feck sakes 
Was a long time coming in fairness, but end of an era for me. Can't imagine cricket without him.
Was a long time coming in fairness, but end of an era for me. Can't imagine cricket without him.
Tendulkar says he'll retire after his 200th Test Match
- Thread starter KM
- Start date
Greatest cricketer ever. Will be a sad day for all cricket fans.
He's the best player I've seen play, so, in my opinion, he is the best player ever to play cricket.
Out of interest, who is the best in your opinion?
The Greatest player I've ever seen.
People can say all types of things, but to perform like he has with so, so much pressure is an outstanding achievement.
People can say all types of things, but to perform like he has with so, so much pressure is an outstanding achievement.
As a child, he was one of the reasons I was proud to be an Indian. Should have retired after the World Cup though, did not do anybody any favors by extending his career for another 2 years.
Should've retired a long time ago. Has been useless for sometime.
Good Luck to him.
Good Luck to him.
Sach was life
Some ungrateful cnuts in this thread.
Ganguly.. Dravid and now finally the greatest of the 3 - Tendulkar.. An era of Indian cricket will end when he goes.
About two years too late imo but definitely the best of his era.
oh god why
My favourite batsman to watch, fabulous player, best of luck to him.
Kallis?Jesus.
Easily.
Makes me think you haven't really seen any of them play and are just looking at the stats. There are players who can challenge Sachin for being the best of the era but Kallis is most certainly not one of them.
Kallis is one of the greats of the game, on his batting alone. Add in the fact hes taken over 500 international wickets as well ay around 30 then, well.
Tendulkar was the more elegant shot maker, certainly, but Cricket is about so much more than that.
So now Tendulkar is just an elegant shot maker? As I was saying, you don't seem to have watched him in his prime.
"When Sachin Tendulkar travelled to Pakistan to face one of the finest bowling attacks ever assembled in cricket, Michael Schumacher was yet to race a F1 car, Lance Armstrong had never been to the Tour de France, Diego Maradona was still the captain of a world champion Argentina team, Pete Sampras had never won a Grand Slam.
When Tendulkar embarked on a glorious career taming Imran and company, Roger Federer was a name unheard of; Lionel Messi was in his nappies, Usain Bolt was an unknown kid in the Jamaican backwaters. The Berlin Wall was still intact, USSR was one big, big country, Dr Manmohan Singh was yet to "open" the Nehruvian economy. It seems while Time was having his toll on every individual on the face of this planet, he excused one man. Time stands frozen in front of Sachin Tendulkar. We have had champions, we have had legends, but we have never had another Sachin Tendulkar and we never will." - The Time Magazine.
"When Sachin Tendulkar travelled to Pakistan to face one of the finest bowling attacks ever assembled in cricket, Michael Schumacher was yet to race a F1 car, Lance Armstrong had never been to the Tour de France, Diego Maradona was still the captain of a world champion Argentina team, Pete Sampras had never won a Grand Slam.
When Tendulkar embarked on a glorious career taming Imran and company, Roger Federer was a name unheard of; Lionel Messi was in his nappies, Usain Bolt was an unknown kid in the Jamaican backwaters. The Berlin Wall was still intact, USSR was one big, big country, Dr Manmohan Singh was yet to "open" the Nehruvian economy. It seems while Time was having his toll on every individual on the face of this planet, he excused one man. Time stands frozen in front of Sachin Tendulkar. We have had champions, we have had legends, but we have never had another Sachin Tendulkar and we never will." - The Time Magazine.
Tell me the best bowling attack Kallis constantly dominated.
"On a train from Shimla to Delhi, there was a halt in one of the stations. The train stopped by for few minutes as usual. Sachin was nearing century, batting on 98. The passengers, railway officials, everyone on the train waited for Sachin to complete the century. This Genius can stop time in India!!" - Peter Roebuck
This innings.
Let's not derail this thread by these petty arguments. Make another thread for that.
I'd just like to add for a person so adored for his abilities as a cricketer worldwide he has remained so humble, and graceful. I can't imagine someone so special ever gracing Cricket again.
There would have been some semblance of sanity in your argument had you said Lara or Richards. I'm not sure you can even add Bradman to the debate - He was a great of his generation. However, Cricket was a different game during his era.
Fantastic character, greatest batsman ever probably..
..but this is why I'm in many ways glad he's gone. Just read it, he's turned the nation into a bunch of fanboys when it's a fecking team sport. Who cares if it's a 98 or a 100..
Again why choose to retire on 200, why the obsession with another individual but ultimately pointless landmark. Why not play for a month more, go to South Africa, face the best bowling attack in the world, help India get a result for a truly poetic swansong.
i'm sure lot of this is bcci-driven and i'm almost surprised they didn't roll out zimbabwe for the final game.
..but this is why I'm in many ways glad he's gone. Just read it, he's turned the nation into a bunch of fanboys when it's a fecking team sport. Who cares if it's a 98 or a 100..
