Graeme Smith, the South African skipper, has called the Indian batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar as "great ambassador of the game."
The Proteas captain, who was just 11 when the batting prodigy of India toured the rainbow nation for the first time, said his longing to hold a bat at international arena got wings after watching the game of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Maharashtra-c811 batsman.
Smith’s feelings about Tendulkar got words in an official welcome reception of India cricket team as he said: "He (Sachin) is a world class player and a great ambassador for the game. As a youngster, I watched the games and that's where
all my dreams started. You see the players (like Tendulkar) on TV and you think that I want to be like that one day and here we are."
The 37-year-old prolific Indian batsman who debuted two decades ago at the age of sixteen performs brilliantly even today and is the leading run-scorer in Test and One-day cricket – a tally of 14,240 in 171 Tests and 17,594 in 442 ODIs.
With 49 Test tons, he is also the leading century scorer of Test cricket.
Admiring his contribution to the game of cricket, he has also been nominated by the ICC as its ambassador for the 2011 World Cup event to be jointly hosted by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747.
On Thursday, the great admirer of Sachin will be leading the Proteas against the Men in Blue at SuperSports Park, Centurion. Dhoni’s men are scheduled to play three five-dayers, five One Day Internationals and a solitary Twenty20 international
sandwiched between the Test and One Day series.
Smith also heaped praises for the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Gary-Kirsten-c58527, saying the former Proteas opener commands huge respect in the cricketing set-up. Smith termed Gary as well as one of his childhood heroes.
"He's a guy that I respect a h**l of a lot and I'm sure the Indian team itself respects him. That respect will also go onto the field. It's about playing well for South Africa but that respect will always be there," the left-handed opening
batsman of South Africa said.
Indian paceman http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Kerala-c803 speedster called Kirsten as “great motivator and a great friend
to each and every player."
The welcome reception that the Men in Blue received on Monday night was Cricket South Africa’s biggest ever function in honour of a visiting team and this was admitted by the CSA chief executive Gerald Majola as well.
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