Mangalore: Sachin gives slip to Media

Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar skipped visits to Kudupu Temple and Sri Kukke Subramanya Temple in DK on "Nagarapanchami" today taking a flight to Mumbai from Bajpe Airport much to the disappointment of the press who had been waiting for him.Tendulkar visited the humble town of Bhatkal on Saturday and emplaned to Mumbai after attending a wedding of his childhood friend Mr. Mohammad Umar a shoe factory owner in Dubai.

The Master Blaster arrived by a Kingfisher aircraft from Mumbai on Saturday and drove to Bhatkal in a convoy of cars and attended the marriage.

Early this morning he left Bhatkal and arrived in Bajpe airport and took a flight and went to Mumbai.

According to the police the Master Blaster was supposed to visit the Kukke Subramanya Temple for a darshan of his favourite diety Lord Subramanya but his hosts had advised him against that visit, today being Nagarapanchami the temple was filled to the brim and they were afraid that his visit could throw in some security problems. The police had deployed extra men at the temple and Mr. Tendulkar could have had leisurely darshan but it was too risky said one of the temple officials.

Somehow, press corps got information that Sachin would visit Kateel Durgaparameshwari Temple at Kateel, near Mulky in the district, after his arrival at Mangalore and later in the night, he would make an halt for visit to Sri Kukke Subramanya Temple. The press corps descended in hordes waiting in advance for the star cricketer at both the places. He also declined to speak to the waiting press people at the airport.

Tendulkar, however, visited the famous Murdeshwar Temple built on a rock near the seashore.

Mr. Tendulkar's friendship with the family of Nayate Irfan (father of the groom) was over 2 decades and had been a good friend of the family said sources close to the Nayate family in Bhatkal.

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Brand Sachin Still Going Strong

Is Boost the real secret behind Sachin Tendulkar’s energy? Or is it the other way round? The SundayET-Synovate Individual-as-a-brand survey hints that the latter might just be true. But that’s only the tip of the iceberg — global warming notwithstanding!

In a quest to zero in on individuals with the biggest borrowed equity (value of an endorser) today, the survey got in touch with 400 respondents belonging to SEC A households from Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata and Hyderabad.

They were asked various questions ranging from whether a purchase decision is influenced by the celebrity endorsing a brand to whether brand endorsements should be linked to performance in profession. The answers, to say the least, are eye openers, especially in a scenario where breaking through the clutter has become a challenge for companies.

For instance, when asked whether a celebrity brand endorser influences a purchase decision, most respondents answered in the affirmative. And interestingly, 85% of the respondents in Delhi think that celebrity endorsers work.

Among sportspersons a majority of those polled choose Sachin Tendulkar — 75% in Kolkata, which is not shocking considering the city’s craze for cricket; and 68% in Delhi and Mumbai. Likewise, Indian cricket captain MMS Dhoni who is also the skipper of Chennai Super Kings and has a huge fan following in Chennai, according to the survey, came second. Yuvraj Singh also makes an entry here at the third position, which might just put automobile company Fiat at ease since they have just chosen him as the brand ambassador for its new hatchback, the Punto.

But overall cricketers were preferred over other sportspersons such as Saina Nehwal, Abhinav Bindra and Jeev Milkha Singh. The lone contender though is Sania Mirza who came fourth as respondents thought that she adds value to the brand she endorses.

But all is not lost for sportsmen from other fields. In the survey, a lot of respondents felt that sportsmen who are not cricketers but achievers from other sports such as shooting, boxing, golf and hockey, and have bagged important medals for the country, make for good brand ambassadors. And they have Chennai backing them. 100% of the respondents from Chennai felt that these sportspersons should be encouraged to become brand endorsers.

And Chennai again steps in with strong views when it comes to remuneration of endorsers. When asked whether astronomical endorsement remuneration for cricketers and Bollywood stars are justified 95% of respondents from Chennai answered in the negative. Overall too, 52% of respondents felt that celebrity brand endorsers should not be paid exorbitant amounts. The only anomaly was shown by Delhi where 62% respondents felt that the amounts are justified.

