Sachin Tendulkar turns 35 on Thursday.
The ace batsman, who holds a plethora of records in Test and limited-overs' cricket, had an excellent year despite injuries stalking him. He scored 117 not out and 91 in the two finals in the Commonwealth Bank series last month as India won the prestigious tournament in Australia -- arguably the glorious moment of his career.
He also emerged the highest scorer in the one-day series against England (away) and Australia (at home) last year, and in Test cricket too was impressive in Bangladesh and good against England and Pakistan.
He has, on a few occasions, talked of playing through to 2011, but that seems more in the line of wishful thinking. But it is his greatness that ensures he is still the country's most talked about player, even at 35.
Join rediff.com in greeting the Mumbai batsman on his birthday. May the year ahead be full of runs and success.