Tendulkar: World’s envy, India’s pride

November 6, 2009 at 10:13 am · By staff

As Tendulkar crossed 17,000 runs, the cricket fraternity heaped praises on him.

New Delhi: The cricket fraternity lavished praise on India’s batting icon Sachin Tendulkar for becoming the first player in the game’s history to cross the 17,000-run mark.

Tendulkar, who was chasing the milestone from the onset of the series against Australia, achieved the feat when he, requiring seven runs coming into Thursday’s match, played an on-drive to fetch three off pacer Ben Hilfenhaus during the fifth one-dayer in Hyderabad.

“It’s really a remarkable achievement. He is one of the best cricketers of the world cricket. I have had some good memories with him, having partnering him for years in one-day cricket,” said former India skipper Sourav Ganguly.

The southpaw also wished the little master for the 2011 World Cup, to be co-hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

“I wish he scores another 2000 runs by 2011 World Cup. Sachin knows best how to accumulate runs. Once he gets going he becomes unstoppable,” Ganguly said.

Meanwhile, Mumbai batsman Wasim Jaffer hoped that Tendulkar would also achieve 20,000-run mark.

“He has achieved several records. I hope that he reached 20,000-run mark. Whatever he has achieved, it is nearly impossible to achieve for anyone else. I just wish that he keeps on going and gets more and more runs for India,” Jaffer said.

Tendulkar reached the new ODI milestone in his 435th match and 66th tie against the World Cup holders.

“It’s a great achievement. Anyone playing for 21 years is not an easy job, we are proud of him,” said India all-rounder Rohit Sharma.

“Sachin has played for 20 odd years and I think, it’s wonderful task by a man who has achieved so much. I congratulate him,” South Africa cricketer Herchelle Gibbs said.

Tendulkar made a 141-ball 175 in front of the 35,000 strong packed crowd which erupted in joy when Tendulkar reached the magic figure in company of opening partner Virender Sehwag.

Former Pakistan captain Javed Miandad said the young cricketers in the sub-continent should follow Tendulkar’s example if they are serious about carving out a career in cricket.

Miandad was all praise for the Tendulkar, who completed 17,000 ODI runs in the fifth one-day international against Australia at Hyderabad.

“I think the way Tendulkar has handled his career and lasted for so long, keeping his passion for runs alive, is a lesson for budding young cricketers in Pakistan and India,” Miandad said.

“Youngsters should adopt Tendulkar as their role model if they want to progress in the sport,” he added.

Miandad said he admired the way Tendulkar had kept his hunger alive for runs despite having such a long career.

“He made his Test debut against us in 1989 and even today one can see the same hunger and spark to score runs. More importantly, he has been a great ambassador for the sport with the way he has conducted himself,” Miandad said.

The Pakistani great had no doubt that Tendulkar could equal his record of having played the most World Cups.

“The way he maintains his fitness, he should play in the next World Cup in 2011,” Miandad said.

According to him, the secret to Tendulkar’s awesome success was his single-minded devotion to his craft.

“From what I know and have heard, Tendulkar even today spends one to two hours in the nets by himself and he still has this quality of interacting with all those people who helped build his career. To be a top professional performer these days every player needs to show this same devotion,” he said.

Miandad, who had a long career of 21 years, admitted that the international calendar was now much more hectic.

“We didn’t play that many matches in our time but now to be fit for every match is a challenge and to keep on scoring runs so consistently one has to be really devoted and true to his craft,” he said.

Source:IANS

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