When asked to name the top three individuals as brands from any field respondents mostly chose cricket and Bollywood. Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni, Shahrukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan were a few of the names that came up instinctively. But surprisingly, respondents also thought that social activists too make for good brand endorsers. Unfortunately, business leaders and politicians figured last in the list.

But last and definitely not the least, respondents came up with the top brands endorsed by celebrities — Boost, Lux, Airtel, Nokia and MRF. And the secret behind Boost’s energy is now well known, isn’t it?

Sachin top taxpayer among Men in Blue

NEW DELHI: There has been much talk of late about M S Dhoni being more sought after by advertisers than Sachin Tendulkar.


But if payment of income tax is any indicator, the little master is still way ahead of all other Indian cricket stars when it comes to earnings. Dhoni is a distant second, though catching up, in terms of tax paid, while Virender Sehwag is third.

Data on income tax paid by cricketers shows that Sachin has maintained a steady level of over Rs 8 crore for the last three years, 2006-07 to 2008-09. Behind him, there's been a reshuffle in the batting order.

Dhoni has moved up from third spot in 2006-07 to second last year with a Rs 4.7 crore tax bill. Rahul Dravid, who was Sachin's closest competitor in 2006-07 and a close third behind Dhoni in 2007-08, has dropped to fifth spot.

Heaviest Scorers

(Income tax paid in Rs crore and figures in brackets indicate last year's rankings)

Years 2008-09 2007-08
1. Sachin 8.1 8.7 (1)
2. Dhoni 4.7 3.4 (2)
3. Sehwag 3.1 1.9 (5)
4. Yuvraj 2.6 2.0 (4)
5. Dravid 2.4 3.1 (3)


Source : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4809783.cms

Chandu Borde felicitated

PUNE: Former India Test player Chandu Borde was felicitated on Tuesday night on his 75th birthday at a function attended by prominent personalities from various walks of life.

Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar praised Borde's role in Indian cricket and thanked him for guiding him personally during the 1989 debut tour of Pakistan in which the latter was the team coach.

Those present on the occasion included former Test cricketer Bapu Nadkarni, film actor Nana Patekar and retired judge Chandrashekhar Dharmadhikari.

Sachin is unparalleled in T20 too: Amre

Describing John Buchanan's criticism of Sachin Tendulkar's abilities in the T20 format as a mere publicity stunt, Mumbai Indians coach Pravin Amre today said the batting maestro's genius is unrivaled in the shorter versions of the game.

Amre, also the coach of the Mumbai Ranji team, said "It is wrong to question Sachin's abilities in any format of the game. Even at this stage of his career he has played all the IPL matches and demonstrated his commitment to the game. I believe all this criticism is a publicity stunt."

The former Kolkata Knightriders coach John Buchanan recently wrote in his new book 'The future of cricket: the rise of T20' that Tendulkar is not fit to play T20.

"Sachin is not the daring batsman he was before. The T20 format requires batsmen to be fearless and inventive and he lacks those qualities."

Milestone man Koertzen lauds Sachin, Lara

London: Rudi Koertzen, who on Thursday became only the second umpire to officiate in 100 Tests, said Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara are the two cricketers he has highest regard for.

Less than a week after becoming the first umpire to stand in 200 One-Day Internationals, Koertzen became the only person after Steve Bucknor to officiate in 100 Tests by taking the field in the second Ashes Test at Lord's.

Looking back on his career, the 60-year-old South African said he was fortunate to have seen Tendulkar and Lara bat from close quarters.

"I have been fortunate and privileged to have seen some of the greatest modern day cricketers very closely. It would be unfair to pin-point one or two players but I have to name Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar for whom I have the greatest respect and I have thoroughly enjoyed seeing them bat," he said.

"They had amazing reflexes and used to pick up the ball as soon as it left the bowler's hand which helped them make batting look very graceful and elegant due to their superb timing, excellent footwork, ability to hit the gaps and score runs off good balls. While Sachin continues to delight us with his batting, it was sad to see retire Brian in 2007," Koertzen said.

"I don't think you can replace batsmen like Sachin and Brian in a day or two. The batsmen of these qualities and class are born in years and we are so fortunate to have seen them when they were at their brilliant best," he added.

