Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, the very name inspires confidence in the dressing room and creates headaches in the opposition camp.

The sporting icon for millions in India and abroad, arguably the most popular Indian after Mahatma Gandhi, is very calm and composed and down to earth.

He lives with an expectation that no other sporting icon has to bear,  be it David Beckham, Tiger Woods, Roger Federer or Ricky Ponting. His successes are celebrated by a billion Indians and his failures sadden a nation.

'The fact that Tendulkar is not playing means that India are sure to miss out on two more trophies'


A small example of this can be found in the IPL, where even away matches draw large crowds - whenever Sachin comes to town he gets the biggest cheers confirming his status as the superstar of  Indian sport.

He has been the perfect role model whose performances on the field do the talking.

Tendulkar's performance in the IPL and Twenty20 in general have not been great. But does that mean he is out of form, or just that he is not the master blaster that is required in this form of the game? As a huge fan of Sachin, I despair to find that he is not in the squad for the tri-series in Bangladesh nor the Asia Cup.

The reason for his dismissal is obvious - it's the IPL. Had he been scoring tons he would have been at the top of the teamsheet to guide the team as he did in Australia.

He might also have been a victim of the senior-junior debate as is evident by the fact that both Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid  have been left out despite powerful IPL performances. The fact that Tendulkar is not playing means that India are sure to miss out on two more trophies.

Only Tendulkar could have stopped the Rajasthan Royals juggernaut, Pakistan taking the tri-series and Sri Lanka the Asia Cup.