45 quotes on Sachin Tendulkar in honour of the Master Blaster’s birthday

‘Master Blaster’, ‘Little Master’, ‘The God of Cricket’, ‘The World's Best Athlete’ — these are the titles bestowed upon one of India's most revered personalities: Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. His is a name that all Indians, and a many people the world over, know and worship. Every time this legend took the crease, the country would reverberate with the chants of ‘Sachin, Sachin!’. All differences and squabbles between a billion people were forgotten for the sheer pleasure of watching this genius decimate the best bowlers on the planet with an inimitable grace. He united over a billion belligerent people in a way that no one and nothing ever has, and probably never will. It is no secret that cricket is a religion in India, and Sachin Tendulkar its most exalted God.

In a 24-year career, Tendulkar has set incredible records that include the ‘most runs scored in international cricket’, ‘most centuries in international cricket’, and ‘most Man-of-the-Match awards’, besides many, many more. He has inspired an entire generation of cricketers and won the admiration of his colleagues and the sport's erstwhile icons. And, despite all this fame and adulation he received, Tendulkar remained as humble as he was in the earliest days of his magnificent career. Today, on Sachin’s 44th birthday, we look at what the world has had to say about its most celebrated sportsman.

1. “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.” — Allan Donald
2. “I think he is marvellous. I think he will fit in whatever category of cricket that has been played or will be played, from the first ball that has ever been bowled to the last ball that’s going to be. He can play in any era and at any level. I would say he’s 99.5% perfect.” — Sir Vivian Richards
3. “I don’t think anyone, apart from Don Bradman, is in the same class as Sachin Tendulkar.” —Shane Warne
4. “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 television sets and switch off their lives.” — BBC Sports
5. “On a train from Shimla to Delhi, there was a halt at one of the stations. The train stopped by for few minutes as usual. Sachin was nearing a 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
6. “I saw him (Sachin) 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.” — Sir Donald Bradman
7. “I have seen God, he bats at no. 4 for India.” — Matthew Hayden
8. “Nothing bad can happen to us if we're on a plane in India with Sachin Tendulkar on it.” — Hashim Amla
9. “There are two kinds of batsmen in the world. One, Sachin Tendulkar. Two, all the others.” — Andy Flower
10. “The only batsman I would love to see by paying for the tickets and sitting in the stand just to watch him is none other than Sachin Tendulkar.” — Brian Lara
11. “We did not lose to a team called India, we lost to a man called Sachin.” — Mark Taylor
12. “Commit all your crimes when Sachin is batting. They will go unnoticed because even the Lord is watching.” — A placard at the Sydney Cricket Ground
13. “If I've to bowl to Sachin, I'll bowl with my helmet on. He hits the ball so hard.” — Dennis Lillee.
14. “When you bowl at him you are not just trying to get him out, you are trying to impress him. I want him to walk off thinking ‘that Flintoff, he's all right isn't he?’ I feel privileged to have played against him.” — Andrew Flintoff
15. “Don’t bowl him bad balls, he hits the good ones for fours.” — Michael Kasprowicz
16. “He’s been in form longer than some of our guys have been alive.” — Daniel Vettori
17. “We have had champions, we have had legends, but we have never had another Sachin Tendulkar and we never will.” — TIME magazine
18. “I don’t know cricket, I don’t know how Sachin plays. But I still try to watch him playing because I want to know why my country’s economy goes down 0.5% when he’s batting.” — Barack Obama (former US President)
19. “Sachin Tendulkar, the Little Master, is so talented that wherever you’re from, you can’t help but admire him as he hits another century.” — David Cameron (former UK Prime Minister)
20. “I have delayed my shoots many times to watch Sachin bat.” — Amitabh Bachchan
21. “I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for allowing us to breathe the same air as you do.” — Shahrukh Khan
22. “I had to remind Gary Kristen often that he was in the covers to field against Sachin and not to applaud him.” — Hansie Cronje
23. “When we were growing up, we all used to watch Sachin. He was like God to us, he had that aura around him.” — MS Dhoni
24. “In cricket, my superhero is Sachin Tendulkar. He has always been my hero and will continue to remain so.” — Virat Kohli
25. “Gentlemen, he is the best batsman I have seen in my life. And unlike most of you, I have seen Bradman bat.” — John Woodcock (English journalist)
26. “Even if my grandchildren don’t remember the fact that I scored 10,000 runs in One Day and Test cricket, they will surely remember the fact that I was a team mate of Sachin Tendulkar.” — Rahul Dravid
27. “You get him out and half the battle is won.” — Arjuna Ranatunga
28. “I’m fortunate that I’ve to bowl to him only in the nets.” — Anil Kumble
29. “Cricketers like Sachin come once in a lifetime and I am privileged he played in my time.” — Wasim Akram
30. “Test cricket is bloody hard work, especially if you’ve got Sachin batting with what looks like a three-metre-wide bat.” — Mike Hussey
31. “If Sachin bats well, India sleeps well.” — Harsha Bhogle
32. “When you play against Tendulkar, you almost want to see him get a few runs just to see him bat.” — Mark Waugh
33. “I never get tired of umpiring whenever Sachin is at the crease.” — Rudy Koertzen
34. “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.” – Greg Chappell
35. “Technically, you can’t fault Sachin. Seam or spin, fast or slow nothing is a problem.” – Geoffrey Boycot
36. “Sachin was so focused. He never looked like getting out. He was batting with single-minded devotion. It was truly remarkable. It was a lesson.” – Martina Navratilova (legendary tennis player)
37. “The archives recall not one single incriminating incident, not one drunken escapade, not one reported affair, not one spat with a team-mate or reporter… is he human?” – Michael Atherton
38. “The thing I like the most about Sachin is his intensity. After being in the game for so long, he still has the same desire to do well for India in any international match. I tell you what, this man is a legend.” – Sourav Ganguly
39. “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.” – Glenn McGrath
40. “When we used to play, we thought no one can break Sunil Gavaskar’s record. No one could think about 50 Test centuries at that time. This is certainly a big knock under the circumstances, better than the 200s and 300s.” – Kapil Dev (on Tendulkar’s 50th Test hundred)
41. “He is someone sent from up there to play cricket and go back.” — Ravi Shastri
42. “You can’t contain Sachin’s deeds in a statistical frame. He brings unstinted joy to the art of batting. To me, he best symbolises the heights an individual can rise to dominate a team sport. Words can never capture the beauty of Sachin’s cricket.” — Kapil Dev
43. “He exists where we can’t.” — Ajay Jadeja
44. “There is no better sight on the cricket field than watching Tendulkar bat.” — Harsha Bhogle
45. “Sachin is the most complete batsman I have ever seen.” — Ricky Ponting