Sachin is Daniel Radcliffe's idol

Daniel Radcliffe, aka Harry Potter, is a huge fan of cricket... & Sachin Tendulkar!

You have a huge fan following in India. Do you want to visit the country in the future?
I want to thank India for all its support. Thank you, India! The
country has always been a place of interest for me, considering cricket is a religion there and I am a huge fan. So yes, a trip to India does sound like fun.

Who’s your favourite Indian cricketer?
I’m a huge fan of Sachin Tendulkar and I think he’s just fantastic. He has always been my idol, and on my 18th birthday, I got his autograph. I showed it to Rupert and Emma and made them so jealous. That was the best birthday gift, a piece of paper immortalised by the words ‘Sachin Tendulkar’.

Chk http://sachinism-photos.blogspot.com/2009/07/daniel-radcliffe-for-sachins-autograph.html for Photos of Radcliffe waiting in the queue and what the Newspaper had to say about it

Source : Click Here!

Kambli invites Sachin to open his sports Academy

There may have been TV and media reports about rift between Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli's old friendship but if the common friend between the two is to be believed, India's master-blaster has promised his friend to grace the occasion when the new Khel Bharti Sports Academy is being opened by Vinod Kambli within two months in Mumbai.

"The invitation was extended to Sachin Tendulkar (now in England) on the day when Sunil Gavaskar delivered the inaugural Dilip Sardesai Memorial Cricket Lecture in Mumbai on July 2 and Sachin has promised to remain present, if he is in the city on that day", the common friend said on condition of anonymity.

"Kambli has joined relatively a small political Lok Bharti party (president : Kapil Patil) which will be funding for this academy", the source added. "Since this academy is for the children hailing from poor family, Sachin Tendulkar may have accepted the invitation", the source further added.

"Both still play Opingo Batingo when they meet", another common friend Ricky Coutto said. "This is a simple game, played for the sole purpose of inflicting pain by hitting the other person as hard as possible.

In brief, if you stand, you have to raise your index finger and say "Opingo" and if you sit, you have to put up your index and middle fingers and say "Batingo". If you don't, the person with whom you are playing the game has the right to hit you". "We all three (with Sachin and Vinod Kambli) enjoy this game", Ricky Coutto further added.

And yes, Sachin will be the loser if the friendship between the two is broken. During their school days, they were decided to have one wada-pav[vegetarian fast food] after each century. Kambli has presented dozens of wada pav to his pal.

Why the Aussies fear Sachin - Interesting Stat - By Srinivasan

Few days back there was a news that made the headlines

Kevin Peterson Best Batsman, Sachin fails to get a single vote

A typical Australian behaviour to pressurise KP before the Ashes.

One of my friends - Srinivasan has an answer to them

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

All throughout the last 2 decades or so, the australians have been hailed as world champions and have been credited with dominating the game as a team. Now just as the australian team was hailed as great team, in the other part of the world a little man named Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar was hailed as the best cricketer the game has ever seen following Sir Don Bradman. Words need to be created to describe this guy, who by far has revolutionized the game with his play. But still there are people who always criticise him for no reason.

I have always wondered why the Australian players always take a swipe at sachin whenever possible and try to degrade him at the first opportunity they get. Even people like John Buchanan who never cemented their place even in First Class Cricket(playing just 8 matches in his whole career with just 1 fifty) have started commenting about Sachin's ability, when great experts around the world think twice before they say anything about him just to make sure they dont say less about him.

Hence i went tweaking the Statsguru and found why the aussies fear and always hated sachin.

I pitted Rest of the World Vs Australia and looked at the batting record.

Here is what i found

In the combined Version(Test + ODI), Sachin Tops the batting list as the highest scoring batsman around the world against Australia.

In the 89 matches he has played against the Australians he has scored 5478 runs @ 50.72 with 18 100's & 25 50's.

He is the only player to have scored 5000+ runs against Australia and he also leads the list of maximum centuries by individual players against Australia.

