Mumbai batsmanship is all about hundreds

As a former Mumbai captain I dare say the relevance of a hundred over the years has been best understood by a Mumbai batsman ... In an age where coaching was uncomplicated in Mumbai, batsmanship was measured by one's ability to score a hundred. Coaches, more often than not, kept the script very simple: If you were to attract eyeballs, a hundred was your most productive route. One heard of revered coaches in the Gavaskar era and later, hammer the importance of a hundred.

Cricket is a potent idiom of Indian life and cricketers have traditionally been heroes. But nobody has inspired so much sentiment. Tendulkar has been gladiator, saviour and loveable boy next door making him a mythical character, which is obviously flawed. As his travails of the past year have shown, he is all too human in his desires, self-doubts and in coping with an ageing body.