The Great Game Called Cricket...

New Delhi: Cricket fraternity hailed Sachin Tendulkar for becoming the first batsman in the history of one-day cricket to smash a double century, describing the feat as an incredible achievement.

Accolades also came from none other than India’s President Pratibha Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

"Sachin Tendulkar has yet again re-written the record books of cricket, by climbing yet another Mt Everest of the game," Patil said in a message.

She said in setting a new benchmark for the highest score by a batsman in one-day internationals as well as in notching up a double century, "the master batsman has set stiff targets" for future generation of cricketers to break.

Terming it a "magnificent achievement", the Prime Minister said that Sachin has led by "example and that all Indians are proud of his achievement".

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar said Tendulkar has established himself as the greatest batsman ever.

"There is just no question about that. He is the greatest batsman the game has ever seen," Gavaskar gushed.

"See his record! Who else has got 90-plus centuries, 17000-plus runs in ODIs and 13000-plus runs in Test cricket? He is comfortably the greatest batsman ever," said Gavaskar.

Gavaskar, meanwhile, advised Tendulkar not to stop here. "He should aim for more. Maybe a Test innings of 450 or a ODI knock of 250. And then he himself wants to win next year's World Cup," said the batting legend.

"There is a little boy in Tendulkar who wants to keep playing. That spirit keeps him going. It's absolutely incredible how he keeps going. A lot of others with his record would have had called it enough. But I guess there is no word called enough in Tendulkar's dictionary," said Gavaskar, whom Tendulkar often looks upto.

"I think he should go for the triple century in Test cricket. This is something he doesn't have but he is very capable of. This is well within his reach and he should go for it," Gavaskar said.

Former Test player Bapu Nadkarni found it difficult to find words to describe the feats of Tendulkar and said, "Whatever record is seen to be impossible to achieve, he makes it possible. That's all I can say. It seems as he's getting older, he is becoming more and more mature. No wonder Sir Donald Bradman saw himself in the way Sachin bats," Nadkarni said.

Spin legend Shane Warne, who enjoyed many a duel with Tendulkar, followed the innings and kept posting on his Twitter page, egging the Indian to achieve the milestone.

"(I'm) nervous for my good friend Sachin," Warne posted as Tendulkar approached 200.

"Come on Sachin my friend get your 200. World record to please! You deserve it," he said.

Once Tendulkar reached the milestone, the former player posted "Yes, yes, yes! Well done Sachin my friend. Congrats and well done! (It's) awesome."

Former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar paid rich tribute to Tendulkar, saying it was an incredible feat that spoke volumes of the batting master's toughness.

"It's an amazing feat to get 200 in a day and that too off only 147 balls," Vengsarkar said. It shows his mental and physical toughness. He's a player who does not throw away his wicket once he's set. He always places a huge price on his wicket," Vengsarkar said.

Indian Premier League commissioner Lalit Modi also lavished praise on Tendulkar, calling him the greatest sportsman.

"Sachin - the greatest ever player - without any doubt," the IPL boss wrote on his Twitter page.

"I salute Sachin...world's greatest sportsman. We can see him only rise. (He is an) inspiration to us all. He is the best," Modi said.

Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara also paid his tribute. "What an innings it was! He came close to achieving it twice. I always felt that Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya are capable of doing that," Sangakkara said.

Former Pakistan captain Javed Miandad said he was always convinced of Tendulkar's greatness and stands vindicated.

"He is my favourite player. I had told that one day he would go on to break all batting records and now you see him scoring runs and runs," Miandad said.

Another former Pakistan captain Aamer Sohail attributed Tendulkar's success to his humility.

"I think if you ask Saeed Anwar (who jointly held the previous record for highest ODI knock), he would say he's happy that Tendulkar broke his record," Sohail said.

"The reason for his success is that he has a great respect for the game," Sohail reasoned.