If we split Test & ODI Stats separately we get this

Test - Sachin is in 6th place with 2748 runs @ 56.08 from 29 matches with 10 100's and 11 50's. Jack Hobbs leads this list with 3860 runs @ 54.36 from 41 matches with 13 100's and 16 50's. The only player to have played during sachin’s era who is on top(not for long) is Brian Lara who is 4th with 2856 runs @ 51 from 31 matches with 9 100’s and 11 50’s. Out of the 2748 runs he has scored against australia in test cricket, 1522 runs have been scored in australia itself. ie., Sachin has scored 55.38% of his total runs against Australian team while touring Australia. Now this what i call as demolishing the opponent in his own backyard.

ODI – Well, Sachin is considered the best ODI batsmen in the world and he tops almost every batting record in the record books when it comes to ODI, and this one is also not an exception. Sachin tops this list also with 2730 runs from 60 matches @ 46.27 with 8 100’s and 14 50’s. He also leads the maximum centuries list against Australia by an individual player.

Conclusion

SACHIN HAS ALWAYS BEEN A THORN IN THE AUSTRALIAN FLESH AND THEY NEVER FIGURED HOW TO TACKLE HIM. HE NEVER SPEAKS BUT ANSWERS WITH HIS BAT. SINCE THE AUSTRALIANS ARE UNABLE TO REPLY WITH THE BALL THEY RESORT TO SUCH BY SHOOTING THE MOUTH OFF.

To Sachin's Critics

I HAVE A SIMPLE QUESTION TO YOU. JUST ANSWER IT LOGICALLY. IF AUSTRALIA IS THE BEST TEAM IN THE WORLD, THEN ANYBODY WHO PERFORMS EXCEPTIONALLY WELL AGAINST THEM HAS TO BE THE BEST OF THE BEST. THEN WHY DO YOU ALWAYS RAISE A QUESTION MARK OVER SACHIN'S ABILITY? I HOPE THIS WILL SHUT YOU FOR ONCE AND ALL. SACHIN IS ALWAYS THE BEST.

New innings at Tendulkar's

Tendulkar's, the restaurant near Gateway of India, Colaba, is going in for a revamp.

The restaurant, owned by cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, has been closed from June 22, but is likely to open, "as soon as possible", said a representative of Mars Restaurants, of which the restaurant is a part.

Facelift: Tendulkar's at Colaba will be revamped.

The representative added, "It is going to be back as Tendulkar's, but I can't tell you whether it would re-open as Tendulkar's with a capital T or a small t."

But he confirmed that, "The Tendulkar family is involved in the revamp. They have always taken a keen interest in the restaurant."

When the restaurant was launched in 2002, Sachin was involved in the décor and planning.

Tendulkar's had some of his favourite dishes like fried Bombay Duck and baingan bhartha. Now, the cuisine too will be revamped, but they "would like to keep up the suspense for a while".

Sanjay Narang, Sachin's business partner and head honcho of Mars Restaurants, was unavailable for comment.
The souvenir store below the restaurant is also going to close.

Tendulkar most reliable batsman : NZ Herald

Christchurch: When it comes to batting for life, Sachin Tendulkar is the choice for most of the Kiwi cricketers, who rate the Indian batting maestro as the most accomplished player of his generation.

New Zealand`s `Herald on Sunday` newspaper asked a few former cricketers who was the best batsman in the world and whom they would like to bat for their life?

Replying to the questions, former Kiwi Test players John Morrison and Dipak Patel picked the Indian batting ace and were all admiration for his exploits all around the world in different conditions and various match situations.

"I`d go with Tendulkar. He is still the most capable batsman in the world. He has the full array of shots too, though he might not play them as freely as he once did," Morrison said.

"I like Tendulkar because there are guys out there brilliant on certain types of surfaces but he is adept at playing on anything. Slow, bouncy, turning, whatever – he covers the field on all of them.

"I`d still back him ahead of everybody, even at the age of 36," Morrison, who played 17 Tests between 1974 and 1982, said.

Dipak Patel echoed the same sentiment.

"I like Gautam Gambhir and Graeme Smith at the moment but in the end, if they were batting for my life, I couldn`t go past Tendulkar. He`s got the experience, the sheer weight of runs and best all-round game.

