God of Cricket Sachin Tendulkar adds his legendary name to the North Texas cricket scene

RICHARDSON – Several dozen children – heights ranging from six feet to six feet tall – line up on the UT Dallas cricket field, forming a guard of honor as the sun slowly rises Sunday morning.

Many hold bats with anticipation. They all wear matching white shirts with the logo of the Dallas-based National Cricket League.

Why all the fuss? Sachin Tendulkar, the god of cricket, is about to enter the oval.

He's coming, he's coming! one child shouts.

The adults wait along the border, perhaps even more excitedly than the young people. Several jerseys of the Indian national team are spotted in the crowd. Both adults and children sing Sa-chin, Sa-chin, as The Little Master enters.

The singing is a common refrain when Tendulkar is on a field. Cricket venues in India are regularly filled with tens of thousands of people, but today only a few hundred greet the legendary batsman with the same passion.

Called the Michael Jordan of Cricket by the organizers, the name is not an exaggeration. Tendulkar, 51, played for India from 1989 to 2013 and is considered one of the greatest batsmen of all time in the world's second most popular sport. He is the all-time runs leader in international play with over 30,000 runs scored in Test matches and One Day Internationals (ODI).

He has almost 90 million combined Instagram and X followers. His celebrity rivals that of any modern American athlete. About 200 people attended on Sunday to catch a glimpse of the cricket legend.

Tendulkar is co-owner of the National Cricket League, which is playing its first Sixty Strikes tournament at UTD in Richardson. The university's cricket ground was revamped with lighting, stands and VIP suites to accommodate the event.

North Texas has been the epicenter of crickets' attempts to make a mark in the United States. The NCL is now the second emerging league to make the area its home base. Major League Cricket, a T20 professional league, played most of its inaugural season in Grand Prairie last summer.

Grand Prairie Stadium hosted T20 World Cup matches in June as a major international cricket tournament was played in the United States for the first time. The stadium was the site of the United States' massive victory over historic powerhouse Pakistan.

The NCL tournament started on October 4 and will end on Monday evening with Tendulkar presenting the championship trophy. Before the final match, Tendulkar appeared at the UTD oval to meet some fans and spend time with a group of young cricketers from North Texas.

I enjoy doing this, it reminds me of my childhood when I wanted to go on the field and hit the ball for as long as possible and enjoy cricket, Tendulkar said. That is the enthusiasm I experience now and enthusiasm leads to many good things in life. I could feel that energy there in all the children.

Tendulkar said the best part was seeing a strong contingent of young women cricketers. He praised their technical skills and said they were surprisingly good.

[Tendulkar] is the first player I knew when I started playing cricket, said 14-year-old Chinmayi Arivuselvan. My father is a big cricket fan and he loves him.

Arivuselvan said it was a great opportunity that Tendulkar came to spend time with them. At one point, she was batting when Tendulkar came up and gave her a few words of encouragement.

He said: 'I like your grip and the way you play. You are doing very well, Arivuselvan recalled with a big smile. That felt great coming from him.

The interaction was one of many for Tendulkar on Sunday morning. He spent about 35 minutes talking to the kids and giving advice as they played. He also got involved and bowled the ball to some players.

Tendulkar, who attended the Red River Rivalry at the Cotton Bowl on Saturday, said this weekend was his first time in Dallas. He added that he is excited about the future of the NCL and the accelerated Sixty Strikes format, led by NCL chairman Arun Agarwal.

When my team spoke to Arun, we felt this was the right place to start a new journey from here, Tendulkar said. We are trying to globalize the sport and since it will be part of the Olympic Games in 2028, it starts from here.