the public of excess. He never lashed out at critics, even when criticism crossed into cruelty.

Sachin understood something very early. Resentment corrodes the person who carries it, not the people it is aimed at. By refusing to internalize unfair scrutiny, he insulated his inner life from the world’s chaos.

That ability to be internally free while externally burdened is exceedingly rare.

Excellence without entitlement

Success often carries a poison with it, entitlement. The belief that achievement grants immunity from criticism, from humility, from accountability. Many great talents succumb to it, some slowly and some spectacularly.

Sachin Tendulkar never did.

Despite scoring more runs than anyone in history, despite rewriting records that will stand for generations, he continued to speak like a student of the game. Even in farewell speeches, he did not force himself at the forefront as a conqueror but as a grateful participant. This was not false modesty but consistency of self image.

Sachin did not define himself by applause or records. He defined himself by preparation, discipline, and respect for the craft. That is why praise did not intoxicate him, and criticism, however unjust, did not destabilize him.

In professional life and personal life alike, this balance is among the hardest to maintain.

To be excellent without being entitled.
To be confident without being dismissive.
To be successful without becoming unbearable.

Sachin made this balance look natural when in reality it requires extraordinary self control.

How he behaved during success matters more than the success itself

Everyone wants to succeed like Sachin Tendulkar.

But far more important is how he behaved while succeeding.

At the peak of his powers, when sponsors chased him, media worshipped him, and stadiums chanted his name, he did not allow external validation to rewrite his internal compass. He kept returning to basics such as fitness, nets, technique, and patience.

There was no performative greatness. No desperation to remind the world of his past. No insecurity masquerading as aggression.

He let performance speak and allowed silence to do the rest.

This is deeply relevant beyond sport.

In careers, relationships, leadership roles, and public life, success often alters personality long before it alters circumstances. Sachin’s example shows that it does not have to.

You can succeed massively and still remain anchored.
You can be celebrated and yet stay accessible.
You can dominate a field and still behave as a custodian rather than an owner.

That lesson alone is worth more than any century.

Failure, injury, ageing, and the grace of adaptation

If Sachin Tendulkar were only great during his peak, he would still be legendary.

What elevates him further is how he dealt with decline.

Injuries accumulated. Reaction times slowed, as they inevitably do. Younger bowlers emerged with pace, aggression, and no emotional memory of what Sachin meant to earlier generations. His body, once effortless, demanded greater care.

There was no denial.

He did not chase youth. He did not insist on playing the same way forever. He adapted his game, moderated risk, and re engineered his approach to stay relevant. He accepted limits without surrendering purpose.

Even more admirably, he never blamed the world for time’s natural progression.

In a culture that worships permanence and fears obsolescence, Sachin demonstrated the maturity of accepting change without panic.

Ageing, setbacks, and shifting contexts are inevitable for everyone. How we respond to them defines our quality of life far more than raw talent.

Sachin responded with grace.

Handling criticism without defensiveness

Few public figures in Indian history have been criticized as persistently and as casually as Sachin Tendulkar. Some criticism was fair. Much of it was lazy. A good portion was shaped by emotion rather than reason.

He was blamed for team failures he could not control.
He was questioned for centuries scored too slowly.
He was accused of playing for records.
He was scrutinized for tactics outside his authority.

And yet, his response pattern never changed.

No sharp retorts.
No public feuds.
No counter narratives built to protect ego.

Instead, he acknowledged the group, respected the game, and kept working.

This refusal to personalize criticism is a masterclass in emotional intelligence. Sachin appeared to understand that public opinion is unstable, situational, and often uninformed. To give it power over one’s self worth is to surrender emotional agency to chance.

By remaining steady in both praise and blame, he protected his inner equilibrium.

For anyone navigating success today, especially in the age of instant judgment, this may be his most valuable lesson.

A role model even after achieving everything

Retirement reveals character as clearly as competition.

For many icons, stepping away brings either self importance disguised as honesty or bitterness disguised as truth. The temptation to constantly remind the world of past relevance is strong.

Sachin Tendulkar chose another path.

