"I have seen God, he bats at no. 4 for India." -Matthew Hayden
"On a train from Shimla to Delhi, there was a halt in one of the stations. The train stopped for a few minutes as usual. Sachin was nearing his century, batting on 98. The passengers, railway officials, everyone on the train waited for Sachin to complete the century before pulling out of the station. This Genius can stop time in India!" -Peter Roebuck
Exactly twenty years ago a precocious sixteen year-old came out to bat for the first-time against a Test bowling attack featuring Imran Khan, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis in their own backyard. But the boy did not flinch. He might've only scored fifteen but the calm and composed manner with which he took his guard and shuffled into his stance left no-one in any doubt that he was here to stay. And stay he did. There's been no looking back since getting a bloodied nose in that series from Waqar, waving away pleas from the dressing room to get some treatment, only to follow it up with two consecutive classy cover drives for boundaries. He's thirty-six now, less intimidating and yet still notching runs at the speed of knots. He is and will always remain my all-time favourite sporting hero. He is the most loved icon in a nation of more than a billion people and he is one of the greatest cricketers of all-time. One could attribute every superlative in the book to him but I'll leave it with this, thank you Mr. Tendulkar for the entertainment! May the show go on!