Thanks Sachin....

Twenty years is a long-long time. Everything has changed around us, the world has changed but one thing has not change for we Indians is the expectations we have from a man to rise above the anticipations and perform to make us feel proud each time and again n again. The man is none other than youngster at the age of 36, our own visible god Sachin Tendulkar. He is one of those things in this diversified country who is loved, admired and followed by almost every Indian regardless of state, religion, cast, creed or profession. He is a phenomenon in this cricket crazy country. Apart from the fact that our expectations, hope , love has not changed for him, the one thing which also has not change in spite of all the success, fame and divine status he possess in this country is the man himself. He is as humble and passionate for the game as He was when giving probably his first recorded interview in Shivaji park to Tom Alter. I know whatever I am saying its been said number of times by number of people and specially whenever he reaches some milestone the whole world talk about the greatness of the man as everybody is talking now as he has completed twenty remarkable years in International cricket today but I can't help because whenever we pray god we chant the "aarti" all the time.

He is my Hero, and its been the same right from the start, My memories of Sachin tendulkar starts from the match when due to rain disturbance, one day match was converted in to a 20 over exhibition match in 1989 in pkaistan and Sachin tendukar knocked the international cricket with the sound of three sixes in an over against top class spinner abdul qadir. then after that if some of you remember a double wicket cricket tournament called pepsi cup was played in India and number of world's top players had come to play in that. Sachin tendukar was paired along with great Kapil dev and I remember the kind of sizzling stroke play he exhibited with lots of sixes against top international players of that time. Right from those days he was special for me and crores of Indians, then one after another tour he was established as the sole caretaker of all Indian hopes in whole cricket arena. I remember he was the youngest player in 1992 world Cup, Still his importance in the indian team can be understood by the fact that He was the highest scorer for India in that world cup and he was the man of the match in both the matches India won in that tournament. He continued to be the best Indian performer in the most important of cricketing events all over the world.

Then the time came when he virtually single handedly took the load of whole team, every match depended upon the a single man, If he did well India won, If he fails India looses, That was certainly not the ideal situation for any sporting team but that was also a proof of the difference of the status and quality of the man and other cricketers of that time.

Another example of his dedication and love for the game came when after the death of his father during the world cup 1999, he went back to play with in a week and hit one of his memorable centuries. there are number of examples of greatness of this man and his cricketing skills. but apart from his cricketing skills, his off the field decorum is one thing to learn. In the society where smallest of success rise above one's head, his humbleness, decency and easy going behavior is the example to not only young cricketers but to all irrespective of profession they are in.

Even After these twenty years he is the most wonderfull cricketer and human being around, And on the occasion I personally want to thank him from the bottom of my heart to give all those happy and proud moments, smiling faces all around me whenever he played well, make all of us feel one when he wins it for India. And I wish he continues to do all he was doing in these twenty years for endless time.

All the best Sachin.:)