He did not linger. He did not pontificate excessively. He did not convert legacy into leverage. Instead, he transitioned quietly into mentorship, social work, and a dignified public presence.

He allowed absence to enhance respect.

Even after achieving everything the game could offer, records, honors, worship, he remained measured in expression and purposeful in engagement. He understood that relevance earned continuously is far stronger than relevance demanded.

This restraint shows deep understanding of timing, humility, and self containment.

Not just who we want to be, but how we want to be

Most people admire Sachin Tendulkar for what he achieved.

The deeper admiration comes from something else.

He represents who we want to be while achieving success.

He shows that ambition does not require abrasiveness.
That excellence does not require ego.
That fame does not require constant performance outside one’s craft.
That pressure does not justify loss of grace.

More importantly, he shows that how you behave in success defines how you are remembered long after it ends.

Sachin Tendulkar will always be remembered as a batting genius. But his truest legacy may lie in how seamlessly he combined greatness with gentleness.

In an increasingly loud and defensive world, his life stands as proof that quiet excellence carries enduring authority.

Why there will never be another Sachin

There will be great cricketers.
There will be record breakers.
There will be global stars.

But there will never be another Sachin Tendulkar. Not because no one will score as many runs, but because no one is likely to replicate that precise mix of timing, temperament, cultural moment, and personal restraint.

He arrived young, bore unimaginable weight, delivered consistently, adapted gracefully, retired with dignity, and stayed rooted throughout.

That combination is not replicable by talent alone.

It is rare alignment between ability and behavior, ambition and humility, excellence and ethics.

That is why, on his birthday, celebrating Sachin Tendulkar is not just about cricket.

It is about celebrating a way of being in the world that we need far more of.

Happy birthday, Sachin. Thank you not just for the runs, but for all the examples and living lessons from you.
Thank you for simply being you! Jai Ho!

Happy birthday Sachin, another century loading!!

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar - the man, the superhuman, the living legend. Today, as this true Bharat Ratna completes another half-century (this time, life's fifty). it marks the golden jubilee of one of the greatest cricketers to ever grace the game.

For the uninitiated, Tendulkar's career statistics are nothing short of remarkable. He scored 15,921 runs in Test cricket at an average of 53.78, including 51 centuries and 68 half-centuries. In One-Day Internationals (ODIs), he amassed 18,426 runs at an average of 44.83, including 49 centuries and 96 half-centuries. He also played a key role in India's victory in the 2011 Cricket World Cup, scoring 482 runs at an average of 53.55.

But these are still just statistics. Tendulkar's impact on cricket goes beyond mere numbers. I had written earlier about why there will never be another Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. He inspired a generation of cricketers with his work ethic, dedication, and passion for the game. His ability to adapt to different conditions and situations, as well as his sheer love for the sport, made him a role model for aspiring cricketers all over the world.

Off the field, Tendulkar has also been an ambassador for cricket and a philanthropist. He has used his fame and influence to support various social causes, including education, health, and rural development. In 2012, he was nominated to the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian parliament, as a Member of Parliament.

As Tendulkar completes 50 years of his life, it is a time for reflection and celebration. He has achieved more than most cricketers could ever dream of, and his legacy will continue to inspire generations of cricketers to come. His contribution to the sport and to Indian society as a whole is immeasurable, and he will always be remembered as one of the greatest icons of our time.

May God bless you with a long, healthy, and happy life Sachin. This is the very least you deserve, for all the joys you have given us forever!

Happy Birthday, Master Blaster!

47 years ago, the world did not know that a cricketing genius had arrived.
Of course, superpowers aside, one cannot tell or predict a person's fate or life's trajectory right at the time of birth.

I suspect that would've been the case 47 years ago too.
Not even in the case of the one who, as is widely said, was born to bat!

No one could have predicted that April 24, 1973 heralded the arrival of someone who would go on to change the course of batting forever, besides being counted in the pantheon of the greatest-ever batsmen.
No one had known then, that the world of cricket had been blessed with Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.

