Global media pays tribute to the master: After Sachin, what?

[caption id=“attachment_1233041” align=“alignright” width=“380”]  Tendulkar walks out after his final innings. Image courtesy BCCI[/caption] As the Little Master played his last and 200th Test match in Mumbai, the Sachin mania was not limited to India. Not only were there fans and well-wishers flying in from across the world, but the international media too played glowing tributes to Tendulkar and his legacy. Tendulkar, in an emotional speech on Saturday, said that the 24 years of his cricketing journey have been very special. “My life between 22 yards for 24 years. It is hard to believe that the journey is coming to an end,” he said. Websites such as  CNN.com in the US and The Australian, as well as UK’s Guardian and BBC Sports continued to headline Sachin, focusing on his emotional farewell yesterday at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai. Here’s a roundup of what the international media said about Sachin in their headlines today:

Author and politician Shashi Tharoor wrote in the BBC about how India and its cricket will cope with life without him:

“Five decades ago, as India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, began visibly ailing, the nation and the world were consumed by the question: “After Nehru, who?” The inexpressible fear lay in the subtext to the question: “After Nehru, what?” Today, cricket-crazy India and lovers of the sport across the world find themselves asking a similar question, in the same hushed and anxious tones, “After Tendulkar, who?” and indeed, about India, “After Tendulkar, what?” Ian Chadband of The Telegraph wrote about the Sachin, Sachin chant that was ringing out all over India. “Especially ‘Sachin, Sachin!’ That will reverberate in my ears until I stop breathing.” Beautiful! He had given them their final cue. On this unforgettable Saturday lunchtime in Mumbai, a 32,000-strong chorus once more broke into their incessant signature chant, with “Saaachiiin! Saaachiiin!” rising up so deafeningly that you swore it could be heard all over the land from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. It was so loud this time, they could not have heard his final “Goodbye!” but nobody was ready to let him go.” The Guardian said that an era came to an end on Saturday. “There was a pause, as tens of thousands in the stadium and hundreds of millions around the nation realised that the moment they had long known was coming had finally arrived,” it noted. The paper also had some words to describe the Little Master. “Crucially, despite stardom, wealth and success, Tendulkar remained humble, professional and grounded, a self-made man who put in the hours. This, as well as his aggressive domination of international star bowlers, was key to his popularity,” it noted. Al Jazeera also focussed on the cricketing legend’s tearful farewll. “Sachin Tendulkar wept as he left the pitch for the final time after his 200th Test match, ending a glittering career spanning nearly a quarter of a century,” it noted. _The Australian’_s headline said, ‘Teary Tendulkar bows out of Test cricket’. “Tendulkar embraced team-mates as the Test against the West Indies ended but, as they tried to give him a guard of honour on his way off the ground, the most prolific batsman in international cricket history rushed past them, quickly making his way into the pavilion, wiping away tears.”