Sachin Tendulkar needs no introduction. The greatest player ever to play the game of cricket, he took the game to a different level altogether. India was blessed to have the God of cricket by their side, and he did the job of scaling Indian cricket to newer heights. Which is why for Indians he is not just a cricket player, he is an irreplaceable emotion. Indians turned their lives off and televisions on when Sachin used to bat. The gem of India gave many moments of joy to billion people. Which is why, he is worshipped by every Indian who follows cricket.

And rightly so, as for his entire career spanning of 24 long years, he has been the person India has always looked up to. Indians are connected to him in a way like no other public figure can ever be connected to masses. He was a very own part of every household in the nation. When he performed well, the nation would rejoice is happily, and would celebrate it by making sweets in their houses. And when he failed, people often refused to eat their food. Every household, be it from any religion prayed to their Gods for his best. He united the nation like no one could ever do. And its crazy to even think on how a person can affect everyone so much the way he did.

It all started when a 16 year old baby faced Sachin firmly stood against the mighty Pakistan lineup of Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Imran Khan on a greentop wicket at Karachi. And his baby steps in the cricketing world were evident when he scored a sensational half century with a bleeding nose after being hit by a Waqar delivery. The world wondered and so did the Pakistan players who were shocked to see a school kid face them with so much grit. Furthermore, when they saw him score a fifty off 18 balls in a exhibition match, and hitting 4 sixes to Abdul Qadir, they knew that they were facing a star from the future.

And they were absolutely right. One has to be crazy to score a century at Perth at a mere age of 19, which was the fastest wicket and a bowler's paradise. With time, the kid grew up to be a boy, and a man who still hit centuries for fun. He faced the mightiest of bowlers, the toughest of conditions and brought laurels to our nation. While doing so, he smashed innumerable records and proudly held his nation's head high. While doing so he set a benchmark so high, which one doesn't even think in the dreams. He left a legacy so huge, that the countries who hardly applaud anything from India stood in respect of this little master. The little master achieved greatness with his bat, by transforming himself from being a teenage sensation to being living legend.

He earned respect from all over the world. But it was not just cricket which earned him the respect. People undoubtedly loved him for his cricket, but more importantly they loved him for being the person he was. He was extremely humble and down to earth person. He never discriminated between any person, and ended up being everyone's favourite. On one occasion, he keenly listened to an advice from a waiter, who was far away from being a cricketer, and he applied it to his game and after seeing the results he credited the waiter for his success.

There are numerous instances of the same happening on the field as well. When in spite of being at the receiving end of wrongly given decisions, he never showed any aggression. He was wrongly given out on 38 occasions, with some of them being pretty obvious, but he never ever questioned the umpires or blamed anyone and went straight back to the pavilion. On occasions where the bowlers deliberately bowled beamers to hurt him, he forgave them like nothing happened at all. He never threw away any cricketing stuff in anger or infuriation, as he respected the equipments which he played with.

All these things were noticed by all the fans and hence they poured their heart for him. He was a rare combination of being old school, when it came to culture and values, and being way ahead of his time with his cricket. His half century off 18 balls in 1989 exhibition match, his desert storm innings in Sharjah, his innovative upper cut shots were all a testament to him being ahead of his time for cricketing activities. And his humility off the field, interactions with groundsmen, and sheer respect of the game were a testament to his old school values.

And a rare combination like this was the reason he owned a place in people's hearts. There are many players who have won matches and have owned a place in the record books, but Sachin is the one of the rarest who have done both. Which is why a mother never scolded her child watching television till the time Sachin was batting. Which is why people in the 90's from a kid of 5 years to 90 year olds, everyone cheered for him. Some considered him to be their child, some considered him like a young brother, and some thought him to be their father figure. And hence, when Sachin announced his retirement in 2013, quite literally everyone wept and gave way to their feelings of seeing one of their family members go away from them.

Ask any cricket fan about the 20 minute long speech which he gave, and the fan will remember every single word of it even after 11 long years. The entire country came to a standstill on 15th November 2013, when they saw their superhero on the international field for the very last time. And since the time he left the game which he groomed, there were noticeable changes which happened. The streets were no more empty, the televisions were no more switched off after anyone's dismissal, the country was no more united like it was during these 24 years, there were no prayers for any player, and cricket was no more the same. These 24 years between 1989 to 2013 were the luckiest years of everyone's lives as Sachin was playing. And today on the occasion of his 51st birthday, we thank him for all those sweet moments of joy he gave to billion people. Thank you Sachin. Wishing you a very happy birthday.