Roll back the years. Imagine it's the weekend. India is playing Australia in an ODI match. They are batting first and Sachin is opening the innings for the Men in Blue.

That last sentence must have brought out a series of emotions, right? That's because that is and will always be Sachin Tendulkar's legacy. The transformation of being a legendary player to becoming a common point for a billion people - he was, is and will always be an emotion.

The curly-haired boy, as a mere adolescent, faced the fury of the Pakistani bowlers while representing his country for the first time. When he did so, a nation cheered for him, but a city shot up in joy and roared with him - the city of Bombay.

Coming from the humble streets of Dadar and joining cricket coaching at Shivaji Park like every second kid in the block there, Sachin Tendulkar’s story hit too close to every Mumbaikar’s heart to easily relate to him.

And so, we adored him, looked up to him, and tried to imitate every bit of what he did. From school going kids to office going adults, every single Mumbaikar wanted to soak in Sachin’s glory. We know we’re lying when we say we don’t have a Sachin Tendulkar story. From bunking school and watching him play to trying to own an MRF bat, we’ve all been there and done that.

When Sachin would come out to bat, friends, family and all near and dear ones would sit in front of a single, tiny TV screen to cheer for our boy. We would invoke our favourite Ganapati Bappa before the Master Blaster goes out to bat, hoping that our day is made better with an exceptional innings from Sachin.

And that day would go somewhat this way -  lots of snacking while commenting on the game, banter with friends, trying to prove who was the biggest Sachin fan, and even pulling out a bat, swinging it around and imitating his batting ourselves!

If you were to pass by a random chai tapri on a day Sachin was batting, strangers and friends alike would animatedly exchange information about the bits of the Little Master’s batting that they were lucky enough to watch. Today, it was a Mumbaikar against the world, after all!

How could we forget the emotions we felt when Sachin, after playing for India for two decades, finally won the World Cup in 2011? When the youngsters carried the Little Master on their shoulders, every Mumbaikar felt like they were a part of that lap of honour. The fact that it happened at Wankhede, a ground that had a million memories of this man growing, performing and winning as a cricketer, just made this victory sweeter and closer to every fan’s heart.

For Mumbaikars, it was a cherry on top of the cake when the IPL came. When the franchise Mumbai Indians was born, everyone waited with bated breath to see Sachin in these colours. A swell of pride in the hearts of the Mumbaikars that the Mum-boi would be playing for Mumbai Indians now is an emotion that hasn’t been forgotten even over 13 years later.

From 2008 to 2013, Sachin would go on to represent the city in the MI Blue and Gold. Crores of fans throng Wankhede simply to see him walk out to bat. Those not lucky enough to get tickets would simply stand at the gates to catch a glimpse of him as the team bus would enter the stadium.

Him captaining the MI side, his only IPL century and him lifting the trophy in 2013 are some moments of him in Blue and Gold that would stay in every Mumbaikar’s minds, rent-free, for the rest of their lives.

Today, it is a matter of privilege that Sachin is still every bit a part of the One Family as he was before. The team’s icon, inspiration and the biggest cheerleader, what this man feels, the entire city of Mumbai emotes too. Such is the deep love and respect the city has towards him.

To Mumbai, Sachin is not just a cricketing icon, he was humility personified. Mumbai - a city of stars, and yet this man outshone them all. After all, he’s not just a GOAT, he is the GOD of Cricket.