Tendulkar and his school friend Vinod Kambli burst onto the scene together but then went separate ways, writes Steve James.
Sachin Tendulkar to the extreme left and Vinod Kambli to the extreme right with their childhood coach in the centre at an event in 2009.

You would, wouldn't you? The best batsmen just want to bat and bat. And schoolboys are hardly known for their obedience. These two schoolboy batsmen were going rather well. So well in fact that they had both passed their double centuries. On the boundary's edge their assistant coach was waving his arms furiously. He was demanding their attention. It was time to declare. The team total had surpassed 500 after all.

But the batsmen were having none of it. This was too much fun. They carried on batting. And batting a bit more. By lunch of what was the second day of this three-day Harris Shield semi-final in Mumbai in 1988, one had 349 not out and his friend 326 not out. But they knew they had disobeyed instructions.

Their coach, Ramakant Achrekar, a man they both respected hugely, was not present, as he had to work that day. Instead it was his assistant, Laxman Chavan, whose instructions had been disregarded. At the interval Chavan told the pair of youngsters that they should phone Achrekar. Their coach asked the score. Over 700 came the reply. "Declare!" screamed Achrekar, according to Vaibhav Purandare, an Indian author.

"Sir, I'm batting on 349," said the one young man by the name of Vinod Kambli, before the phone was passed to the other, the captain. Sachin Tendulkar was his name. You may have heard of him. "Sir, Vinod needs one run to complete his 350, we'll declare as soon as he gets out," he said. "Declare!" shouted Achrekar, and for once Tendulkar was in trouble. But he and Kambli had already put on an unbeaten 664 for the third wicket for Shardashram School against St Xavier's College, and two stars of Indian cricket had been born.

A year later Tendulkar was playing Test cricket for India. "He took the elevator to the top," said Kambli, "whilst I took the stairs". But by 1993 they were on the top floor together in the Indian Test team, with Kambli at three and Tendulkar at four in a series at home to England. In the third Test in Mumbai, Kambli made 224, still the highest Test score by an Indian against England.

In his next Test against Zimbabwe, the left-handed Kambli made 227. Tendulkar was not to score his first Test double-hundred for another six years. In his next two Tests against Sri Lanka Kambli made two centuries. But after another 10 Tests he was dropped. That was in 1995, and he was aged just 23.

Despite averaging 54.2, he never played another Test. How different were the paths then taken by those schoolboy mates. Recently Tendulkar announced his retirement amid an avalanche of paeans; last week Kambli at the age of just 41 was rushed to hospital in Mumbai having suffered a heart attack. He is said to be in a stable condition. Tendulkar was always the model professional; Kambli was always the classic larrikin, with his golden earrings, funky haircuts (although the pate is now bald) and extravagant lifestyle. Maybe Kambli was before his time because he might have fitted in nicely in the indulgent excesses of the Indian Premier League now.

But even though he was still playing international one-day cricket in 2000, and indeed Indian first-class cricket until 2004, it was his lax attitude, not a susceptibility to the short ball, that scuppered his career. So it is little surprise really that his friendship with Tendulkar did not remain strong. "I haven't heard Sachin's sound for a long time and it hurts me," said Kambli recently. "It's been seven long years and we haven't met with each other. In between we just shared a few text messages and that's all. It seems as if we have become enemies now."

With virtually one semifinal spot up for grabs in Group A, IPL champions Mumbai Indians will fancy their chances when they take on the bottom-placed Perth Scorchers in a do-or-die battle in their final round-robin match of the Champions League Twenty20 here on Wednesday.

Mumbai Indians are currently at the third position with six points in the points table, while Otago Volts are placed second with 10 points with two victories under their belt and an abandoned game from three ties.

Sitting at the top of Group A table with 12 points, are Rajasthan Royals, who have already made the last four stage.

The Mumbai side will have to play out of their skins tomorrow to not just earn full marks to make it 10 and come at par with Otago Volts but also finish with a good run-rate, so that if the New Zealand outfit lose their next tie there is a chance for the Indian franchise to make the cut on the basis of a better run average.

Rohit Sharma`s side got a big boost of confidence after a comfortable seven-wicket win over Highvels Lions in their previous encounter and they could not have asked for a weaker opponents than Perth Scorchers in a crucial game on Wednesday.

There is no doubt that a strong Mumbai side would do everything in their power to post a comprehensive victory against the Scorchers, if Otago lose their last league tie against Rajasthan Royals to be held in Jaipur on Tuesday night.

Even though the star-studded Mumbai outfit did not have an ideal start to the tournament as they suffered a defeat at the hands of Rajasthan Royals in the opening match before the second tie was washed out, they came back strongly to stamp their authority against the Lions.

Having restricted the Lions to a meagre 140 for 5, Mumbai reached the modest target with nine balls to spare and they would look for nothing less than a repeat of that performance where both their batsmen and bowlers fired in unison.

The bowlers, despite the absence of their match-winning pacer Lasith Malinga, did well with Mitchell Johnson, Harbhajan Singh and Pragyan Ojha successfully putting breaks to the opponents` scoring besides chipping in with important wickets.

While chasing, the batsmen did their job to perfection with Dwayne Smith hitting a 47-ball 63, and Kieron Pollard playing an unbeaten 32-run cameo towards the end; skipper Rohit Sharma, with 20 runs, also contributed to the success.

