Tendulkar's career is something that perhaps the 90s kids do not completely comprehend, or can't completely comprehend. He started out in 1988 basically in terms of playing the highest class of players in India. Then the 89 Pak tour, and the Qadir thing, and the England tour and the 92 WC (which he played, and which, again, is never spoken about much, perhaps because he gave his wicket away on several occasions trying to get quick runs down the order). By the end of 92, he was considered by the 80 greats to be firmly a member of their times. All those who were in the same position as Sachin during that time (Ambrose, Wasim, Waqar, Walsh) were all gone by the early 2000s. That is why Tendulkar seems freaky to guys like Botham, Hadlee, Imran (and Marshall too had he been alive), and to the fans who grew up watching 80s cricket. To think this guy traversed across the T20 carnivals is just an amazing thought. To think he led Mumbai Indians to glory is just mind-boggling to the 90s brigade who, till now, see it as the "weird new thing" (because they never got to be a part of it), but Sachin lived it all for them, on their behalf, echoing the greats of the 80s and 90s when he was able to successfully integrate into the post-modern game. If he hadn't been there, I am sure a lot of us (at least me) would have felt that this thing (T20 and the new rules) was just going overboard. But by adapting himself, by his calm presence through all this, Sachin helped everyone ease into it because hey, there is this guy from our generation who seems to be having no problems with how things are going! I guess I am rambling a bit now, but he is more than a bridge. He is a big-ass toll highway.