Child prodigy to insurmountable legend

People said he was just a child, he stepped onto ground looking at heaven and scored runs.
People said he was just a flash in the pan, he stepped onto ground looking at heaven and scored runs.
People said he was a bad captain, he stepped onto ground looking at heaven and scored runs.
People said he was old, he stepped onto ground looking at heaven and scored runs.
He was challenged, every challenge was thwarted.
He was questioned, every question was answered.
He was abused, every abuse was silenced.

Nothing has changed in his 19 years of cricket career, I have grown up watching him but he hasn't , I sometimes feel this is the same 16 year old child just wearing a mask of 35 year old. Animated celebration, swift running between wickets, still chases the ball till boundary, dives to take a catch, scores with a strike rate of more than 80,strong throwing arm, the only thing perhaps that he doesn't do like his other "younger" counterparts is booze and party with skimpy girls.

"People throw stones at you and you convert them into milestones" only Buddha, Jesus or the Mahatma could speak words like these.

But like any other humble gentleman he is cool as a cucumber just waiting to get on to the ground with his sword and conquer the cricket world with his artistic batting. I have been a witness to some of his gritty innings, be it the 92 world cup, or the 96 world cup, or be it the sharjah, or be it the 2003 world cup. The only sport, in the last 4 decades, where India came this close to winning a major title like world cup, two times, is cricket (1996 and 2003), this is because no other sport in India has witnessed a phenomenon called "Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar".

In 2003 world cup, everytime he walked onto the ground, he was like a determined knight with his shining sword, thirsty for the blood of best of the bowlers in the world. He did massacre all the bowlers, he spared none, even the great McGrath, not in the final but in one of the matches in round robin stage, where he was smothered for 14 runs in his one over ( including two majestic boundaries), Tendulkar ended up scoring 36 runs ( India's total was 125). I petty those who want him to score in every match, because they think he is God, but I know that he is not a God and just a Super-Human.