‘The Main Man’: Rio Ferdinand’s Ultimate Praise For Sachin Tendulkar – News18

Last Updated:January 06, 2025, 2:19 PM IST

Rio Ferdinand has shared his love and respect for the Master Blaster on Ranveer Allahbadia’s podcast.

Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has expressed his admiration for cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar. Ferdinand, who was speaking to YouTuber and fitness influencer Ranveer Allahbadia on his podcast, has shared his love and respect for the Master Blaster. The clip opens to Ranveer asking, “Do you remember any Indian cricketers from that phase.” To this, the former footballer said, “Tendulkar (Sachin). He’s the guy, isn’t it? Tendulkar’s the guy. That’s the main, the main man. Who’s the other one? Is it (Virat) Kohli? I don’t know many but Tendulkar just always stood out to me. He’s the most charismatic and obviously what he achieved as well was like that was worldwide recognition. It’s not just cricket fans that hear about someone like him. And that’s someone that transcends the sport.”

The video has spread like wildfire on social media. It has clocked 184k views so far. Fans have made a bee-line to the comments section to share their excitement.

“If Cricket is a religion, Sachin Tendulkar is the God” was the sentiment online.

A fan said, “Imagine (Sachin) Tendulkar in today’s era, he could have been more popular than Virat Kohli.”

“Sachin is the goat but the amount of people disrespecting Kohli after achieving as much as he has is ridiculous, this really tells u how bad times can help u distinguish the real fans and glory hunters, forever with the king,” read a comment.

A user said, “This is called legacy. Sir Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.”

Talking about Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar’s contribution, a fan said, “Kohli is a great player that India produced over the years but Tendulkar is God. No one can replace him in cricket.”

One of the greatest players ever to grace the field of cricket, Sachin Tendulkar announced his retirement from the international stage in 2013. He represented India in 200 Tests, 463 ODIs and one T20I.

Sachin Tendulkar holds the record for the most number of centuries scored in international cricket. Tendulkar has 100 tons to his name across three formats in international cricket. In Tests, he scored 51 centuries while in the 50-over format, the legendary Indian cricketer bagged 49 hundreds. He has also scored the highest number of runs (34357) in international cricket.

Meanwhile, Rio Ferdinand announced his retirement from football in 2015. Ferdinand brought an end to his glorious career having won six Premier League titles, a Champions League, three League Cups, UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup. Ferdinand had a memorable stint at Manchester United having spent time at Old Trafford from 2002 until 2014.