"He can bat for survival and can bat to force wins. He`s got a big-match temperament and he has scored runs all around the world," Patel, who played 37 Tests between 1987 and 1997, said.

"Gambhir is the new kid on the block but I would put Smith in just behind Tendulkar. He has a wonderful track record of getting through the new ball. Every game he is out there facing the music and is just a terrific competitor," he added.

Tendulkar`s teammate and another Indian great, Rahul Dravid also has his own admirers for his sound technique, one among them is former Test player Gavin Larsen.

"There`d be a few on my shortlist. Shiv Chanderpaul would make it, Ricky Ponting, Mike Hussey. Graeme Smith would be there, as would Mohammad Yousuf and Sachin Tendulkar but the name I keep coming back to is Rahul Dravid," Larsen said.

"He (Dravid) is technically correct, perhaps the best technician in the game, he has scored runs in all conditions, he`s dogged and he`s incredibly mentally strong. He can bat for long periods of time without scoring and it never seems to get him down."

Dravid was also the second choice for Craig McMillan whose first pick is Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara.

"I`d struggle to go past guys like Rahul Dravid and Kumar Sangakkara. In the end, I`d take Sangakkara. With Dravid, you know what you`re going to get but Sangakkara is probably the most adaptable batsman playing cricket at the moment."

When Tendulkar evoked no appreciation

Cricket is known often to have acted as the bridge that connected India-Pakistan in troubled times but there were instances when even the great Sachin Tendulkar's shots evoked no applause from the crowd across the border.

Former Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman and senior diplomat Shaharyar Khan says before the 1999 series it was winning that mattered and not the skill and art of cricket.

Post-1999 things changed and perhaps for the first time the attitude of fans and players of the two countries underwent a sea change.

"Something had changed in crowd attitudes. Only a few years earlier a Bangalore crowd had whistled and screamed invectives at Saeed Anwar and Aamer Sohail in an ICC Champions Trophy match and Pakistan boundaries were received in pin-drop silence," he wrote in the book 'Shadows across the playing field' co-authored by former United Nations under-secretary-general Shashi Tharoor.

"The same sullen attitude was true when Indian teams played in Pakistan. I recall being acutely embarrassed when Sachin Tendulkar's brilliant stroke play evoked no appreciation from the spectators," he said.

"But during the 1999 tour, a certain maturity from the crowds witnessing India-Pakistan contests was apparent," he said of the bilateral series held after a gap of 10 years "against the backdrop of acute tension".

"The teams interacted sportingly on field and even the crowd trouble after Tendulkar's run-out at Kolkata was not aimed against the Pakistani team but was essentially a show of frustration," Shaharyar added.

The former PCB boss, born in Bhopal, also recalled the threats Pakistan team received from protesters who were against the revival of cricketing ties between the two countries.

"The game was on, with the establishment against the marauding agitators who had even threatened to let loose poisonous snakes into the Pakistan dressing room!"

The 75-year-old ex-armyman said a new benchmark in public relations was achieved through friendly cricket series between the two countries.

"Perhaps one small incident encapsulated the entire syndrome of the friendship series. At Lahore, Inzamam(-ul Haq) was batting and played a ball to point where (Anil) Kumble fielded and flung the ball hard towards the 'keeper, except that the throw was a little off the mark and missed Inzamam's nose by a whisker. Inzamam turned angrily towards Kumble and heated words were exchanged between the two.”

"The incident sent a chill down my spine... but at close, Inzamam and Kumble walked smiling arm-in-arm, the heated exchange forgiven and forgotten. This was the response of two mature and responsible cricketers (so as not to mar the goodwill achieved during the entire 2004 series)," he wrote.

Although post-Mumbai terror attacks there is no bilateral series proposed between India and Pakistan in the new Future Tours Programme, Shaharyar is hopeful that cricket will soon resume between the neighbours.

"It's often been a case of two steps forward and one (or two) steps back in the peace process. The Mumbai terrorist attack must be seen as part of the same syndrome. I am convinced that cricket will again provide the catalyst to bring about harmony, tolerance and good neighbourly relations between the two countries," he concluded.