A young fan's memories of Sachin Tendulkar - 4 memorable matches

1) 241 vs Australia at Sydney, 2004: Any century on foreign soil is special and more so if it comes against the top ranked team in their very own den for a series saving cause.

Australia have suffered a lot more than most at Tendulkar’s hands and this scintillating knock represented his best Test score – until he beat it by seven runs against Bangladesh. But, more important, it helped level the series in what was Steve Waugh‘s last Test for Australia.

Tendulkar added a mammoth 353 for the fourth wicket with VVS Laxman. He later admitted that it was easily the best ton he had ever scored for the conditions and the opposition it came against.

Like the above mentioned, we all have lived with so many unforgettable moments in the last 24 years. But, at the end of the on-going Test match, the nation will wake up to a new life – a life without Sachin Tendulkar.

No longer will school kids pretend to be sick on match days. No unplanned leaves to watch someone complete a century. No longer will half the office call in sick together once India elects to bat in. No more vacant roads will adorn the city when someone is batting. No more non stopping chanting when someone hits fours and sixes. Our world is set to change in the span of one moment of history.

And well, for someone like me who has seen Sachin all his life, there will be a void that can never be filled, a chaos and calmness and slowly the realization will settle in. Now only humans will play cricket. The time has come. God is retiring.