INDIA VS PAKISTAN MINUS SACHIN TENDULKAR - A FIRST IN WORLD CUP HISTORY

If it took you time to digest not seeing that diminutive figure crouching and looking up at the sun or into the flood lights on his way to the middle - then February 15 will be even tougher. For the first time in ICC World Cup history, Sachin Tendulkar will not be part of an India vs Pakistan encounter.

Five matches spanning across five World Cups played over a period of 23 years, and Pakistan still have to figure out a way to beat India at the showpiece event. But the sixth meeting at the Adelaide Oval in Australia will be strikingly different. No Tendulkar = big relief for Pakistan.

The batting legend remained a central figure in Indo-Pak encounters right from being a quicksilver 19-year-old in 1992 to an old warhorse in the epic semi-final at Mohali in 2011.

Memories of that upper cut over the third-man off a steaming-in Shoaib Akhtar at the Centurion in 2003 are still fresh - though in different hues for fans on either side of the border. And when DRS saved the little champion against an LBW shout at Mohali, India heaved a sigh or relief while a few TV sets were thrashed on the other side of the Wagah border as India completed a 29-run win.

That Tendulkar has been critical to India's phenomenal record against Pakistan at World Cups shows in numbers as well.

In those five matches played in four different countries, Tendulkar has been the top-scorer on three occasions - 54 at Sydney 1992, 98 at Centurion in 2003 and 85 at Mohali in 2011.

In all, Tendulkar scored 313 runs in those matches at a staggering average of 78.25, though without hitting a century. The closest he came to achieving the three-figure mark was during the 2003 edition in South Africa, where he was dismissed by Shoaib two runs short of his first World Cup ton against Pakistan. However, the knock was enough to ensure India's six-wicket win.

The next best scorer in the World Cup matches against Pakistan is former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin, who scored 118 runs in three matches.

Quite apparently then, the likes of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will have to take over the mantle from Tendulkar and figure out how, year after the year, the little man ensured India's impeccable record against the team they like beating the most.

RK LAXMAN REMEMBERED BY SACHIN TENDULKAR

India’s most popular and loved cartoonist RK Laxman’s death on Monday evening of January 26 has left a massive void in many lives. After all, he touched everyone’s lives with his apt symbolization of ordinary people though his famed cartoon the Common Man since 1957. On his sad demise, India’s greatest cricketer Sachin Tendulkar took to Twitter to offer his condolences to the late genius’ near and dear ones.

Sachin Tendulkar wrote, “The Man who expressed so much for and as the Common Man is no more. Deepest Condolences to his family and friends.” His tweet could be well related by fellow countryman as none could fill the huge gap left by the Common Man.

RK Laxman who breathed his last at the Dinanath Mangeshkar hospital in Pune, was admitted for the past few days with complaints of throat infections and other complications. His love for sketching could be understood as RK Laxman continued with his cartooning even after getting his left side paralysed as a result of heart attack in 2003.

The recipient of several awards including Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan and Magsaysay Award, many believed RK Laxman should have been conferred with India’s highest civilian honour Bharat Ratna. One does not know when this great personality will be bestowed with this honour but India’s youngest Bharat Ratna recipient, Sachin Tendulkar is definitely one of the million fans of the Common Man.

250 GUESTS TO ATTEND DINNER HOSTED FOR OBAMA LIST INCLUDES SACHIN, AMITABH AND PRIYANKA CHOPRA

President Pranab Mukherjee will host a dinner for Barack Obama at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Sunday night, for which around 250 guests have been invited. The list includes illustrious names from various fields. Apart from political heavyweights, including Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, it includes Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan, AR Rahman, Gulzar, Priyanka Chopra and Sachin Tendulkar.

The invitees are expected to arrive by 7:45 pm and dinner will be served by 8:45 pm. Both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food is on the menu, with the choice left entirely to the guests.

