Tendulkar makes time stand still

In a sport that specialises in the manufacture of instant stars and transient celebrities, Sachin Tendulkar is the real thing, writes Gideon Haigh in the Times of India. Even now, 20 years after his debut, there's always a place of occasion every time he comes to the crease, no matter the game, no matter the place.

In his column for the same paper, Steve Waugh remembers what a tough time he had setting a field for Tendulkar, what with the deafening noise making it impossible to communicate with fielders.

In the Hindustan Times, Anil Kumble notes how it had always been predicted that Tendulkar would be destined for greatness, that he would go on to be the highest runscorer for India, beat every batting record there was to beat, create history. He did all that and more.

In the same paper Sukhwant Basra says that behind the public reserve is an animated man.

Mid-day has reprinted the first print interview with a 13-year-old Tendulkar, as well as recalling the first television interview with Tendulkar, conducted by Hindi film actor Tom Alter at the PJ Hindu Gymkhana in January 1989.

India Today has dedicated an entire section to Tendulkar.

On his blog Doosra Redux, Dileep Premachandran says Tendulkar is India's greatest unifying factor.

Amitabh Bachchan’s oeuvre resonates little with the man in Tamil Nadu’s interior, just as Rajnikanth is little more than an object of curiosity to someone in Punjab. But Chennai or Chandigarh, Guwahati or Cochin, Tendulkar walks out to undiluted acclaim. With the exception of Gandhi, perhaps no other Indian has managed to rally so many behind the flag.