Let Sachin Score a Century but let NZ Win say Kiwi fans

With the BCCI putting its foot down and withdrawing Sachin Tendulkar and Dinesh Karthik from the practice matches, cricket fans have not had a chance to see the Master Blaster in action that is the biggest draw for crowds from among the Indian team. Much is being reported in the cricket news about keen sense of anticipation among people to see him in action.  The Indians have toured New Zealand infrequently and the youngest cricket fans may never have seen Sachin in action, so there is an even greater sense of anticipation to the upcoming one day international series, when everyone gets their wish to see the Little Master in action.

The impact that Tendulkar has made on the world stage in international cricket, means that even in a rugby mad nation such as New Zealand, there is avid anticipation for seeing Sachin in action. A recent anecdote was published in the cricket news recently, when a cricket correspondent wrote about a taxi driver of Chinese origin in New Zealand talking about Indian cricket and about how the team did not do well in away games but that this "little guy (Sachin) has been playing for 20 years, no?" 

There was also a story reported in the cricket news about a young fan who came to watch Sachin at the practice nets and got him to autograph his arm. The fan then showed up next day with the autograph transformed into a permanent tattoo! 

Apparently the Kiwis are as much in awe of Sachin’s spectacular prowess as the rest of the world: 

Tendulkar is the highest run scorer in both Test Matches and ODIs, and also the batsman with themost centuries in either form of the game. He also became the first batsman to score 12,000 runs in tests.

 

He has the highest number of 50s in test and is the second ever player to score 10 Test centuries against Australia, after only Sir Jack Hobbs of England more than 70 years back. He has 41 centuries in tests and 42 in ODIs. These statistics are no less than staggering and the Kiwis are well aware of it!