Salute to the Maestro

Declare 24th April a national holiday - so that people can sit at home and watch their favorite Tendulkar innings!!!. On his special day, a collection of some of the memorable quotes about Tendulkar.Enjoy !!

1. Brian Lara: Everybody gets 15 minutes of fame.But is there's one person I've admired over a 15-year period, it's definitely Sachin.

2. Adam Hollioake: In an over I can bowl six different balls. But then Sachin looks at me with a sort of gentle arrogance down the pitch as if to say 'Can you bowl me another one?'

3. Brett Lee: You might pitch a ball on the off stump and think you have bowled a good ball and he walks across and hits it for two behind the midwicket. His bat looks so heavy but he just waves it around like its a toothpick?

4. Sir Don Bradman: I saw him playing on television and was struck by his technique, so I asked my wife to come look at him. Now I never saw myself play, but I feel that this player is playing much the same as I used to play, and she looked at him on Television and said yes, there is a similarity between the two... his compactness, technique, stroke production... it all seemed to gel

5. David Boon : Technically he stands out as the best because of his ability to increase the pace at will

6. Steve Waugh: There is no shame being beaten by such a great player, Sachin is perhaps only next to the Don

7.Barry Richards: Sachin is cricket's God

8.Sunil Gavaskrar: India's fortune will depend on how many runs the little champion scores. There is no doubt Tendulkar is the real thing

9.Jeff Thompson: Sachin is an attacker. He has much more power than Sunny. He wants to be the one to set the pace. He has to be on top. That's the buzz about him

10.Dennis Lillee: If I've to bowl to Sachin, I'll bowl with my helmet on. He hits the ball so hard

11.Steve Waugh: You take Don Bradman away and he is next up I reckon

12.Shane Warne: I'll be going to bed having nightmares of Sachin just running down the wicket and belting me back over the head for six. He was unstoppable. I don't think anyone, apart from Don Bradman, is in the same class as Sachin Tendulkar. He is just an amazing player

13.Shane Warne: When it comes to judging the best among these fabulous band of batsmen, my vote goes to Tendulkar. He has an uncanny ability to come out on top under different circumstances and under different conditions, whether it is Test cricket or one-day internationals. And more importantly, he has done this so young

14.Michael Kasprowicz: Don't bowl him bad balls, he hits the good ones for fours

15.Allan Border: Hell, if he had stayed, even at 11 an over he would have got it (after India won the Coca-Cola cup in Sharjah)

16.Greg Chappell: He is a perfectly balanced batsman and knows perfectly well when to attack and when to play defensive cricket. He has developed the ability to treat bowlers all over the world with contempt and can destroy any attack with utmost ease

17.Mark Waugh: Sachin's better; Lara is more risky outside the off stump.The pressure on me is nothing as compared to Sachin Tendulkar. Sachin, like God, must never fail. The crowd always expects him to succeed and it is too much pressure on him

18.You have to decide for yourself whether you're bowling well or not. He's going to hit you for fours and sixes anyway. Kasprowicz has a superior story. During the Bangalore Test, frustrated, he went to Dennis Lillee and asked, "Mate, do you see any weaknesses?" Lillee replied, "No Michael, as long as you walk off with your pride that's all you can do"

19.Mark Taylor: He's a phenomenon. We have to be switched on when he plays allow him no boundaries, for then he doesn't stop

20.Ian Healy: Tendulkar is the most complete batsman I have stood behind. I saw the hundred in Perth on a bouncy pitch with Hughes, McDermott and Whitney gunning for him — he only had 60-odd when No 11 came in. I've seen him against Warne too

21.Richie Benaud: He has defined cricket in his fabulous, impeccable manner. He is to batting what Shane Warne is to bowling

22.Glenn McGrath: I still think Tendulkar is the best batsmen in the world ahead of Steve Waugh and Lara

23.Geoffrey Boycott: Technically, you can't fault Sachin. Seam or spin, fast or slow — nothing is a problem

24.Peter Roebuck: Sometime back I had written a piece that said that Sachin's the master and Lara a genius with his head high up somewhere. That's it

25.Eddie Barlow: He is Sachin Tendulkar. I hope he stays Sachin Tendulkar. We need a new player, a player in his own way. He has a technique which is the hallmark of a great player. Everything indicates that he will be a great player and I am sure he will prove me right. Reminds me of Barry Richards

26.Paul Strang: What we (Zimbabwe) need is 10 Tendulkars

27.Wasim Akram: Cricketers like Sachin come once in a lifetime and I am privileged he played in my time

28. Gary Sobers: I have watched a lot of Tendulkar and we have spoken to each other a lot. He has it in him to be among the very best

29.Viv Richards: He is 99.5 per cent perfect. I'd pay to see him

30.Hashim Amla: "Nothing bad can happen to us if we're on a plane in India with Sachin Tendulkar on it." - South African batsman, reassures himself as he boards a flight

31.Yaseer Hamid: "Sometimes you get so engrossed in watching batsmen like Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar that you lose focus on your job."

