Ed Smith says Tendulkar symbolized India`s rise as world power

London: Former England cricket player Ed Smith has claimed that Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar`s rise has coincided with the emergence of India as a world power and an economic giant and that is why the Little Master has been a symbol of the rise of India.

According to the BBC, the changes in India have been no less profound over the period of Tendulkar`s career and in 1989, the Indian economy languished in protectionism and introversion. Major international companies either ignored India altogether or tried and promptly gave up, the report said. Smith said that when he started playing cricket in India in the 1990s, the airports were abysmal but now they have some of the best in the world. The beginning of India`s economic recovery was almost exactly the moment of Tendulkar`s emergence as a global talent, the report added.