Sample these stats:
(Each stat/record stands head and shoulders above anyone else as of today, even 6 years after his retirement):

Most number of international matches by anyone ever.
Most number of international runs.
Most number of international 100s.
Most number of international 50s.
Most number of man-of-the-match awards.
Most number of man-of-the-series awards.
Most number of 90s.
Most number of 4s (boundaries) hit.

Of course, these records are at the world-level and in terms of all-time-records. Not just through the last year or any particular span, but across every era.
Every record is about most number of ____: EVER.

In other words, Sachin is simply, THE GREATEST EVER.
Not that he needed stats to prove anything, but they themselves state this fact rather indisputably, I'd say.

Well, that sure is enough reason for people to be in awe of his precocious talent, and try to emulate and play like him. Okay, atleast be inspired and try to play somewhere around something like him.
But honestly, as pride-worthy as his achievements are, there is something even better, even greater than his superhuman feats.

It's how he is - not just as a player but even more so, as a person.
It's his balance and execution.
Not just in the field, while batting but even off-field, in how he has conducted himself even more admirably.
His (mental) balance and execution (of his behaviour) in staying sane, grounded, motivated, sincere despite all the superstardom, god-like status, temptations and accolades everyday from everyone have been exemplary.

Sachin is the name of someone who bridged the gap between goodness and greatness with consummate ease. The living embodiment of an all-time great sporting superstar who never stopped being someone you wanted your kids to be like.

Sachin's talent and ability to break in at the highest level when all of 16 and succeed to be the best made people admire and emulate him.
But his impeccable conduct and role-model behavior, with not even a tinge of rashness and brashness, with nothing out of place, made people love, adore and respect him.

As someone (among just a few billion others) who has grown up learning and being wowed by not just about his batting but about life, rectitude and propriety from Sachin, wish you many happy returns of the day, superstar!
Thankyou for making us find light in our lives and for cheering us on to not only take on the world's best but also be (and stay being) the world's best. While also being the best-behaved all the time. Think of superstars who can qualify on all these aspects from any field ever and you will not need to go beyond your fingertips.
May God bless you and your every wish Sachin!
Stay happy, stay blessed, and thanks beyond words for everything you have been and meant to us!

Happy Birthday Sachin!!

So, it's that time of the year again when we pay obeisance to a certain Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar!

Many happy returns of the day, to not just one of the best cricketers the game has ever seen, but even more importantly, a completely genuine and dignified superstar despite being a living legend.

Picture this for a moment:
You capture the imagination of your local area or even your state (in any field), as a precocious prodigy, while still in your teens - say 19. People throng to watch your talent unfold as your perform.
I'm sure we can imagine the expectations.
Feel the pressure.
The and hopes that rest on you and the subsequent adulation you receive if you succeed.
Tell me if you don't feel dizzied by the adoring fans and the unending compliments.

Now, raise the bar by only a 100 times.
Replace state with country/even the world.
And, replace 19 with 16!

Most importantly, replace adulation with media frenzy, constant talk about how critical you are, as you realize the fact that rightly or not, want it or not, the nation's success, failure, or even any mood - begins to hinge in direct proportion to whether you made it to triple figures or not.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar for you.

True, we have always had superstars in each era, and we will continue to have many.
But as I wrote in an earlier post right after his retirement, no one, NO ONE (including the great Gavaskar and Kapil) had ever been or will ever be in the same pressure, certainly not in the same situation of not knowing what to follow, who to look upto, when facing superstar-level fame.

We love you, Sachin.
May you continue to stay grounded, humble, and remain an inspiration to everyone, not just on how to bat well and maintain balance on the pitch while batting, but also to excel off the field, in being a good human being and maintain that equanimity amidst any amount of success or failure.
May you stay blessed and have a wonderful, healthy and happy life for many years to come!!!

Best wishes!

Sincerely,
Just another of your zillion fans! :)

Sachiiiiin, Sachiiiin!!

As we move from the era of Lara, Ponting, Dravid, and Sachin to Kane Williamson, Joe Root, Steve Smith, and Virat Kohli, one thing has still not gone out of fashion: the cries of Sachiiiin, Sachiiiin!!!

