Tendulkar lives up to his iconic status

New Delhi: Sachin Tendulkar, one of the greatest batsman, is living up to his status of being the brand ambassador of the tournament with style.

The aura Tendulkar exudes is something one has to experience to believe.

As soon as he steps out of the team bus, the sound of applause is deafening. Even in Mirpur, where the whole city was rooting for their team, fans did not stop clapping for him as soon as he stepped out.

Unlike most cricketers who just walked away without even throwing a glance at fans, Tendulkar smiled and appreciated their presence.

On the ground, even Bangladesh players were seen taking his autograph.

Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal was delighted when Tendulkar offered him batting advice. It seems he suggested that if the ball was not coming on to the bat and if Iqbal could not time his shots well, then he should aim to stay at the wicket rather than go for a wild shot and throw away his wicket.

Tendulkar's advice probably did the trick for Iqbal went on to score 70 runs for Bangladesh against India.

Tendulkar is playing his sixth World Cup and has equalled Javed Miandad's record for most appearances in the event.

Every youngster in the other teams too hopes to emulate him.

Like young Darren Bravo of the West Indies who draws inspiration from Tendulkar, almost every youngster in other teams wants to play like him.

The manner in which Tendulkar reacted to his run-out in the first match was another example of his sporting behaviour.

He pacified Virender Sehwag by saying that it was important to keep scoring runs for the country and that it does not matter who the top performer is.

Whenever Tendulkar sits outside the team dressing room, audience members can be seen staring at him just like they stare at the World Cup, on display in the stadium. A Bangladeshi fan, who pleaded with the security to let him go near him, was heard saying: "We may get to see the World Cup again but not Tendulkar in his playing outfit...we know this is his last world cup and I want a snap of him."

Pausing for effect

Even when walking off to the bus, when the crowd pleaded for a picture, he stopped to pose for them.

And since everyone has a camera in their mobile, they kept clicking away randomly.

So when news spread that he would be undergoing a knee scan, for a moment the whole cricketing world turned anxious.

Tendulkar had played the 2003 World Cup in pain with a sore finger and emerged the highest scorer of the tournament.

In the match against Bangladesh too, it seems he had this discomfort in his knees; but after the scan he revealed there was nothing serious.

It is a miracle that this 37-year-old legend, who is just three short of his 100th century in international cricket and scored over 32,000 runs in all forms of the game, can still get every bowler to fear bowling at him.