The dinner will be a carefully designed spread of select Indian delicacies from North and South Indian cuisine. Galauti Kababs and the Gujarati kadhi will be included as will be sondesh and paan.

The President’s banquet will also feature a one-hour cultural programme by the renowned dance troupe Seher of the Ananya festival fame. Five dance gurus — Madhavi Mudgal (Odissi), Prerna Shrimali (Kathak), Geeta Chandran (Bharatanatyam), Rajendra Pillai (Kathakali) and Charu Sija Mathur (Manipuri) — along with 30 dancers will present a 25-minute-long concert at the Rastrapati Bhawan auditorium.

"It’s a great way to showcase the rootedness of the art form in all its purity. Mostly Indian music abroad is represented as fusion. This will probably be one of Obama’s few brushes with the colours and the diversity of the Indian dance styles in their full glory,” said Sanjeev Bhargav, the founder of Seher.

Rehearsals have been on at the Rashtrapati Bhavan premises for the last 25 days. Mudgal, also a Padma Shri, is leading the choreography. The concert will open with an invocation from the Rig Veda, followed by short presentations in each style, ending with a rhythm-heavy finale.

PRESIDENT TO HOST STAR-STUDDED BANQUET FOR US PRESIDENT BARRACK OBAMA

The ceremonial banquet at Rashtrapati Bhavan in honour of the US President Barack Obama is tipped to be a star-studded affair, with President Pranab Mukherjee extending an invitation to leading industrialists, sportspersons and cine stars.

President Obama will land in Delhi on January 25 for his second India visit and after a string of bilateral engagements, cap his first day with the ceremonial banquet.

Government sources said the guest list for the banquet– that is expected to serve well over a dozen courses- includes actor Amitabh Bachchan and cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar apart from leading industrialists.

Ratan Tata chairperson Emeritus of Tata Sons, Mukesh Ambani chairperson Reliance Industries, Anil Ambani chairperson Reliance Group, Anand Mahindra, chairperson of Mahindra & Mahindra, Deepak Parekh HDFC chairperson, Sunil Bharti Mittal, founder and chairperson of Bharti Enterprises, Kiran Mazumbdar Shaw, Biocon chairperson, and Shashi Ruia of Essar group are among those on the list.

The invitee list at Rashtrapati Bhavan- and the strong business component of the visit- mirrors the importance of business in the broader calculus of Indo-US strategic relations.

The US President is slated to meet the business leaders again on January 26 when he and Prime Minister Narendra Modi address top CEOs at two focused back-to-back meetings.

The first of these will be under the Indo-US CEOs forum, which was instituted in 2010 during Obama's first visit to India.
This will be followed up with another meeting with CEOs organised by the US-India Business Council, an influential industry lobby group of top companies from both countries.

COME, LETS CHASE THE DREAM AGAIN, WITH SACHIN TENDULKAR.

Video uploaded by Himanshu Jaiswal

WHEN PHILLIP HUGHES MET SACHIN TENDULKAR IN INDIA

Once upon a time (in Mumbai), deceased Australian cricketer met the legendary Sachin Tendulkar and spent an hour with him over lunch at Bandra Kurla Complex here.

It was in 2009, when Hughes – dropped after the second Ashes Test – came to India to consult his childhood coach Neil D’ Costa to rectify his flaws against pace.

On hearing Hughes’ desire to meet the Master Blaster, D’ Costa – the then head coach of Vidarbha Cricket Association’s Residential Academy – asked former Vidarbha cricketer Prashant Vaidya to arrange the meeting. Tendulkar agreed and the Australian came to Mumbai.

Apparently, former India pacer Subroto Banerjee – also the coach of current India speedsters Varun Aaron and Umesh Yadav – accompanied Hughes when he met the cricket legend. It was learnt that the interaction helped him sort out his batting problems and left him overjoyed and mentally strong.

The Australian, according to sources, asked the Master about his early days to study the mental approach of a cricketer when beginning his career, apart from training methods.