Cricket fraternities paying tribute to Indian batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar for completing 20 years in international cricket:
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 captainSteve 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 Muttiah 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 panelKris 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.
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... his compactness, technique, stroke production... it all seemed to gel.
Sir Donald Bradman
In terms of technique and compactness, Tendulkar is the best.
Desmond Haynes
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.
Sir Garfield Sobers
He is 99.5 per cent perfect. I'd pay to see him.
Viv Richards
Technically he stands out as the best because of his ability to increase the pace at will.
David Boon
There is no shame being beaten by such a great player, Sachin is perhaps only next to the Don.
Steve Waugh
Sachin is cricket’s god.
Barry Richards
India's fortune will depend on how many runs the little champion scores. There is no doubt Tendulkar is the real thing.
Sunil Gavaskar
A complete batsman — he's the best in the business.
Mohinder Amarnath
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.
Jeff Thompson
If I've to bowl to Sachin, I'll bowl with my helmet on. He hits the ball so hard.
Dennis Lillee
You take Don Bradman away and he is next up I reckon.
Steve Waugh
Don't bowl him bad balls, he hits the good ones for fours.
Michael Kasprowicz
Hell, if he had stayed, even at 11 an over he would have got it.
Allan Border (after India won the Coca-Cola cup in Sharjah)
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.
Greg Chappell
I'd like to see him go out and bat one day with a stump. I tell you he'd do okay.
Greg Chappell
He's a phenomenon. We have to be switched on when he plays allow him no boundries, for then he doesn't stop.
Mark Taylor
Tendulkar is the most complete batsman I have stood behind. I saw the hundred in Perth on a bouncy 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.
Ian Healy
He has defined cricket in his fabulous, impeccable manner. He is to batting what Shane Warne is to bowling.
Richie Benaud
He's better than Ben Hur.
Paul Wilson
I still think Tendulkar is the best batsmen in the world, ahead of Steve Waugh and Lara.
Glenn McGrath
There's no doubt about it. He is the best.
Tony Grieg
Technically, you can't fault Sachin. Seam or spin, fast or slow – nothing is a problem.
Geoffrey Boycott
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.
Peter Roebuck
A little genius. Reminds me of Sunny Gavaskar.
Keith Fletcher
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.
Eddie Barlow
Destined to be a great.
Barry Richards
What we (Zimbabwe) need is 10 Tendulkars.
Paul Strang
Cricketers like Sachin come once in a lifetime and I am privileged he played in my time.
Wasim Akram
While I keep hoping he gets out, I must admit that his stroke play is a treat to watch.
Mark Waugh
I have seen God. He bats at number 4 for India.
Mathew Hayden
You have to watch India in India truly to appreciate the pressure that Sachin Tendulkar is under every time he bats. Outside grounds, people wait until he goes in before paying to enter. They seem to want a wicket to fall even though it is their own side that will suffer.
Shane Warne
Much has been made of my personal contest with Tendulkar. Some people have said that my duel with Tendulkar in India in 1997-98 was the most compelling Test cricket they have ever seen, but there is no doubt he enjoyed the better of the exchanges. He has played me better than anybody. Most Indian batsmen pick the length very quickly, even when it is flighted above the eyeline, but Tendulkar moved into position even earlier than the likes of Mohammad Azharuddin and Rahul Dravid. His footwork is immaculate. He would either go right forward or all the way back and he has the confidence to go for his strokes. I suppose I would be confident too if I batted as well as Tendulkar.
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.
Shane Warne
When it comes to judging the best among these fabulous band of batsmen, my vote goes to Tendulkar. He has an uncanny ability to come out on top under different circumstances and under different conditions, whether it is Test cricket or one-day internationals. And more importantly, he has done this so young.
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.
Shane Warne
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.
Cricket Historian Vasant Raiji
His shot selection is superb, he just lines you up and can make you look very silly. Everything is right in his technique and judgment. There isn't a fault there. He is also a lovely guy, and over the years I’ve enjoyed some interesting chats with him.
Allan Donald
First and foremost, Tendulkar is an entertainer and that for me is as important factor as any fact or figure. Too often boring players have been pushed forward as great by figures alone. For sheer entertainment, he will keep cricket alive.
Barry Richards
Sachin is a genius. I’m a mere mortal.
Brian Lara
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.
Bishan Singh Bedi
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.
Graeme Pollock
Sachin is an attacker. He has much more power than Sunny. He wants to bet he one to set the pace. He has to be on top. That's the buzz about him.
Jeff Thomson
The more I see him, the more I want to see him.
Mohammad Azharuddin
Playing in the same team as Sachin is a huge honour. His balance of mind, shrewd judgment, 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.
Rahul Dravid
By far the best I have seen or played against.
Allan Donald
His stroke off the backfoot, particularly off the pace bowler, is extraordinary – the next thing you know is that someone is picking the ball up from the gutter.
Richie Benaud
The thing I like the 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.
Sourav Ganguly
I have never seen Bradman but heard people talk about him. But I tell you what, if Bradman could bat like this man does then he was dynamite. Players like Sachin deserve to be preserved in cotton wool.
Viv Richards
To me he is the complete batsman. What has impressed me most about him in his focus and determination to do well. I think the youngsters can learn a lot form just watching him play and emulating his determination. Despite being so immensely gifted, he is still so determined to excel every time he goes out to bat for his country, it is something I have always respected.
Wasim Akram
COLLECTED BY ... ATUL K. RAI........
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