Mayank Lodha

E-Commerce Professional || Ex Consultant
Twitter Interests : Economics, Finance, Cricket, Politics & Memes

[Misty Sinha @naive_shrewd]

On a wall inside one of Tendulkar restaurants in Mumbai—quietly rests an old Australian ODI jersey from the early 2000s, signed by the late Andrew Symonds as a gift to Sachin Tendulkar.

But it’s not the jersey that stays with you. It’s the line on it- “To Sachin, the man we all want to be”

Because it doesn’t read like admiration from one cricketer to another. It's something an entire generation felt but never quite knew how to say.

There was a time when happiness in India had a simple condition—
Sachin should still be batting,
everything else could wait

It’s difficult to explain now, how a country so vast and layered in its differences,could arrive at one emotion at the same time. But it did. Every time he walked out to bat, life paused just a little

Those 100 centuries and over 34,000 runs won't explain why his wicket felt personal.
Why a straight drive could quietly fix your day.
Why his batting was sometimes all the assurance you needed.

Because what he built was never just a career.
It was a connection

At a time when India was still learning how to believe in itself on the global stage, he gave it a presence. Not loud, not forceful—just quietly undeniable.And slowly, the world began to respect us.

Opponents didn’t just plan for him—they measured themselves against him. Bowlers came harder, fields got tighter, plans got sharper. But even in the middle of that battle, there was always an acknowledgment from opponents that they were up against someone rare.

But then all this on field dominance comes from stories behind camera—less told, but more revealing.
Of him turning up hours before training, just to face throwdowns until it felt right. Of carrying injuries but choosing discipline over drama. Of playing through pain not to prove a point, but because stepping away felt harder than continuing.

And somewhere along the way, that commitment didn’t just shape his career—it reshaped Indian cricket itself.

Stadiums filled differently. Broadcasts grew bigger. The economy around Indian cricket expanded—not because of victories, but because people believed there was always something worth watching when he was there. He didn’t just play the game; he made millions invest emotionally in it.

What makes his story even more rare is how it stretches across time itself.
The generation before him admired him.
The generation with him relied on him.
The generation after him grew up in cricket stadiums because of him.
And the ones still arriving continue to carry him with them—sometimes in technique, sometimes in temperament, but always in belief.

Very few in sport exist like that—across decades, formats, and changing definitions of greatness—they still remain the focal point.

His impact isn’t pompous, it lives in quieter spaces. In conversations where belief returns because of advice and because of who it came from.

You hear it in stories of Sanju Samson or Shefali Verma- their cricket still carries the imprint of a childhood spent watching him. It goes beyond cricket too. In someone like Neeraj Chopra choosing him as his favourite sportsperson or a Praggnanandha pinning on a praise from Sachin as something worth flexing.

He doesn’t just inspire from a distance.
He reaches you.

Today, the game is louder. Faster. Bigger.
Records will be chased and surpassed. New names will rise.

But that one feeling—that collective pause, before he took the strike-it belongs to him. Because there are a few, very few, who become a part of how you remember life itself.

And maybe that’s why, no matter how far the game moves forward, it somehow keeps circling back to him.

Happy Birthday, Sachin! 
@sachin_rt
You'll live
in every young dream that dares a little more,
in every straight drive that still feels like poetry,
in every moment when a billion hearts pause at you without knowing why!

Not in scorecards.
Not in highlights.
But in something far more lasting.

In memory.
In habit.
In belief.

And that’s the legacy none would match.

[Narendra Modi @narendramodi]

Spoke with President of the UAE, my brother Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Strongly condemned the attacks on the UAE and condoled the loss of lives in these attacks. India stands in solidarity with the UAE in these difficult times.

Thanked him for taking care of the Indian community living in the UAE. We support de-escalation, regional peace, security and stability.

@MohamedBinZayed

[pushpa @pushp1729]

@ffspari @RanveerOfficial This one, my WhatsApp status on the day of release

[Vinayakk @vinayakkm]

If you listened to Gautam Gambhir's press conference, you might come out of it with a feeling of guilt, thinking you were also personally responsible for India losing 0-3 against New Zealand and 0-2 against South Africa. 😅

[Mumbai Indians @mipaltan]

Between his first and last steps… lies 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐄𝐑𝐀 💙

[Narendra Modi @narendramodi]

My address to the nation. https://t.co/OmgbHSmhsi

[Mayank Lodha @mayank_l18]

@NaeemahBenjamin @grok what did he say??

