#Thankyou Sachin

This game has seen many greats, legends, superstars, hard hitters, match winners and entertainers but what does it take to be called a child prodigy, then the next big thing, the world's best batsman, little master, master blaster and then GOD.

What does it take to become Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar?

When you make headlines even if you get out on a duck, when millions of people shut their lives when you enter your nineties and when your retirement is the talk of the town right after your country lifts the world cup, you know you are great.

But when, despite all these, you work hard to improve continuously, perform consistently, answer only with your bat, carry and fulfill the hopes of more than a billion people for 24 long years; you become Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.

When every commentator says 'This man needs no introduction' while introducing you, when one does not need to look at the TV screen to make out that you hit the boundary as the roar from the crowd is enough to answer that; you become Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.

When people switch of the TV as soon as you get out, pray for your runs more than their own marks and support an entire IPL team only because you play for it; and when you disappoint none of them; you become Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.

When you have achieved more than any man could ever have and people believe you can achieve more, when you are popular among girls because of how good you bat and not look; you become Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.

When your presence fulfills the childhood dream of everyone else in the dressing room, when half the stadium, even in England and Australia, is filled with spectators who have come to watch only you; when most of your teammates are happy of the world cup victory because you fulfilled your dream; you become Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.

When from a career threatening injury when you cannot lift a fork, you come back and retain the title of the best batsman lifting the heaviest bat in the world; you become Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.

Like every other human this man has a whole lot of weaknesses. Luck has shined on him more than some of his contemporaries. But his effort, patience, temperament, consistency and character has made him a superhuman. He is not the next best batsman to Sir Don Bradman; he is the first Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.

The sport will move on, adults will forget, children will never come to know and the nation will find a new hero but ‘today’ will go down in history as the moment when the heart of the world's largest cricketing nation skipped a beat.