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He's one of cricket's greatest batsman, with a devoted following of millions. Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar sits down with CNN's Anjali Rao in Mumbai and shares with her the thrill of playing cricket, his thoughts on the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the importance of his family in keeping him grounded. Tendulkar also looks back on a glittering career, relives his favorite matches and reveals the players he has most enjoyed playing against.

The IPL, India's hugely popular new cricket tournament is wrapping up this weekend.  For Tendulkar, what is so special about this Twenty20 league is how it has not just been about the cricket but its evolvement into a social phenomenon. "It's a lot to do with the families, you know the outings in the evenings. It used to be the cinema, watching a movie or a play...but now it's the evenings...in the form of a cricket match where the whole family goes out together..."

When asked about the incidents involving fellow cricketer Harbhajan Singh and whether cricket can be viewed a ‘gentleman's' game any more, Tendulkar says: ‘Now that there's a lot of media attention on the players, and everything is put under a microscope so sometimes it's blown out of proportion, sometimes the player is at fault."

Tendulkar has been labeled ‘genius' by his fellow contemporaries, Asian hero by TIME magazine and every little boy in India aspires to be him. The ‘God' to many remains humble about his achievements and reveals he too has a choice for the title of "Greatest Batsman": "I think that someone that I would like to watch is Brian Lara. I think he's special."

As a father, he keeps his children grounded and hopes they can have as normal a life as possible. He recalls a poignant moment when his daughter's teacher was telling the class about a restaurant the cricketer had put his name to, to which his daughter, unaware of her father's fame, had raised her hand and said "Even my father's name is Sachin Tendulkar".

Speculation ran wild that his career seemed close to ending following criticism on his form after the '07 World Cup, to which Tendulkar responded: "It was a disappointing moment...a huge disappointing moment. But I came back and I started working...on my game. I trained harder and I wanted to perform better." For the great batsman, it comes to no surprise that the answer to Rao's question on what the world should expect from him next is simply: "There's definitely cricket left in me."