Sachin Tendulkar Discusses Life After Retirement, Best Moment, Being a Hero

There isn't one person in India who doesn't know who Sachin Tendulkar is. In fact, there probably isn't one person in India who doesn't know at least one fact about the legendary cricketer. His impact on the game of cricket and all of Indian culture has a whole cannot be quantified.

His career lasted 24 years, playing in a record 200 Tests, scoring 15,921 runs, and 463 ODIs with 18,426 runs. His longevity and efficiency make him the best.

Tendulkar spoke exclusively with BBC Sport, discussing a wide range of topics. "Life after retirement is hectic, but I'm enjoying it. I'm getting to know a different side of life. For 24 years I was focusing on cricket and nothing else. I feel the 1st innings of my life was playing cricket and chasing my own dream- and the dream was to win the World Cup. The 2nd innings of my life, the post cricketing years, is to try and give back something[..]"

"To win the World Cup was my dream. I was patient. I didn't want to wait for 22 years to lift the trophy. We came close a couple of times. Finally, 2011 was a golden moment for me in my career. That is the best moment I experienced in my career. To be able to stand there in the middle of the ground with the entire nation celebrating and dancing, I can barely describe how excited I was. To put it into words is just not possible."

"I consider myself fortunate the people like me, people love me. It's a special thing. I'm blessed I think. God has been kind to me. I don't want to take anything for granted. I am only thankful to everyone for being so kind to me and it's never enough. I'm no cricketing god. I've made lots of mistakes on the field. I've loved playing cricket, but I'm normal Sachin and that's how it should be."