Sachin Tendulkar – Soul that inspired a generation of young people

We know it’s always been country first for Sachin Tendulkar, yet his gesture of pointing to the Indian flag on reaching his 100th international hundred brought tears to my eyes.

I still can't come to terms with the enormity of the impact of Sachin Tendulkar's decision to bid farewell to One-Day Internationals (ODIs). It had to come some day, but never thought it would end in the way it did. One-day cricket has to grapple with an irreplaceable void. I wonder what will attract fans to the ground now when there will be no divine straight drives or effortless back-foot punches anymore. For me, ODIs are over.

That’s surprising, because my generation has grown up inspired by ODI cricket only. T20s arrived only recently. And Tendulkar was the soul of that inspiration. Everything from our stance, to the MRF sticker we pasted on the Rs 40 bat, to the follow through of our drive and the light-weight pads had his presence. As teenagers, we would watch in awe his strokes during that unbelievable 1998 season against the world's best team and try to emulate the same in local gully matches. It was an inspiration watching him battle the Desert Storm in Sharjah, when he blitzed to 98 at Centurion or the manner in which he destroyed Dale Steyn and Company to score 200. Those memories are vivid because they bought a smile on the faces of his countrymen – young and old alike; an unadulterated smile that is becoming a rarity in our lives.

We were lucky to be born in the Sachin Tendulkar Era. Lucky to have seen someone wield the willow as Sachin Tendulkar did. Lucky to have seen a sportsman as supremely talented Sachin Tendulkar is. Proud that the coming generation would only be able to read and hear a first-hand account from us of the man who was worshiped as God. I know they won't believe us when we would tell our kids that life for people from all of walks of life – in a nation of a billion strong – stood still when Sachin Tendulkar took guard.

I know the kids would dismiss some of our memories and say it’s impossible as cricket is just a game. But then, instead of arguing, we would know you had to be born in the Sachin Tendulkar Era to appreciate the fact that when the maestro was at the crease cricket, for the billions in India, was more than a game. The nation found solace while he was fighting those battles on the field, alone and mostly wounded, but never defeated.

My heart aches to think that we would not have those butterflies in the belly anymore when he steps out to open the innings, when he faces the first few balls, our hands clasped in silent prayer. It’s all over.

Thanks for the awesome memories, Sachin.

Learn from Tendulkar: Akram tells Pak openers

Former captain Wasim Akram has called on the Pakistani openers to seek inspiration and learn from the exploits of Indian senior batsman Sachin Tendulkar.

Wasim, who is in Sri Lanka commentating on the World Cup matches, also expressed his frustration over Pakistan's performance against Zimbabwe on Monday.

The former fast bowler called on openers, Muhammad Hafeez and Ahmed Shahzad to learn the art of batting and building an innings from Tendulkar.

The two openers have failed to provide a single decent start to the Pakistan team in five matches of the World Cup and Wasim felt both needed to rethink their approach to batting.

"They should learn from Tendulkar, look at him he is 38 plus and yet he is still going strong. He just plays normal cricket in the first ten overs and does not gift his wicket," Akram said.

"Tendulkar is a role model for many others and the Pakistani openers should learn from him how to build an innings and how to tackle dicey conditions. Look at Shahzad he is immensely talented but the moment the ball does a little movement he either starts shuffling across the line or moving in his crease and is gifting his wicket. Hafeez is also getting out constantly shuffling across," he explained.

Wasim said the Pakistani openers need to learn from Tendulkar that even in one-day cricket one needs to build an innings.

"Even if you have scored 50 odds runs in the first 12 or 15 overs and have wickets in hand you are in a good position. And Pakistan's strength is that if they have wickets in hand they can go for quick runs in the final overs," he said.

He pointed out that Tendulkar was still going strong as he stuck to the basics well and didn't try anything extraordinary.

Sachin's stupendous run inspires me: Ponting

Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting is inspired by the way Sachin Tendulkar is playing late in his career, and said he hopes to get better with age like the 'little master'.

Ponting said the thought of retirement has not crossed his mind but it would depend a lot on how he fares in the upcoming Ashes series and World Cup early next year.

"Even at my age we can find ways to improve and I think Sachin has been a great example of that," Ponting was quoted as saying by the Sydney Morning Herald.

"I think he made nine international hundreds in the last year at 37 years of age, so hopefully I can do something similar in the coming years."

"If I play well through the Ashes and well through the World Cup, then I will continue to play."

Ponting should look to Tendulkar - Taylor

Ricky Ponting should seek inspiration from Sachin Tendulkar's batting renaissance, according to the former captain of Australia, Mark Taylor. Tendulkar and Ponting are the two leading run scorers in Test history and they will be key men in the upcoming two-Test series in India.

But whereas Tendulkar, 37, has shone over the past year with six Test hundreds and an average of 81.84, it hasn't been as easy for Ponting, 35, who has scored one century and averaged 40.05. Taylor, who endured a memorable lean period during his final years of Test cricket, said life would not get any easier for Ponting.

"He is not getting any better," Taylor told DNA. "He may no longer be the batsman he was in his late 20s but he is still a very good batsman. Honestly, Ponting's best is behind him but he is still capable of scoring big hundreds."

Ponting's form is not unlike that of Tendulkar during 2006 and 2007; during those years Tendulkar averaged 41.72 with two centuries in 17 Tests. Taylor said he was impressed by Tendulkar's return to form, which has also included the first double-century in one-day internationals.

"I think Sachin has had a rebirth," Taylor said. "He is really batting at his best and that can be a sort of inspiration for Ponting. It might be difficult for him to overhaul Sachin's number of centuries because the Indian master is lengthening the gap between them.

"But Ponting has this job of rebuilding the Australian side. The current Australian side is very much his. Seniors like Adam Gilchrist, Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Matthew Hayden have all gone. It is a much younger side.

"I think Ponting's focus has moved a little bit away from his personal milestones. In that sense, Sachin is fortunate. He does not have to worry about captaincy. That is probably the reason why he is making hundreds."

"Ponting's is a young Australian side which plays very good cricket but is not consistent," he said. "I'm sure Ponting would be working on this area to reduce the number of bad sessions. They tend to lose five or six wickets in a session when they could do well by losing just two or three."

Pak hockey players say Tendulkar is an 'inspiration' for them

Showering praise on little master Sachin Tendulkar for his stupendous feat of hitting the first ever double century in a limited over match, Pakistani hockey players, who are currently in India to participate in the Hockey World Cup, have said they derive inspiration from the champion batsman.

"I saw the match since I had nothing to do after our practice session. We all clapped after he scored 200. Cricket has never seen a player like him and will never see," said Rehan Butt, who himself is a top class forward player.

"Even after playing for 20 years, his passion for the game is an inspiration for us," The Daily Times quoted star drag-flicker Sohail Abbas, as saying.

During his massive innings of 200 not out (147 balls) against South Africa in the second ODI at Gwalior on Wednesday, Tendulkar hit 25 fours and three sixes.

The previous record of highest individual runs in an ODI was held by Pakistani opener Saeed Anwar (194 runs).