Fans resonate with that chant all across the world even today, invoking his name even when everyone knows he isn't on the field anymore.
Such is the legend of the man they call God.

While I am loathe to equate Sachin to Godly status, I do consider him a role model (on the cricket field) and a huge influence on how to maintain one's equanimity amidst all the temptations and adulations in the world, day in, day out.

To add a fun twist to the nostalgia, here's a humorous take on Sachin and his impact, courtesy TVF!

Dear Sachin,
We shall continue to get heroes galore.
A Kohli within, someone else ashore.

But what will never happen with anyone else except you..
Is for someone to now not know, when successful too early, who to look upto

For you are a lesson for all of us mortals-lesser
On how to remain grounded in compliments and pressure.

This is for you, Sachin - from one among millions of your fans!!

Sachiiiiin Sachiiiiin!!

I had written a few years ago on the same day, same occasion.

It is that time of the year again - yes, the day when India was blessed with one of the greatest cricketing superstars the world has ever seen.
Not just a supremely gifted and larger-than-life cricketer, but also a gentleman, and a wonderful human being.

Thankyou Sachin, for the memories you have provided - from that scintillating strokeplay to that astute cricketing acumen you always seem to have possessed in abundance.

Thankyou Sachin, for teaching us that talent alone is not enough. That even the most talented must remain the most disciplined and most passionate, as well as the most humble.

Thankyou Sachin, for showing us that it is still possible to remain grounded, even with more than a billion hearts idolizing you all the time.

Thankyou Sachin, for teaching us that nice guys can also finish first!! :-)

I'm sure I say so on behalf of many more like me:

Wish you many years of health, happiness, and success in all that you do...from one of the many big fans of not just your talent and achievements, but also of your conduct and temperament.

Best wishes and cheers!!
Just another fan :-)

Coming Soon!: Playing It Sachin's Way

It's been almost a year now, since we last saw (and saw for the last time) the Master Blaster don the Indian cricketing gear.


As they say, once a fan, always a fan.
Almost a year has elapsed, and yet, the memories still (and will) remain.

True, the game is (rightly) bigger than anyone, and moves on, unraveling new heroes, reaching unchartered territories.

However, there is always that something extra special about the favorite players we watched in awe, the ones we grew up idolizing, that we keep yearning to see them in action always.
It could be through archived footage or avid discussions about their best performances with friends and like-minded enthusiasts.

It's always fun to be around, when your hero(es) come back in the news, with you being a willing audience, ready to lap up any but of information about them :)

A similar activity is going to take place very soon.
Sachin Tendulkar, my hero, is coming up with his autobiography - Playing It My Way - and today marks the first teaser of his book.

Here's wishing Sachin the very best on his upcoming book, and hoping it turns out to be as fun, as insightful, and as entertaining as his cricketing accomplishments.
All the best, hero - see you soon!!
Would love to read every word of the hitherto unheard-of trivia and interesting tidbits from the man himself.

Can't wait!!
Sachchiin, Sachchiin!!! :)

There will never be another Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar

So, it has been the end of an era and all that.
It has taken me a few weeks (and I am still not done) just soaking up all I the good articles I could get to read, about a certain gentleman with Tendulkar as his surname.

Sure, there was this huge build-up to Sachin's final test series, right from October 10, when he announced his retirement, all building up to an incredible crescendo by the time he actually walked out in pads for the last time for India.

Followed by, yes you guessed it, his unanimously-loved farewell speech.

I am happy to share, before anything else, some wonderful articles that are truly worth reading, in understanding what people think and feel about Sachin:

Two of the best pieces I read, are here: one, by the wonderful Siddharth Vaidyanathan, and this is the very talented Ashish Shakya, entering tributes online.

And then, of course, there's Cricinfo - providing the most exhaustive coverage they'd ever have done on one man: brilliant, fascinating, engaging, excellent.
 
For me, there are quite a few abiding memories and lessons with which I shall remember Sachin:
Dignity, Humility and Impeccable Conduct

All these are qualities that have been oft-spoken and are so true that howsoever many times you hear them from anyone, they never seem cliched just because you know they are being spoken from the heart from each and every person who says so.

