April 6, 2011, 11:12 PM
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Administrator
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Join Date: January 22, 2004
Posts: 22,100
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In Tendulkar Country: A marvelous write-up by Wright Thomson on ESPN
http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine...ml?CMP=OTC-RSS
In Tendulkar country
An American writer new to cricket experiences the first couple of weeks of the World Cup, navigating the madness of a billion fans and chasing the soul of the game
Wright Thompson
April 7, 2011
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Blanket coverage: nowhere in India can you escape ads featuring Tendulkar © Associated Press
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DHAKA, Bangladesh - The guy walking across the parking lot is famous. That's easy to tell from the reactions. Crowds part for him. Security guards mirror his every step. Other cricketers who made this same trip to the locker room tiptoed around the puddles. He strides over them, head up, confident. I am following an Indian cricket superstar, but I don't know who he is. That's the kind of trip this is going to be - one of constant confusion and mystery.
He's not a big man, but he's got a big aura. Fans climb the stadium wall, cheek to cheek, pressed against openings to catch a glimpse. The player looks up at the apartment buildings crowding the other side of the street, like a zoo animal in reverse, all the residents leaning over to get a peek. He waves his bat at the kids on the wall. The kids scream with joy. I grab a photographer and point.
Who is that?
He looks at me like I've got three heads.
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