Twenty years on, cricket icon Tendulkar takes fresh guard
Saturday, 14 November 2009
NEW DELHI, Nov 13 (AFP): Sachin Tendulkar begins a third decade in world cricket next week, insisting he is still as passionate to play for India as he was as a wide-eyed teenager 20 years ago.
"My love for cricket and the honour of playing for my country have kept me motivated all these years," said Tendulkar (36), ahead of the first Test against Sri Lanka starting in Ahmedabad Monday.
"Cricket is my life and I am lucky and absolutely honoured that I have been able to wear the India cap for 20 years."
The Ahmedabad match will be Tendulkar's 160th Test appearance-surpassed only by retired former Australian captain Steve Waugh's tally of 168 -- since his debut aged 16 against Pakistan in Karachi on November 15, 1989.
He has risen to become the world's most successful batsman in both Test and one-day cricket, a result of both his unparalleled genius with the bat and amazing longevity in the game.
The world was a different place when Tendulkar began. No one sent e-mails or browsed the world wide web, Nelson Mandela was still in jail, the Soviet Union had not broken up and mobile phones had not become a way of life.
When he started, Tendulkar's current captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was an eight-year-old schoolboy and team-mates Ravindra Jadeja and Virat Kohli were barely a few months old.
"My love for cricket and the honour of playing for my country have kept me motivated all these years," said Tendulkar (36), ahead of the first Test against Sri Lanka starting in Ahmedabad Monday.
"Cricket is my life and I am lucky and absolutely honoured that I have been able to wear the India cap for 20 years."
The Ahmedabad match will be Tendulkar's 160th Test appearance-surpassed only by retired former Australian captain Steve Waugh's tally of 168 -- since his debut aged 16 against Pakistan in Karachi on November 15, 1989.
He has risen to become the world's most successful batsman in both Test and one-day cricket, a result of both his unparalleled genius with the bat and amazing longevity in the game.
The world was a different place when Tendulkar began. No one sent e-mails or browsed the world wide web, Nelson Mandela was still in jail, the Soviet Union had not broken up and mobile phones had not become a way of life.
When he started, Tendulkar's current captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was an eight-year-old schoolboy and team-mates Ravindra Jadeja and Virat Kohli were barely a few months old.