new delhi having stayed at the top of their game for more than two decades both sachin tendulkar and mithali raj are epitome of excellence and longevity in world cricketwhile tendulkar made people fall in love with the game mithali became the first superstar of womens cricket in indiahowever self doubt can creep even in the minds of greats like tendulkar and mithaliread alsothis is the only 50 where i dont feel 50 sachin tendulkarsachin tendulkar is nothing if not a man of milestones he just had to get to another 50 even though he retired ten years ago and this one feels different to the 68 halfcenturies he has scored in tests the 96 he cracked in odis the 116 he smashed in firstclass cricket and the 114 in list afor ricky ponting sachin tendulkar is technically the best batter he has ever seenthrough the generation that i played he was technically the best player that i saw ricky ponting has never seen a batter who had a way to counter every tactic the opposition captain or bowler used against himbloody nose when bantoo singh was hit by a sachin tendulkar bouncersachin tendulkar has scarred many bowlers for life with his imperious batting but bantoo singh saw the spirit of curtly ambrose in little master when he was hit by his bouncer that left him with a bloody nose with multiple fractures during an illtempered ranji match between delhi and mumbai inahead of tendulkars 50th birthday mithali spoke to pti about her first interaction with him the influence he had on her batting and on how a chat with the master blaster before the 2017 womens world cup helped reinvent her gamei still remember our conversation before the 2017 world cup in england after a group conversation i had a oneonone chat with him i wanted to ask him how he was able to have such a long career and how he had to reinvent himself to face new bowlers of the younger generation mithali saidwhen you have such a long career every generation has stand out bowlers i wanted to know how he kept up with that as you age people start talking about your footwork getting slower you are picking the line and length late and you are not quick on the balli wanted to know how he managed to overcome all that and be on top of his game he did give suggestions and i tried to put that into training said mithali who ended up amassing 409 runs in the 2017 world cup and captained india to the finalthough india came up short in the final it was a path breaking result as it revolutionised womens cricket in the countrymithali recollected that she and tendulkar did not talk a lot about technique as the conversation was mainly about the mental side of the gamewe did not talk in depth about technique as everyone has different techniques as a senior pro after playing for so long