In the pre-World war II era, Donald Bradman was perhaps the only cricketer who, with his sterling batsmanship won test for his country Australia. When he stepped in to bat even reputed bowlers shuddered to bowl him. The advent of Sachin Tendulkar seems to be a throwback into Bradman era. With his blazing blade, he is not only amassing run for himself, but also winning matches for the country.
   The Sachin Tendulkar phenomenon in Indian cricket has assumed such a dizzy heights and proportions that it would seem hackneyed to lavish any more praise on the little master, arguably the greater after Don Bradman and if one man say so, the other great master blaster of the game, Vivian Richards.
   But much more than Bradman’s value to Australia and Viv Richards’ to West Indies is Sachin Tendulkar to Indian Cricket. Few of the present generation have seen Bradman at Play. But many have had a close look at Richards, the man somewhat closer to the fame and genius. Now comes Sachin, a third generation genius, in a manner of speaking.

  
  Sachin, indeed, is the complete cricketer. A man who sees the ball earlier than any other in the world today, he has the widest range of strokes, immense power, an intuitive sense to find gaps in a jam-packed field. Such freaks as Sachin are born, not made. To wit, at the most tender age of 11 he made his first, first class half century, a century a year later, three of them at 13 an aggregate of 1028 runs in only five innings when he was just 14. The world took notice of his greatness when he was the star of that 664-run stand with Vinod Kambli. The five-feet-four-inches superhuman boy, spotted and trained by Coach Ramakant Achrekar, had arrived on the cricket sense.
   On April 24^th, his birthday Sachin scaled even greater heights by scoring the 134 epic innings which enabled his country not only to take the Coco Cola trophy but defy all the law of averages. Only Bradman before had created more exotic scenes on cricket fields of Leeds,

Lord’s, Melbourne and Sydney. And to think of it! On either Occasions of his two historic innings, he was morally unbeaten, dismissed as he was by two horrendous umpiring verdicts. No other than Viv Richards of contemporary memory has been a greater model at 25, than Sachin.

   The astonishing part of the man is his humility and willingness to learn from masters like Gavaskar and Boycott, whose racist county, Yorkshire, made an exception in Sachin’s case by engaging him as professional. Tendulkar, in short, is not only a complete cricketer, but a fulsome man. Some Living Legend!