Again why choose to retire on 200, why the obsession with another individual but ultimately pointless landmark. Why not play for a month more, go to South Africa, face the best bowling attack in the world, help India get a result for a truly poetic swansong.
i'm sure lot of this is bcci-driven and i'm almost surprised they didn't roll out zimbabwe for the final game.
Harsha Bhogle sums it up perfectly
"Legend Beyond Comparison"
"Legend Beyond Comparison"
Yea.
Cricket was such a different sport back then. The playing conditions, the gear and everything else has changed so drastically that it was almost another sport.
I can't stand the "Bradman is the greatest." brigade, like they were hanging out of his pocket watching him bat. I can understand people arguing the case of Ponting, Lara or whoever else after having seen them bat, but the worst of the lot are the ones who go "lolol Bradman 99.94".
Well I didn't. It's not that I don't think Tendulkar's not great its just that Kallis is as well and he's bowling as well clinches it for me, bare in mind ha_rooney said best cricketer, not best batsman.
Agree with both the things.
Yeah it was his fault he had to carry our team. Awful stuff.
Greatest cricketer I've seen and someone who has pretty much my hero growing up.
Also, one of the classiest and most humble of the great sportsmen.
Also, one of the classiest and most humble of the great sportsmen.
Sachin 103* versus England, Sachin 81 versus Australia this year.
Two cracking innings in Chennai. Saw both.
The 81 started had a cracking start. He played some great shots and the crowd, as it always does in Chennai for Sachin, went batshit crazy.
Till then, there was a steady hum, but then Sachin came in -- Sehwag was the one who got out, I think -- and that was it. That's what people came for. Honestly, no one cared about the match and neither did I. Never heard a crowd that loud and never will again.
Just looked it up on Cricinfo:
Pattinson to Tendulkar, FOUR, lovely shot, SRT. That cheers the crowd up. Full outside off, 144ks, Tendulkar pushes forward, meets it with an open face, bang on the middle of the bat, and gets four through cover
Pattinson to Tendulkar, FOUR, another beautiful shot. Again, just another push. With an even more open face, but the faster they came the faster they go. Between point and cover-point it goes
Pattinson to Tendulkar, FOUR, Tendulkar has got off to a superb start here, and the roof is coming off the stadium. Short of a length, angling in, he gets inside the line and glances this fine for four more. Some fine cricket going on here. Serious pace, and Tendulkar getting off to a lovely start
3 of the first 4 balls he faced.
My other favourite memory would be(not a specific one) of waking up at ungodly hours when India tour down under and watch Sachin walk out to bat, look up at the sky and blow some air out and continue walking. Sitting here in my room in the dark watching this. Never an athletic frame, but there's some sort of transformation that happens when he puts on the helmet. Complete legend. Privileged to have witnessed. The greatest of them all, not purely on skill, but because of what he did to an entire country.
Two cracking innings in Chennai. Saw both.
The 81 started had a cracking start. He played some great shots and the crowd, as it always does in Chennai for Sachin, went batshit crazy.
Till then, there was a steady hum, but then Sachin came in -- Sehwag was the one who got out, I think -- and that was it. That's what people came for. Honestly, no one cared about the match and neither did I. Never heard a crowd that loud and never will again.
Just looked it up on Cricinfo:
Pattinson to Tendulkar, FOUR, lovely shot, SRT. That cheers the crowd up. Full outside off, 144ks, Tendulkar pushes forward, meets it with an open face, bang on the middle of the bat, and gets four through cover
Pattinson to Tendulkar, FOUR, another beautiful shot. Again, just another push. With an even more open face, but the faster they came the faster they go. Between point and cover-point it goes
Pattinson to Tendulkar, FOUR, Tendulkar has got off to a superb start here, and the roof is coming off the stadium. Short of a length, angling in, he gets inside the line and glances this fine for four more. Some fine cricket going on here. Serious pace, and Tendulkar getting off to a lovely start
3 of the first 4 balls he faced.
My other favourite memory would be(not a specific one) of waking up at ungodly hours when India tour down under and watch Sachin walk out to bat, look up at the sky and blow some air out and continue walking. Sitting here in my room in the dark watching this. Never an athletic frame, but there's some sort of transformation that happens when he puts on the helmet. Complete legend. Privileged to have witnessed. The greatest of them all, not purely on skill, but because of what he did to an entire country.
That's not my point. (and did he really carry us? No away series win until what was it 2007? that's a different debate and again not my point)
Sachin gets a 100, India lose or Sachin gets 0, India win. I have a sinking feeling lot of Indians would choose the former.
Of course he carried us. As for an away series win, there's a limit to what one man can do in a sport like cricket. He did everything he could and more than anyone else would have.
As for the second bit, only idiots would see it that way but what does that have to do him? You should take issue with people who think that way instead of blaming him for it.
Now you are dreaming.
VP seems to dislike Sachin because of the way he is worshiped in India. I disagree with the way people are crazy about him - but he rises above all that. By all accounts, he is a humble, nice guy.