Sachin Tendulkar

"He is definitely someone who is miles ahead of his competition. In our days, cricket was played less, but in Sachin’s time, there is relentless pressure to perform. And the way he has carried on batting throughout his career is phenomenal. As for myself, I have many videos of Sachin’s best innings which I will watch from time to time to reminisce about his batting achievements when he has retired."

"If I’ve to bowl to Sachin, I’ll bowl with my helmet on. He hits the ball so hard."

"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 felt that this player is playing with a style similar to mine, 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!"

"In the early years, especially around the mid 90s, I had this feeling you could play around on his ego and get him out. He believed he could attack bowlers at any time and anyone who could bowl maidens to him stood a good chance. Things are of course different now."

"I am one of those fortune people who have seen Bradman and Tendulkar bat in my lifetime and in my opinion Tendulkar is the best batsman I have seen in my life."

"I had to remind Gary Kristen often that he was in the covers to field against Sachin and not to applaud him."

"Nothing bad can happen to us if we’re on a plane in India with Sachin Tendulkar on it."

"It did dawn on me at the end of the series that he was something special."

"I know that the new ball is due, but I am saving it for that "Chotu" (Sachin) who is coming next."

"There is no doubt he is the greatest batsman. In the last 13–14 years, he has worked so hard and has proved to the world he is outstanding and when he is playing so well, you can only wait to get his wicket."

"He is just a legend of the game. To score 20 or even 30 Test hundreds would represent a magnificent career, but to go on and score 50 is remarkable. He has set the benchmark for other batsmen to follow, but the truth is it is hard to see how anyone can truly follow him because he is moving the bar so high. It is not simply about ability where Sachin is concerned, it is about longevity, fitness, and hard work. And to cap it all he is such a gentleman. I watch him bat and sometimes I wonder how he makes it look so easy. He has an unbelievable gift and he has made the most of it and long may he continue. I’m lucky to have been able to get to know him."

"He continues to give more than 100 per cent and his schoolboy-like enthusiasm for the game is something I envy and admire. For the team he is the best available coaching manual."

"When we were growing up, we all used to watch Sachin. He was like God to us, he had that aura around him."

"We did not lose to a team called India, we lost to a man called Sachin."

"Irrespective of the score, whenever Sachin Tendulkar comes to bat he is under pressure. The pressure comes from all those people who look up to him, who pray that he gets a century, who cheer like India has already won when he comes in to bat, and who silently troop out of the stands once he gets out. When a visiting team comes to India, they know whom the Indians look up to. While they love watching India play, there is no doubt that Tendulkar is the player they love watching most. There is a buzz when he comes in to bat and if he fails, the crowd goes quiet for the rest of the game."

"I have seen God, he bats at no. 4 for India."

"This little prick's going to get more runs than you, AB."

"Test cricket is bloody hard work, especially when you've got Sachin batting with what looks like a three-metre-wide bat."

"Don't bowl him bad balls, he hits the good ones for fours."

"The more I see him, the more I want to see him."

"The more I see of him the more confused I'm getting to which is his best knock."

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

"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!"

"We didn't see at that time and you cannot visualise 20 years down the track what the player is likely to do in the context of the history of the game. When you score as many runs as he (Tendulkar) has in Test and one-day cricket and score as many centuries and half centuries as he has done, it makes him arguably the greatest player ever in the history of the game. Statistics speak volumes of his contribution to Indian and world cricket. He is a phenomenal player."

"I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for allowing us to breathe the same air as you do."

"Sachin Tendulkar is, in my time, the best player without doubt - daylight second, Brian Lara third."

"With Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara, it was better to be friends and make them smile rather than wind them up."

"I don’t think anyone, apart from Don Bradman, is in the same class as Sachin Tendulkar."

"There is no shame losing to such a great player."

"“The last time I watched Sachin was last week when he was on his way to a spectacular 175 and once again I felt that I was watching a player who comes but once in a century. It can be said that he is the Bradman of our times and I do feel privileged to have played a lot of cricket against him,”"

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

"We have had champions, we have had legends, but we have never had another Sachin Tendulkar and we never will."

"In cricket, my superhero is Sachin Tendulkar. He has always been my hero and will continue to remain so."

"Tendulkar has carried the burden of the nation for 21 years. It is time we carried him on our shoulders."

"I didn’t see Don but to me, in all my years associated with the game, I haven’t seen a better batsman than Sachin Tendulkar."

"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."

"Certainly the best I’ve seen... People talk of (Sir Don) Bradman, but our generation and the ones immediately before us didn’t get to see him... Sure, he has an astounding average (99.94), but of the cricketers I’ve watched, Sachin’s the best."

"I have no doubt in my mind that he was the greatest batsman of the modern era and I don`t see another like him coming soon. It was a privilege to play against him."

""Tujhe pata hai tune kiska catch chhoda hai?" (Hindi: "तुझे पता है तूने किसका कैच छोड़ा है?"; Translation: Do you know whose catch you've dropped?)"

"I actually feel very embarrassed because I rejected him as a fast bowler. I think I did him and the game of cricket a favour."

"When people throw stones at you, you turn them into milestones."

"I get 0.5 seconds to react to a ball, sometimes even less than that. I can't be thinking of what XYZ has said about me. I need to surrender myself to my natural instincts. My subconscious mind knows exactly what to do. It is trained to react. At home, my family doesn't discuss media coverage."

"I hate losing and cricket being my first love, once I enter the ground it's a different zone altogether and that hunger for winning is always there."

"I am planning on an autobiography. People should know something about me"

"I have never tried to compare myself to anyone else."

"It's about not accepting every little challange thrown at you. Sometimes you hold back and when it's needed you go for it."

"I have never thought where i will go, or forced any targets on myself."

"When there is time to think about i think,but when there is time to be with family , i try to do justice to that aspect of my life as well."

"Don't stop chasing your dreams, because dreams comes true."

"Whatever level you reach, getting better, never stops."