But apart from these, there is another thing that I would like to add:
There are many people who are talented and precocious.
There are many who will plunder runs and ravage the best of bowling attacks consistently.

However, the reason why there will never be another Sachin Tendulkar, is because:

Sachin never knew which 16 year-old to look up to, when he played for India at 16.

Sachin never knew who could understand exactly what it felt to be the pulse of a billion people each and every time he walked out onto the ground (or, better still, just walked out, anywhere!)

Sachin never knew who to be like, when he was adored and worshipped like crazy for 24+ years

Many people can bat and play well amazingly.
Who knows, there will be someone who will bat like Sachin, but they will have a shining example right in front of them - not only on how to play well, not only on how to react to adoring fans and overnight success, superstardom, the constant weight of expectations.
For every such thing, they will have a Sachin Tendulkar's life and conduct to look up to.

Thanks you Sachin, for all the memories, all the lessons.
Fare thee well, Little Master - you are truly Bharat's Ratna!

A void called 2-down

November 15, 1989 : For the uninitiated, here are the oft-shared stats on the 'where-were-you-when-Sachin-made-his debut' question:

When 16-year old Sachin Tendulkar faced his first ball in Test cricket from Pakistan's Waqar Younis: 

• The Berlin Wall was still standing
• Saddam and Osama were still US allies 
• Oil was $19 per barrel 
• The Sensex was under 750 points
• Maruti 800 was a bold young challenger to the Ambassador and Fiat
• The internet and mobile phones hadn't come to India, and 
• Doordarshan was the only TV channel.

Eight Indian Prime Ministers and a mountain of mind-boggling statistics later, he will retire as arguably the greatest batsman and unarguably one of the finest gentlemen to ever grace a cricket field.

Yes, there have been people who have thought he left it for too late, but then, let's just say, for once, he showed he too was human, and must have had a goal in his mind which made him play on.
We have also heard him speak of playing as long as he was still enjoying the game.

Late or not, the fact is, that there will be a void in the Indian Test team at the #4 position. Two down, in comes Sachin - this has been the standard template since the last 24 years.
To not see Sachin very soon at all in any form of cricket, is without doubt, going to be tough.

An immortal, by the name of Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar

Dear Sachin, we can only wish you the very best and thank you for all the wonderful memories you have bestowed us with, thanks to your craft, impeccable conduct, genuine humility, and unflinching commitment towards the game.

You will be missed, big time.

Thank you for letting us see you live, exhibiting your skills and your conduct.

Thank you for making us forget all our troubles by the sheer enjoyment and delight you provided with your uninhibited strokeplay.

Thank you for teaching us that good guys can also finish first!

Thanks a lot, and God bless!!!

15 years later...

15 years ago, the entire nation was in raptures, celebrating two back-to-back masterpieces, by the one and only Little Master.

15 years ago, the indomitable Aussies, comprising the likes of Steve Waugh, Michael Kasprowicz, and Shane Warne, had been tamed into submission.

Celebrating his 25th birthday that day in the course of his second knock, Sachin tore into the bowlers and mesmerized cricket lovers one more time - not for the first time, nor for the last time either (thankfully).

15 years later, we have news of him not really being in the zone these days, in the IPL, and even in the series against  England and Australia, in the last few months.

Yes, he has been dormant and not at his best.
Yes, he has been getting out too soon (considering the guy's sheer class and pedigree), too often.

However, if I may, allow me to say without any bias towards him, that it would be very very naive to jettison such a once-in-a-lifetime cricketer, at this juncture.
15 years later, as the chorus for Sachin not being the same batsman grows, we continue expecting him to simply ravish bowling attacks black and blue the same way he did, back then.

As an avid cricket follower, I would humbly like to state that it's time we just let him be.
It's time we let him enjoy and play the way he deems best.
He knows better than anyone else, what his game is, how best he can contribute (and he sure can guide and contribute to the team, in Tests, for at least a couple more years).
Let us just wish the batsman many years of health and happiness, as he has turned 40, and hope he bows out on a high, in a couple of years from now, if not later.
Happy Birthday Sachin!!

