We Sri-Lankan’s were privileged and honoured in December 2007 to have witnessed and applauded our own Muttiah Muralitharan becoming the highest wicket taker in test match cricket. Hopefully we will shortly be equally privileged and honoured to applaud Schin Tendulkar, the "little master" going pass Brian Lara to be the highest run scorer in test match cricket. It will indeed be a proud moment for Sachin as well as for a billion Indians and many other millions of Asians to salute this great batsmen for a wonderful and well deserved achievement.

Scahin made his debut in test cricket 19 years ago against Pakistan as a precocious 17 year old. He had to a face a baptism of fire whilst batting against the fiery pace bowling of Imran Khan, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younus. By all accounts the young man was not overawed and acquitted himself rather well. He in fact posted his first of many half centuries in only his second test match. A few months thereafter I was fortunate enough to witness his first test century against England in 1990 when he scored 119 not out in the second innings in Manchester to help India to salvage a draw on the final day. I still recall a baby faced young man playing with refreshing freedom whilst displaying a sound technique. What impressed me and several other thousands was his temperament and that too at such a young age. He scored his runs with ease whilst giving all of us a glimpse of his rasping cover drives and square cuts. It was indeed a day to remember for Sachin as well as all cricket lovers the world over.

Many a cricketing pundit predicted an awesome future for this young man and I presume it was not so difficult to do so when one considered his solid technique, range of strokes and most importantly his sound temperament. The fact that Sachin has more than lived up to our initial expectations over a span of nearly 2 decades speaks volumes of the man. What has impressed all cricket lovers the world over and in my opinion enabled Sachin to carry the burden of the immense expectations and pressures has been the sheer decency and the humbleness of the man. He is simply adored by millions of Indians and the expectations of his fans and that of the nation of India would have simply overwhelmed mere mortals like us. We talk of pressure at work and stress whilst Sachin has had to carry the burden associated of a semi god for millions of Indians for over 2 decades. In addition to these cricketing pressures the commercialization of cricket in India has brought about further pressure on their cricketers with Sachin being no exception. The fact that he has no lost focus on his game despite all these pressures speaks volumes of him as a human being. It would have been so easy for Sachin the cricketer to have caved in to the commercial demands and to have allowed his cricketing powers to be diminished. However the greatness of the man is that despite all what he has achieved in cricket and in terms of wealth that he has created for himself he still remains a shining example for all of us and without doubt for me he is the greatest ambassador for the game of cricket and the entire nation of India.

From a statistical point of view Sachin has to-date scored 11,782 test runs over 147 matches averaging 55.31 runs per innings and has scored 39 test centuries. It is one of the most impressive batting records in the history of the game. If one is to dissect his record the two most striking aspects of his record is the fact that his batting average at 55.58 runs whilst playing away from home is marginally above his average to that when playing at home. This is indeed a unique achievement and confirms his true greatness. The second aspect which I find rather impressive is his record against the Australians against whom he has scored 2,352 runs at an average of 56 runs per innings and has in the process accumulated 9 test centuries. Once again his average in Australia at 58.53 runs per innings and having scored 6 centuries in 16 test matches is outstanding considering that Australia has had the most potent bowling attack over the last 15 years.

Indeed many of the Australians including Shane Warne consider Tendulkar to be the greatest batsmen of their era. He has been one of the few batsmen to have mastered Shane Warne who I recall once saying that he has sleepless nights thinking about how Tendulkar kept on coming down the wicket and lofting him over long off and long on for sixes.

Sachin has an exceptional record against the Sri Lankans having belted our bowlers to the tune of 7 test centuries in 16 test matches and has averaged 69 runs per innings against us. His record is awesome when playing in Sri Lanka where he averages a phenomenal 112 runs per innings. His tussle with Murali will be the highlight of the tour. He has not played Murali in test cricket often enough since Murali became the force that he is. In many instances that they have faced up, Tendulkar seems to have had the measure of Murali despite Murali having claimed his wicket on 7 occasions. I still recall the battle between Murali and Sachin during the 1996 world cup semi final in Calcutta. It was a fascinating dual between the two masters of their respective trade with Sachin itching to cut lose. Let us hope that the Sri Lanakn pitches will be prepared to help Murali which should hopefully result in an enthralling battle between the two great masters of this era.

There has been many a debate as to whether Brian Lara was a better than Sachin Tendulkar. At the outset let me say that we cricketing fans of this generation have been privileged to have witnessed two of the greatest batsmen that the world of cricket has ever seen. From a statistical point of view there is no doubt that Sachin has a marginally better record than Lara. For example Lara only averaged 42 runs against the Australians in Australia whilst as mentioned earlier Sachin averaged 58 runs. Lara averaged 59 runs when playing at home and 48 runs whilst playing away from home. I believe that the sternest test of the all round abilities of a batsmen is in the number of runs scored when playing from home in conditions which are different from your own back yard. On this count Sachin would come ahead of Lara.