The worrying part though remains the form of Sachin Tendulkar, playing his last tournament for Mumbai Indians. But over the years he has shown that he always makes it count when it matters the most and the team will be hoping for the veteran batsman to shine on Wednesday.

Apart from him, even the likes of Dinesh Kartik and Ambati Rayudu are also yet to show their true potential in the tournament.

The favourites Mumbai have the resources to topple the lowly Scorchers, but they would certainly need to guard against over-confidence when they take the field here at the Ferozshah Kotla ground.

The Scorchers, on the other hand, with two loses and a match being abandoned are languishing at the bottom of the table with two points.

Already out of contention for a semifinal spot, the Scorchers have only pride to play for tomorrow and spoil Mumbai`s chances.

But for that they would require to strike hard with their available resources. Scorchers are here without some key players and have not been able to pose any real challenge to any of their opponents so far in the League.

After an abandoned tie against the Lions, the Scorchers lost to Otago Volts by 62 runs and then got a nine-wicket thrashing at the hands of Rajasthan Royals.

While against Otago, Hilton Cartwright was the lone batsman who showed some spark by scoring a fine 68 off 53 balls, the entire batting line-up came a cropper against Rajasthan.

After the Australian side were bundled out for a mere 120 with Adam Voges top-scoring with 27, the Royals chased down the total in just 16.3 overs. But even Voges has now flown home due to a back complaint.

 As a Sachin Tendulkar mania sweeps Kolkata, West Indies operations manager and former skipper Richie Richardson says the little master deserves all the adulation, but that will not affect his focus once he enters the field.

Describing Tendulkar, who plays the 199th and penultimate Test match of his career at Eden Gardens beginning Nov 6, Richardson said: "He has been a great ambassador of the game. He deserves every bit of adulation and celebrations surrounding him. But once he enters the field, the celebrations will not affect his focus."

Tendulkar will be retiring after the second and the last Test - his 200th - at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, Nov 14-18.

Richardson said Tendulkar was a great both as a sportsperson and a human being.

"It is difficult to express in words Tendulkar's contribution to cricket and humanity. What I like most about him is he is humble despite his achievements, and always smiling," said Richardson after Windies' practice session at the Eden Gardens.

"He is a great human being. You do often find somebody who is great at sports, but may be he is not equally great as a person. But Sachin is blessed to be both. People admire him forever," he said.

Richardson said the Caribbeans were happy to be a party in the final two matches of Tendulkar's Test career. "But at the same time we are here to play, to compete and to win."

He praised the Indian team, and said the visitors needed to work hard to make a mark in the two Test series.

"India are playing very well at the moment. They have some very good players, and they will come hard at us. We will have to work hard, but we will be pretty competitive," he said.

Introducing Sachin in our dna, a series leading up to Tendulkar's 200th Test at Wankhede.

Four weeks remain before Sachin Tendulkar’s illustrious career comes to an end at his home ground, Wankhede Stadium, against the West Indies. I have known Sachin for a long time and have spent a lot of time with him on the tours of New Zealand (1990), England (1990) and Australia (1991-92). He is extremely passionate about the game and simply cannot live without cricket.

For him, cricket is everything. I am sure his decision to retire must have been the toughest decision for him simply because he has been playing the game non-stop for 30 years. Right from his school days to now, he has been going to the gym, training hard and spending quality time in the nets. Even today, he is as motivated and as committed as he was when he started playing the game. That’s his level of passion. That he won’t be playing the game at the competitive level after the Mumbai Test (against the West Indies) would surely hurt him big time.

Sachin has achieved what nobody in the history of cricket has achieved. I cannot think of anyone even coming close to achieving what Sachin has. It’s tough for a great player to hang up his boots simply because he has spent all his life, or say the best years of his life, doing what he knows best besides, of course, working hard to keep up the standards he has set for himself. Suddenly, he won’t have to wake up and go to the ground or play in a match. It will be tough, but I guess as time goes by, he will get used to it.

There is so much media hype surrounding his retirement, but Sachin has seen it all many a time in his career. He is no rookie when it comes to big occasions and I feel he will handle it the way he has been handling tough, emotional situations all his life. Surely, this one will be different; people will expect him to score a century in his last Test match.

There are always big expectations whenever Sachin goes in to bat. Such expectations come not just from within India but also from all over the world. I guess those who have watched Sir Don Bradman or Sir Garfield Sobers must have had the same feeling or expectations whenever and wherever they played.

For all that Sachin has achieved, to me personally, he is a wonderful human being. He is one who always respects his elders and is ever so humble. He is loved by all. Even after achieving so much, be it fame or fortune, his feet are rooted firmly to the ground. He hasn’t changed much since I saw him first in 1988. He is always helpful to newcomers and tries his best to make them feel at home.

When he first arrived on the international stage, he was extremely mature for his age. He was ready for big cricket. He had the head of a 24-year-old on his 16-year-old frame. Skill-wise, there is not much of a difference among most 15 or 16-year-olds, but those who are mentally tougher, play the game at the highest level earlier than those who are late bloomers.

Sachin looked exceptional for a schoolboy cricketer. When I took him to the nets to face Kapil Dev and other India bowlers, he was not at all overawed by the presence of some of the great players of that era. Besides, he had a lot of time while playing the pacers.