UDRS: Unable to Decode Reluctance of Sachin

Right then, we are into the World Cup season and it's hard to not think about it every now and then. Especially with its unabated and unabashed promotion through every second news byte or even advertisements.

Before I actually get into talking about the World Cup chances and performances, let me first dwell on something that has long been a mystery to me: India's approach towards UDRS.
I do understand the point that it might not be fool-proof and there could still be the odd 50-50 one or even an incorrect one being dished out to you, even after going with this option.
However, to say that it is useless just because it is not foolproof is laughable, to say the least. What in the world, by the way, is foolproof?
Do we stop driving (fearing that a non-foolproof thing like driving could cause accidents) or stop eating (fearing a non-foolproof bite might choke us)? In short, do we stop living, coz it is not fool-proof anyway either?!

And to beat this, what I surely, totally, do not get at all, is how we can claim to be ready for UDRS, without even having tried it ever in an ODI? Sure, we might still go on to use it well (and I do hope so) but does that mean we adopted the right way to learn using it? - by avoiding it, till it became necessary and avoidable?

We made a hell lot of noise about rotating all the top players in the Indian ODI mix over the last few years for World Cup by trying and testing them with international match practice before (and for) the World Cup - way to go!

Tested and strengthened our bench strength with international match practice before (and for) the World Cup, played and pottered around with Ravindra Jadeja (before patience with Jadeja finally ran out and Yusuf finally paid off) for the No. 7 position, but what about our testing and practicing our tactics and approach when it comes to the UDRS?

Why did we not try it out with international match practice before (and for) the World Cup,when the entire squad should have known how and when to use it?

The most essential bit about UDRS is that we can atleast do away with the blunders that no fair cricketer would want. I’d imagine even a victory feeling would be soured for many fair cricketers and fans, if you find that the match-winning player got away with a howler. As you said, it’s about judicious use of the referrals.

I think India’s reticence stems from the way we used our referrals the only time we ever used it - in India's 2008 Test series in Sri Lanka. And honestly, how Sachin got out to referrals (though Sehwag also was a victim of the referral – that too a 50-50 referral decision going against him, he still supports its usage). India was always at the rough end of the stick in that series – I think we got 2 refs right, as against SL’s 11.

I, like millions, am a Sachin fan, but I suspect even the BCCI is against anything that SRT doesn’t like. As you have rightly brought out, it’s nice to have limited appealing rights and that’s where knowing, using, learning and practising the UDRS usage is all the more important, instead of being a bully in every series and striking the option down.

Doesn’t even portray India as a fair player (and honestly, others are correct if they think so in this rergard) since whatever UDRS is, it is the same for both sides. How can only it be unfair to only India and not the other side (or vice versa), especially when the opposing teams have no objection to (in fact they want and support) its usage?!

Come to think of it, how many people/teams would be in complete support (or even prefer/like!) the dreaded and much-less-clear and much-more-random Duckworth-Lewis method?! But we all go by it, don’t we? I’m sure, UDRS is much better, much more reliable and beneficial and likeable and preferable by all vis-a-vis D-L. No?!

Otherwise too, if you see, specific to WC 2011 plans, even with all the anathema we have had against UDRS, what I find totally useless and stupid is why not agree to use it in all the series we played (Aus, NZ, and SA) and practise usage when, it is clearly and unarguably already known and decided, that even if we agree or not, like it or not, IT IS TO BE USED in the WC!

Hope better sense prevails and ICC gets to decide. For once, I don’t agree with SRT on this.

Words fall short..

..as yet another milestone is achieved, by the one and only Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.

Almost right from the time he made his debut, cricket experts and enthusiasts alike have fallen over themselves in complimenting and eulogizing the batman from India.
What I find most amazing amidst all this, is that the man himself is never ever fazed or dazed by the hyperbole and incessant 'tributes' paid to him.
Writers have run out of superlatives, but the man has not run out of steam yet. And are we happy about it!!