[Abhinav A. Bindra OLY @Abhinav_Bindra]

17 years ago, a medal was placed around my neck, but it truly belonged to a nation 🇮🇳 . It was built on the love of my parents, the wisdom of my coaches, and the belief of countless people who stood beside me.
My hope has always been that the gold shone far beyond that podium, lighting the way for every Indian athlete who dares to dream.

[Annurag P Rekhi @Dravidict]

You present Gill's stats at his age and you see there is Tendulkar still ahead of him. You present Jasiwal's stats at his age and you still see Tendulkar ahead of him.

Eras have come & gone, new have begun but the platinum standard is still the same. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. This quote by Lara doesn't get spoken enough 👇🏻

[cricBC @cricBC]

The fun part of being an Indian cricket fan is how it always allows you to look ahead. Even as Sachin was still playing, we had reasons to be excited about Rohit/Virat. When Virat was still playing, we had Gill/Pant/Jaiswal. Right now, we already have an era of Abhishek, Vaibhav ahead of us.

Don't ruminate over the past, the future is always exciting in Indian cricket.

[Mayank Lodha @mayank_l18]

Should they decide to give Trump the Nobel and it leads to de-escalation, the Nobel Committee can award themselves the Nobe Peace Prize !!

[KolkataKnightRiders @KKRiders]

“𝘓𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘚𝘪𝘮𝘣𝘢, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘥𝘰𝘮” 🦁🇿🇦

[Broken Cricket Dreams Cricket Blog @cricket_broken]

This is for Graeme Smith.
This is for Shaun Pollock.
This is for Graeme Pollock.
This is for Lance Klusener.
This is for Dale Steyn.
This is for Shabnim Ismail.
This is for Allan Donald.
This is for AB de Villiers.
This is for Laura Wolvaardt.
This is for Hashim Amla.
This is for Jacques Kallis.
This is for Faf du Plessis.
This is for Dane van Niekerk.
This is for Makhaya Ntini.
This is for Morne Morkel.
This is for Barry Richards.
This is for Marizanne Kapp.
This is for Hansie Cronje.
This is for David Miller.
This is for Heinrich Klaasen.
This is for Sune Luus.
This is for Chloe Tryon.
This is for Vernon Philander.
This is for Kyle Abbott.
This is for Quinton de Kock.
This is for Imran Tahir.
This is for JP Duminy.
This is for Mike Procter.
This is for Aubrey Faulkner.
This is for Lizelle Lee.
This is for Gary Kirsten.
This is for Jonty Rhodes.
This is for Mark Boucher.
This is for Dean Elgar.
This is for Kepler Wessels.
This is for Herschelle Gibbs @hershybru
This is for every cricketer that played a part in the beautiful cricketing history of the Rainbow nation 🇿🇦

And this is for each and every Protea fan out there supporting there teams for years and years in highs and lows.

This is for you. And this is for me.
What an absolute moment for World Cricket. @SabeehaMajid @gpricey23

[Mayank Lodha @mayank_l18]

SA win an ICC Event after years of heartbreak. Beautiful Sporting Moment.

This is for Mcmillan in '92, Donald and Klusener in '99, Boucher and Pollock in '03, Smith and Faf in '11, ABD and Steyn in '15. Hopefully now the chokers tag can be forgotten.

[Roland-Garros @rolandgarros]

The greatest ever to grace our clay.

#RolandGarros

[Roland-Garros @rolandgarros]

The greatest there was.
The greatest there is.
The greatest there ever will be.

#RolandGarros

[Rafa Nadal @RafaelNadal]

Merci, @rolandgarros! I will never forget this amazing day! 🥹

[Buggy Human @SridharanAnand]

Medieval times must have been crap for civilized people.

One group happy to grow wheat and do maths. Another, so deranged that they're willing to ride horse and live in putrid camp for months, risking death. One fine morning, 10,000 such psychos land up at in-gate of fort and you've to give up maths for sword.

Grateful pendulum has swung 180 in modern times. Now, folks who figured out equation of parabola and feedback control systems can take out psychos from a safe distance. All without taking a break from maths.

[Mangalam Maloo @blitzkreigm]

Will tell my kids and grandkids I watched both these generations :)

[Sachin Tendulkar @sachin_rt]

AI-sa kuch trend ho raha hai, maine suna. Toh socha, what if Ghibli made cricket?