32."To Sachin, the man we all want to be" - What Andrew Symonds wrote on an aussie t-shirt he autographed specially

33.Beneath the helmet, under that unruly curly hair, inside the cranium, there is something we don't know, something beyond scientific measure. Something that allows him to soar, to roam a territory of sport that, forget us, even those who are gifted enough to play alongside him cannot even fathom. When he goes out to bat, people switch on their TV sets and switch off their lives " BBC on Sachin

34."Tuzhe pata hai tune kiska catch chhoda hai?" Wasim Akram to Abdul Razzaq when the latter dropped Sachin's catch

35.Brian Lara: Sachin is a genius. I'm a mere mortal

36.Mark Taylor: "We did not lose to a team called India...we lost to a man called Sachin" - during the test match in Chennai (1997)

37.M. L. Jaisimha: "The more I see of him the more confused I'm getting to which is his best knock."

38.Glenn McGrath: "The joy he brings to the millions of his countrymen, the grace with which he handles all the adulation and the expectations and his innate humility - all make for a one-in-a-billion individual,"

39. @Wife Anjali: "I can be hundred per cent sure that Sachin will not play for a minute longer when he is not enjoying himself. He is still so eager to go out
there and play. He will play as long as he feels he can play,"

40.Kumble: I am fortunate that I've to bowl at him only in the nets!

41. Navjot Singh Sidhu: India me aap PrimeMinister ko ek Baar Katghare me khada kar sakte hain..Par Sachin Tendulkar par Ungli nahi utha Sakte..

42. Waqar Younis: He can play that leg glance with a walking stick also

43.Allan Donald: Sachin Tendulkar has often reminded me of a veteran army colonel who has many medals on his chest to show how he has conquered bowlers all over the world

44. Wasim Akram: has predicted that Sachin Tendulkar will easily break all international batting records. "He has everything a top batsman needs. Tendulkar is a classic example of a player being so good that his age is an irrelevance" Akram says in his autobiography titled "Wasim". He also stated a number of examples when he and his team were frustrated by Tendulkar's batting prowess.

45. Ted Dexter: (who chaired the panel, the Coopers & Lybrand award as the International Test player of the year) "This year Tendulkar has been the batsman nobody wanted to bowl at. He took Shane Warne apart in India, which illustrates his genius."

46.Allan Donald: I was bowling to Sachin and he hit me for two fours in a row. One from point and the other in between point and gully. That was the last two balls of the over and the over after that we (SA) took a wicket and during the group meeting i told Jonty (Rhodes) to be alert and i know a way to pin Sachin. And i delivered the first ball of my next over and it was a fuller length delevery outside offstump. And i shouted catch. To my astonishment the ball was hit to the cover boundary. Such was the brilliance of Sachin. His reflex time is the best i have ever seen. Its like 1/20th of a sec. To get his wicket better not prepare. Atleast u wont regret if he hits you for boundaries.

47. Peter Rebouck - 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!!

48.NKP Salve, former Union Minister: This was when he was accused of ball tempering "Sachin cannot cheat. He is to cricket what (Mahatma) Gandhiji was to politics. It's clear discrimination."

49. Andy Flower: There are 2 kind of batsmen in the world. One Sachin Tendulkar. Two all the others.

50. Shahrukh Khan: quoting Shahrukh from an interview
Que: Who do you think as most important celebrity ?
Shahrukh: There was a big party where stars from bollywood and cricket were invited. Suddenly, there was a big noise, all wanted to see approaching Amitabh Bachhan.Then Sachin entered the hall and Amitabh was leading the queue to get a grab of the GENIUS!!

51. Cricket Historian Vasant Raiji: "I have always felt C. K. Nayadu was the best. I now think Sachin has the honour of being the most outstanding batsman of all time."

52.Mike Selvey: "Tendulkar is the supreme right-hander on the planet, a focussed technician who offers a counterpoint to Brian Lara's more eye-catching destruction."