His humility, level-headedness, composure, focus and zeal to enjoy and keep evolving and keep honing his already supreme skills is what is worth emulating and makes him truly remarkable. Not to also forget that he's been a humble achiever unsullied by any blot against his name for the last 21 years at the international cricket level. And still counting!

We've written, read, before having again re-written and re-read, about all his achievements and abilities. But such is his greatness, and such are his qualities that he never makes repeating them seem unfashionable. Unfathomable - yes, for it is unbelievable to think that someone could do so much so regularly for more than two decades and still counting, under so much constant pressure without being in the bad books of anyone. Ever. Amazing, just amazing!
Find all this unfathomable? - yes. Unfashionable? - NO!

Many times, we tend to skip the fact that the genius that he is, could also be a human being - prone to emotions, troughs and errors of judgement. But the fact that he has managed to remain untouched by any controversy, any dissent (despite having borne the rough end of some real howlers) or anything undesirable both on the field as well as off it, is a testament to not only the man's greatness, dedication and focus towards the game, but also to his integrity, disciplined life and impeccable personality.

We all know of every shot in the book (and even those that he has created out of the book, like his vertically-pointed ferocious paddle sweep and the crisp upper cut) that he has enthralled us with, so many times. But if one also realizes the nature and attitude of the man behind the batsman, it makes Sachin worthy of being adored and regarded, all the more.

ToI aptly put the importance of Sachin's latest achievement in perspective, by writing thus: "In a year when adjectives like ‘biggest’ and ‘unprecedented’ were mostly used to describe scams, it was left to India’s sportspersons to provide cheer to the nation with their stirring feats. It is fitting, therefore, for 2010 to draw to a close with a stupendous achievement by a hero who has epitomized sporting perfection for over two decades and given millions of Indians countless moments of pride and joy."

For being the hope of a billion people for 21 years and counting, for still being the best batsman and the most prized wicket in the team even now, for being the motivation for innumerable teammates, youngsters, and cricket fans all over, for carrying the expectations and pressures of a billion hearts every time he sets foot on field so wonderfully and humbly over all these years, Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar - take a bow!!
More power to you, SRT - The Bharat Ratna that India is yet to call a Bharat Ratna!

Oh, by the way, if you'd also like to savor a moment from each of his 50 centuries (till now), here it is - go, indulge!

The Bharat Ratna that India is yet to call a 'Bharat Ratna'

Of late, I have allowed myself some indulgence by enjoying ‘seeing’ some creative and imaginative teams ‘play’, in my mind. Cricinfo has been dishing out All-time XIs - such as of the World, as well as of each country, including ours). Some lists are even more specific, like the All-time Poetry in Motion World XI or even an All-time XI of the best of the rest - the Excluded XI.
And so, while these are purely academic exercises, there is no harm in enjoying the romanticism of how great it would have been, to see all such players, playing together as a team.

In continuation/relation with the above-mentioned theoretical pursuit, there is another such activity that has occupied the mindspace of many cricket enthusiasts – the evergreen debate about Sachin being the best-ever batsman to have played the game or not.

Anyone who has known me or discussed cricket with me, would vouch for my fan following towards Sachin. Therefore, to remove any bias in my judgement, I decided to test him on the most objective (and not subjective) parameters.

So even if I believe that no one ever could, or ever will achieve the balance in posture before, during and after playing a stroke the way only he does, I would not give him extra points for that (though he deserves them!).

Not even when he just no-more-than-pushes at the ball and it races to the boundary.

Not even when he is so compact in his defence that even lightning cannot sneak through, between his bat and pad.

Not even when he upper cuts fast bowlers to make it seem so ridiculously simple that you'd think even Geoffrey Boycott's mom would be able to mete out similar treatment to those balls.

Not even when he paddle-sweeps a spinner ferociously to the fine-leg fence.

And not even when he shapes up to play a sweep shot, and still has the time to easily switch to Plan B and execute a late cut, all with effortless ease and grace.

What I will judge him on, is how good he has been, in terms of the following parameters:

1) Longevity

To be able to represent your country for so long, to play with the kind of passion he has, and to still retain the joy, love and zest for the game even after more than two decades, is phenomenal, to say the least. Not to forget, he has been a backbone of the team all these years, right since 1989.

