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It is fitting that Tendulkar and Kumble have achieved such significant milestones within 2 days of each other, as the 2 are the seniormost members of the side. Congratulations to both of them and hope they go on to achieve greater success.

There is a lot I would like to say about both. In fact, there is so much that I am at a loss as to where I should begin. Let me be honest. I am not the greatest fan of Tendulkar, definitely not the Tendulkar of the last 5 years. However, when statistics stand tall like a mountain it is difficult not to acknowledge them: hence I salute his achievement.

It is pretty much the other way round with Kumble. Up until recently, I was not the biggest fan of him. But his performances in the last 2 years or so have changed all that. The way he has fought back to become the leading spinner once again is amazing. Kumble is a true champion. Unlike Sachin, his success is something all of us can aspire to emulate.

In a nation obsessed with batting, once again Tendulkar's achievement stole the limelight like it has done over the last 15 years when the 2 have performed in parallel. In fact, Kumble has been a much bigger match-winner, but never the superstar. There was no reason for it to be different here. Although I was hoping there would be a little more appreciation this time, like Gavaskar was there for Tendulkar. True, Kapil Dev did send in his congratulatory messages when Kumble equalled his record, but there was hardly a whisper here when he went past it. I completely expected the loquacious Bishen Singh Bedi to keep mum; the jealous and grumpy old grouch that he is: but I expected the others like Prasanna, Chandrashekhar and Venkat to come out and give Kumble the recognition as India's greatest ever bowler that he has so well-deserved.

Maybe it so happens that the equalizer is often more dramatic than the winner. Remember when Kapil equalled Hadlee at Bangalore there was such a celebration, but when he crossed him at Ahmedabad, it was a much more muted affair. When Sachin scored his 17th ODI hundred, it was a grand occasion at the Premadasa, but his 18th was pretty low-key; I doubt however that his 35th hundred (if it comes against Pakistan, in particular) will be low-key.

I wanted to provide links to some of the best articles that celebrate these achievements; but there are too many so I just suggest you visit http://www.cricinfo.com and follow them up