53.The fact of the matter is that India still need Sachin in a big way.All this talk of the youngsters talking over is very foolish.The reason why Tendulkar is so important for the team is because of his ability to inspire others and make them perform under pressure. - Times of India

54. Asif Iqbal: (after India won at Sharjah) "He has given a new dimension to batting. Such dominance can break the heart of the best of bowlers. I was never tired of watching this wonderful batsman."

55. Shane Warne: Nothing affects Sachin, Brian lets things bother him.

56. Lalchand Rajput, Former Mumbai captain: "Even as a teenager he always seemed very focused and alert on the field. He learnt his lessons fast."

57. Tony Greig: "He is cool, has magnificent temperament, and is so mature you tend to forget his age. I can't think of any other example of a player who has so dominated the world before the age of 25."

58. Border: It's scary, where the hell do we bowl to him.
Ian Chappell: Yeah mate, but that's with all great players.
Border: Well yes, but imagine what he'll be like when he's 28.
Greg Chappell: I'd like to see him go out and bat one day with a stump. I tell you he'd do okay.

59.Australian Media: "The most exciting batsman of his time because he finds the right balance between reason and passion, technique and power, nerves and placement and judgement that applies to all tastes."

60.Ravi Shastri: "We always knew that Sachin Tendulkar is a great cricketer, but after the Coca-Cola Cup here, we have seen the birth of a legend. I can't think of anybody who has batted more authoritatively in one day cricket for India, or even in the world except for Vivian Richards."

61. Ajay Jadeja: (after India entered the Coca-Cola cup final in Sharjah) "I can't dream of an innings like that. He exists where we can't."

62.Rahul Dravid: "Playing in the same team as Sachin is a huge honour. His balance of mind, shrewd judgement, modesty and, above all, his technical brilliance make him my all-time hero."

63.Navjot Sidhu: "His mind is like a computer. He stores data on bowlers and knows where they are going to pitch the ball."

64. Mohinder Amarnath: "A complete batsman- he's the best in the business."

65. Prof. R. Shetty, Secretary MCA: "We are proud to possess him due to his commitment to Mumbai and Indian cricket."

66.Raj Singh, President Cricket Board: "I was very impressed the first time I saw him bat as a little boy at the Cricket Club of India."

67.Kieth Fletcher: A little genius. Reminds me of Sunny Gavaskar

68.Paul Wilson: He's better than Ben Hur

69.Mike Coward: Sachin's the best. I've had this view since I saw him score that hundred in Sydney in 1992. He's the most composed batsman I've ever seen

70.Ian Chappell: Harder he works, the luckier he gets

71.Desmond Haynes: In terms of technique and compactness, Tendulkar is the best

72.Mohinder Amarnath: A complete batsman — he's the best in the business

73.Barry Richards: Destined to be a great

74.Greg Chappell: Sachin carries a weight of collective expectation to the crease that few can comprehend. Bradman would not have had the weight of expectation that Sachin has on him every time he went out to bat

75.Many hold Tendulkar's mastery of the craft high above anyone else in the modern era. Even the great Sir Don Bradman saw Sachin as his closest replica, indirectly branding the batting maestro better than Gavaskar - Times of India

76.Matthew Hayden: When Tendulkar goes out to bat, it is beyond chaos -- it is a frantic appeal by a nation to one man

77.Shane Warne: You have to watch India in India truly to appreciate the pressure that Sachin Tendulkar is under every time he bats. Outside grounds, people wait until he goes in before paying to enter. They seem to want a wicket to fall even though it is their own side that will suffer
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Best ones:

78. Cricket is religion and Sachin is the God. Team India without Sachin is like Temple without God.

79.Matthew Hayden: "I HAVE SEEN GOD, HE BATS AT NO.4 FOR INDIA"

80.A banner in one of the games - " I will see GOD when I die. Till then I will see SACHIN.

81.Bookmakers would not fix the odds - or a game - until Tendulkar was out.

82. Commit all your crimes when Sachin is batting. They will go unnoticed because even the Lord will be gone to watch his batting!!

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Sachin on himself:

"One should not compare me with anyone. I have my own shots and the way I go out to play. I have my own game and the way to score runs.'

"When I'm in the middle, the only thing that comes to mind is that I'm a batsman and the team expects something from me and I should be able to live up to my teammates' expectations."

" I (Embarrassed laugh) am a normal person who plays cricket. I am nothing more than that." - Sachin Tendulkar