2) Consistent Match Winner

The number of Man of the Match awards he has won, and the number of times India has won when he has scored centuries, are all indisputable facts, for all to see.

His display in all formats of the game has not only been brilliant, but also consistently brilliant. It’s one thing to be good initially, in say, your first international season, but entirely another to retain it over the subsequent seasons. Ajantha Mendis would vouch for the same! And to be consistently great for so long, is possible for only a one-in-a-million.

3) Stats – Runs, 100s, Strike Rate, Average

Yes, they don't reveal everything, but stats don't hide everything either. In fact, they do tell a lot. And when it comes to Sachin's records, they just speak for themselves. Need I say more?!

4) Quality and Variety of Opposition Faced

From the previous point about Statistics, many believe that Sir Don with his famous 99.94 and the sheer frequency-of-centuries-per-matches-played makes for a greater bat than Sachin. However, with due respects to the Don, we must not forget that Sir Don played in an era where:

• He never played outside Australia and England

• He never faced vicious turners or hostile pacemen on their home turfs

• He played 52 Tests over a 20-year period with NO one-dayers (which meant enough time to recuperate and re-charge) as compared to 160+ Tests for Sachin over the same period (including playing in One Dayers too).

• He was never under anywhere close to the kind of pressure to perform each time he walked out to bat, that Sachin has almost forever gone through (and handled exceptionally)

• He never got video-analysed, and ‘sorted’ by the bowlers

• Without taking any credit away from his ability and talent, it must also be noted that the quality of bowling was hardly as high in the 1920s-1940s era, as it has been since the last two decades. Sir Don never played such a variety of pitches and bowling attacks as Sachin has.

With all the above facts, it shouldn’t be tough to ascertain who the greater immortal should be (and not the lesser mortal!).

5) Home Vs Away Performances

Sachin’s performances both at home and away are again, there for all to see. No wonder, he is the only cricketer in the only world about whom it is said that wherever he plays in the world, it is a home game for him – not just because he is loved everywhere, but also because he has scored against everyone, since these many decades against all sorts of bowlers, everywhere!

6) All Shots in the book

Not only does Sachin have all shots in the book, like his paddle sweep and upper cut, he has improvised to create many of his own, outside of the book too. No one else has had such complete mastery over virtually every shot played perfectly. Yes, there could still be/have been a few who might be/have been able to play all shots, but only Sachin can play all shots with same amount of perfection in each shot! Even the way he weaves out of the line of a bouncer with body and bat away from possible contact and eyes still on the ball, is a sight to behold.

Even after all this, what we might still not know is how much his body hurts at this age, and how he manages to motivate himself to raise the bar of excellence with his subsequent knocks.

Despite simulating how he’d feel like every time he walks onto the ground with thousands of lungs shouting (chanting) his name, we might still never realize just how much expectation and pressure he copes with and conquers, in every single innings of his.

We might still not know how his mere presence in the dressing room or on the field spurs other Indian cricketers to produce their best in front of him (and often, thanks to his tips and encouragement).

And we might still never know, how, in an India saddled with corrupt politicians, inept governance, average to below-average performers or non-performers in every sphere, and with general gloom and doom all around in a country that yearns for an avatar to feel good about, how he manages to give every cricket lover a reason to find life perfect, and how critical he is, to all of us.

Last, but certainly not the least, what is most lovable about this man is how he manages to retain his humility despite his super stardom and despite the world anointing him a Master Blaster/Little Master, he remains as much a student and humble, grateful servant of the game he has always genuinely loved, to this day.

Pray, tell me, how do we measure all this?! And if we can (as we should), how can there be any doubt whatsoever about who the greatest guy to have walked on this planet with a bat is?!!

To cut a long story short, Sachin is not just the world’s best Saurav da, he IS the world’s best-ever. Surely, the greatest Bharat Ratna that India is yet to have. Whenever he gets conferred with it (and hopefully he will be!), it would have been long overdue.

More power to you, Little Master..and may you keep thrilling us, even till ever after!