There was an eerie sense of emptiness even as cricketers, past and present, today paid rich tributes to Sachin Tendulkar as he decided to call time on his illustrious career after playing in his landmark 200th Test next month.
Tributes poured in from across the cricketing world, complementing the batting legend for giving fans many, many cheerful moments. "It has left such a big hole to fill in the Indian Test batting line-up. It wouldn't be easy to replace him. See what happened after laxman, Ganguly and Dravid retired, it would take time for the middle-order to gel," said former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar.
"Number four position in Indian cricket has been with some of the greats. Whoever bats at number four, he is going to be under a lot of pressure and will have to live upto huge expectations," he added.
Another former India captain and Tendulkar's long-time teammate, Sourav Ganguly said the 40-year-old made the right decision by announcing his retirement before the start of the West Indies series.
"It's the right decision and he has done it at the right time. I am very happy that he has done it before the start of the series. I will request the people of this country to come for these Two Test matches, whether in Kolkata or Mumbai, just to show their respect to this great man," said Ganguly.
Mohammad Azharuddin, former captain and a lok Sabha MP, said Tendulkar's decision wasn't surprising. "It was coming for sure but I didn't have the clue as to when it was coming. But it's his decision and we must respect it. We should remember his playing career as something that always gave us joy and made us proud," he said.
"I first saw him during a Hyderabad versus Mumbai Ranji match where he batted well. And then saw his daredevilry against Abdul Qadir from the dressing room. A lot of people had talent but what made him different was passion," Azharuddin said.
Ganguly said India earned the respect of the cricketing world because of the way Tendulkar played against Australia, England and Pakistan overseas. "India earned the respect after 2000 because of the way he played overseas against Australia, England, Pakistan and other places around the world. He was instrumental in that. For me that is the biggest contribution."
Spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan called it a "bad day" for cricket. "I think it's a bad day for Indian cricket, world cricket as well. We won't see Sachin any more in the playing kit. He is retiring on his own terms," Muralitharan said.
"Definitely, we always wanted to have Sachin's wicket. Every opposition looks forward to getting him out. Most of the times, he had won the battle. He was such a great player. Difficult to single out any moment," the Sri lankan added.
Another ex-India skipper Kris Srikkanth said: "First of all hats off to a man who will be playing his 200 Tests and has 100 international centuries against his name. I was lucky to captain him during his debut tour. He came across as a calm and a composed person. The way he handled himself as a 16-year-old was amazing.
The best thing about him is he is the same old gentleman he was in 1989 given he has achieved great cricketing success."
Manoj Tiwary, who has been in and out of the Indian team due to various injuries, remembers how Tendulkar arranged for his shoulder surgery in UK back in 2007.
"I came back from Bangladesh with a shoulder dislocation and Paaji (that's how juniors in Indian team refer to him) was leaving for Test series. He enquired from local manager and called me up and asked about what I am doing with my rehab," Tiwary recollected.
"I said I was going to Mumbai to get a surgery done by Dr Anant Joshi. Paaji immediately spoke to Dr Andrew Wallace in london and arranged for an appointment and surgery. That was something I could never forget."