Proud to have witnessed a legend's journey

As a reporter, there is nothing more gratifying than watching a school cricketer on whom you have reported go on to become the greatest cricketer in the history of the game. I consider myself fortunate to have followed his heroics right from the Navroze Cricket Club ground in Azad Maidan in Mumbai where he used to play the under-15 school tournaments to the many cricket grounds around the world. Some cricketers become a part of your life, and in your memories too. Even now, when I pass through the Bandra suburb in Mumbai, what flashes through my mind is the Sahitya Sahawas housing complex in Kala Nagar where this young prodigy lived, and where I had to go and interview him in 1988 soon after he hit scores of 125, 207, 326 and 346 runs in the Harris Shield inter school tournament. So, while waiting outside the dressing room with hordes of other reporters for a comment after Sachin Tendulkar hit his 99th century in the 2011 World Cup in Nagpur, I recalled the days when he was more easily accessible. Right from his school days, I used to keep notes on not only his performances but everything about him that could be used for my reports on his knocks. Today I feel lucky that I have a huge collection of facts on this cricketer whom very few know from his early days. I still remember the day he was gifted a Gunn and Moore bat by Dilip Vengsarkar, and his disappointment for being ignored for the Mumbai Cricket Association's best junior cricketer award. Very few remember now that he made his debut in the Kanga League for an F division club called Young Parsee Cricket Club. Every time a senior cricketer gifted him with a cricket equipment, he would proudly talk about it to everyone. Even now one cannot forget the joy in his eyes when, at the age of 14, his idol Sunil Gavaskar gifted him his ultra light pads and when that got stolen during an under-15 camp it was big news among all school cricketers. When Tendulkar achieved an average of 102.5 in the Harris Shield, everyone said that it is just a matter of days before he would be playing for Mumbai. List So in 1987 when the Mumbai selection committee made up of Ajit Wadekar, Sudhir Naik and Sandeep Patil released the list of 36 probables Tendulkar's name was among them. Another incident which comes to my mind is the day when the Cricket Club of India had to amend their rules to permit a boy below 15 into their dressing room. Tendulkar was only 14 when he was selected to play for Mumbai in Ranji Trophy and he promptly hit a century in his debut match against Gujarat. When Mumbai captain Lalchand Rajput was approached for his comment he promptly said that it was a century from India's future batsman. By 1992, Tendulkar had become a super star and I remember the day Yorkshire County officials came to CCI to sign him up. Tendulkar cut a huge cake and distributed it to everyone. The day he decided to become an opener in One-day cricket he gave me an exclusive interview in 1994 and is among my prized collections. It was the start of his 49 One-day hundreds which finally earned him the greatest landmark in cricket.