Your real strength is that you have been able to motivate the next generation: Sachin Tendulkar's message to Virat Kohli

India has been a nation where religions have driven emotions harder than facts or figures. When you talk about religions in India, cricket is one that brings all of us together and has seen timely revolutions forging Gods and demons alike, and has always been a major driving force for the nation and the youth.

The faces of the Gods have changed from time to time but the concepts have been similar, and most importantly, they have been glorious. When Sunil Gavaskar stepped down from the mantle, India was haunted by life’s most intimidating question, who’s next? A 16-year old kid was on the rise but pinning the hopes of the entire nation on his blade, even a fool would know to do better than that.

Turn the clock by a few years and the same 16-year-old was riding on the tide of unparalleled excellence where the bowlers were being peppered left, right and center. Straight drives, hooks, pulls, upper-cuts, cover drives, and whatnot, that 16-year-old kid probably had an arsenal more bloated than any other batter on the face of the planet.

A couple of decades down the line when that same 16-year-old kid was about to hang his boots once and for all, the entire world boomed his name louder than ever, a few frenetic about the fact that the throne of God would never be occupied again, a few gloomy of an apprehension that how would Indian batting survive the SENA massacres and a few with tears at the corner of their eyes, praying desperately that the void gets filled someday.

If the departure of Sachin Tendulkar from the fabric of Indian cricket was one of the most emotional moments for the Indian fans, if the screams of “Sachin, Sachin” in the stands felt like a national cricketing anthem, the Virat storm was about to sweep it all clean.

From the loud concourses vociferously prancing to their heart’s content to those ecstatic cover drives, to the entire nation mourning the dismissal of Virat every single time he fell short of a century, King Kohli became a global phenomenon.

A void left by Sachin was filled with even brighter colors where Virat would smack anyone and everyone to every single nook and cranny of the park. Even though the recent times have been very unkind to the man who redefined batting with an unprecedented blend of aggression and calm, the feats that he has already racked up will remain embossed in golden letters in the rusty pages of cricketing history.

As Virat approaches a huge milestone in his cricketing career with only eleven Indians to have racked this up previously, there was a message from God himself for the former Indian captain. Sachin Tendulkar opened up about how he felt during his own hundredth Test and what he recalls of his conversation with Virat Kohli in the early days.

“Hey Virat, congratulations on your hundredth Test appearance for India. What a terrific achievement! I remember the first time I heard about you. It was when we were in Australia in 2007. You guys were playing the U19 World Cup in Malaysia. That is when certain players in the team who mentioned you. They said that this is one player to watch out for. ‘Achchi batting karti hai’ (He bats well),” said the legend.

Even though the Tests didn’t go India’s way, it was Sachin’s spirited display that helped India claim the CB series for the first time, vanquishing the hosts Down Under on that tour.

He recounted the times when the duo spent time together. Shedding light on those rare moments of dual brilliance, Sachin said, “You were good at learning things. You wanted to keep working on your game and continued to keep getting better. Your strength was to grasp things quickly.”

He also talked about another moment where the two icons of the future and the past met. Apparently, Sachin and Kohli were walking back from a restaurant in Canberra where Virat told the Little Master about focusing on his fitness. Sachin added further, “I have to say that you left no stones unturned. You’ve been a terrific role model as far as fitness is concerned.”

Tendulkar continued, “Cricketing numbers, that’s a different story altogether for you. It’s for the whole world to see. It’s been fantastic to watch you over the years. Numbers will always have their own story. But your real strength is that you have been able to motivate the next generation. That’s your immense contribution to Indian cricket. That is something, which I would say is your real success.”

The master concluded by wishing, “I wish you many more happy cricketing years. Go out and do well. Good luck.”