[Neel Here]

the maestro with his biggest fan. this picture brought a tear to my eyes.
accompanying article.

Sachin Tendulkar holds aloft the World Cup with one of his long-time fans, Sudhir Gautam, April 2, 2011
A moment to cherish: Sachin Tendulkar celebrates with one of his longtime fans, Sudhir Gautam ©

Sachin Tendulkar walked out of the changing room and gestured to Sudhir Gautam to come up. Gautam is the thin man with the shaven head - for the past few weeks adorned with a replica of the World Cup - and body covered in the Indian tri-colour. For at least half a decade now, Gautam has been Tendulkar's biggest fan, waving the Indian flag and blowing his conch shell at every venue Tendulkar plays. Today, Tendulkar decided to repay Gautam for his devotion.

No sooner had he realised that Tendulkar was calling, than Gautam jumped the electronic advertising hoarding and skipped up the 30-odd stairs on to the corridor of the Indian changing room. All through his short journey he screamed in delight. Tendulkar shook hands with him, then embraced him and finally asked one of his team-mates to get the World Cup trophy. Zaheer Khan brought the cup outside with utmost care and held it tight. Gautam almost snatched it out of his hands but Zaheer held on. Eventually Zaheer let go and Gautam lifted the Cup with both hands, screaming "India". Tendulkar could not help but smile; he started clapping and was joined by a few of his team-mates. The sweat on Tendulkar's face glistened under the floodlights, enhancing his joy of winning the World Cup .