Winning Padma Vibhushan is dream realised: Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar may have won countless awards but the master batsman on Saturday said all those trophies pale in comparison to India's second highest civilian honour, the Padma Vibhushan.

"I have won many awards and trophies but this is right at the top," Tendulkar said after the third day's play in the ongoing fourth and final Test against Australia. "I came to know about it yesterday through my wife. I was extremely excited by it but since I was in the middle of the match, it was important to keep my focus on the game," he added.Tendulkar said being conferred the second highest civilian honour was like a dream realised for him. "It's truly a great honour to accept this award as this is recognized by the government of India. I have played for so many years and when government of India recognises your effort, gives you the second highest civilian award in the country, it's very, very special," he gushed."It means a lot to me to get this award alongside such great personalities. It's truly something which I can only dream of," he said.

The champion batsman also congratulated the other awardees."I want to take this opportunity to congratulate other awardees. It's fantastic to be in the same list," he said.Tendulkar was among five other top sportspersons, including chess Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand, to have been selected for the Padma awards yesterday.

Dropped catch of VVS Laxman led Gilchrist to retirement

It's a sad day for cricket. Wicketkeeping will never be the same again. The explosive Adam Gilchrist,who on more than a few occasions absolutely tore apart bowling attacks all over the world has announced his retirement from cricket at the end of the ongoing series against India.

Apparently,a dropped catch off VVS Laxman in the ongoing fourth and final Test against India is reportedly the moment when Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist decided, "it was time" to bid adieu to his illustrious career.

According to a report in the Daily Telegraph, the affable stumper was inclined to continue for another year before the dropped catch made him think otherwise.

"Gilchrist entered the Test firmly committed that he would play on for another year. But a dropped catch off VVS Laxman was the moment when he realised that he no longer had the concentration required for Test cricket," the daily revealed.

Gilchrist was having a rather ordinary time behind the stumps in the ongoing series and critics had been having a go at him for his mistakes.

The opener had brushed aside the criticism saying he was only human and nobody had an inkling that retirement announcement was on his mind.

His decision stunned everybody from teammates to Cricket Australia but family and close confidantes said the left-hander had been mulling over it for some time.

Gilchrist's father, Stan, said he was not all that shocked by the sudden announcement.

"It wasn't really a surprise ... It's been a while coming," Stan, who would be reaching here on Sunday to watch his son's Test swan song, said.

Sachin Tendulkar & Roger Federer together!!!

If reports are to be believed,then we may soon see the Numero Uno's of Tennis and Cricket together in an advertisement for a social cause. Apparently the Swiss Government has spoken to the BCCI regarding their plan to get Sachin Tendulkar and Roger Federer together in a commercial. Expectedly Sachin is thrilled at the prospect. So after seeing Rahul Dravid along with Roger Federer and others including Tiger Woods,Thierry Henry in the Gillette commercial, it's time for the best batsman in the world to team up with Fedex!!

Here's the detailed report.

The government of Switzerland and National Basketball Association of US have approached the BCCI for using Sachin Tendulkar and some other Indian cricketers for furthering social causes through advertisements.

"The Swiss government approached us and wanted Sachin to do an ad with (world's number one men's tennis player) Roger Federer for a social cause. Sachin was thrilled and agreed to it immediately", said BCCI CEO Prof Ratnakar Shetty here.

"The NBA has also approached us and wants to utilise our players' services for furthering social causes," Shetty added on the sidelines of a media conference last night to announce Boost Under-17 Cricket Cup tournament for school children.

"We, in the Mumbai Cricket Association (of which Shetty is the treasrer), had taken a policy not to allow juniors to play limited overs cricket but have relaxed it for this tournament since it's to be run on an all-India basis and we did not want Mumbai schools to be denied an opportunity to become all-India champions," Shetty said.

"In fact the BCCI has decided to scrap some junior age group tournaments and conduct a schools tournament instead. The board wants to hold events for only under 16 and under 19 age groups instead of for under 15, 17 and 19 as at present," he explained.

The January 30-February 15 Boost Cup tournament, to be organised jointly by MCA and the Mumbai Schools Sports Association, will have 30 teams from Mumbai and Thane districts with the winners advancing to the Inter-City Challenge featuring teams from 18 cities and towns around the country.