He has been described as India's immortal warrior and a gladiator who fights on when everyone else has failed.

But passionate Indian cricket fans are now having to accept the hitherto inconceivable -- Sachin Tendulkar is only human.

Regarded as the world's best batsman and the greatest one-day player ever, Tendulkar is accorded a god-like status in his cricket-crazy country.

When he made his debut as a curly-haired 16-year-old in 1989, pundits predicted he would break every batting record. He has spent the best part of the last 15 years proving them right.

But experts now feel that his magic, which was not only about how many runs he scored but how he scored them, is waning.

Tendulkar, now 31, agrees his batting has changed.

He has abandoned his fierce cuts and vicious pull shots for a more watchful approach, now relying on flicks and perfectly placed on-drives. He is content with milking the bowling rather than pulverising it.

The Bombay batsman says it is a sign of maturity. His fans say the new approach is simply not Tendulkar.

KEY MATCHES

But what really disappointed his ardent followers back home was his failure to lead India to victory in two key matches in the Asia Cup tournament in Sri Lanka last week.

Tendulkar scored 78 against Pakistan but his dismissal 26 runs short of the bonus-point target of 240 put India in dire straits before they scampered through with one ball to spare.

In the final against Sri Lanka, chasing a modest 229 for victory, Tendulkar held up one end but failed to dominate the bowling and India stumbled to a 25-run defeat after his dismissal for a 100-ball 74.

The blame for the defeat should perhaps have fallen on the rest of the batting line-up for failing to support him. But Tendulkar bore the brunt of the media's ire because winning despite the odds had become second nature to him.

"It was sad to see Sachin struggle to score quickly. He's still the greatest but we suddenly had to accept he may be past his prime," Saket Girotra, a 26-year-old doctor and an ardent Tendulkar fan, told Reuters.

"He's coming along in age, the decline is natural I guess. Somehow we always expect Tendulkar to play Superman. Will we ever see him at his best again?"

Questions about his inability to produce a defining match-winning Test innings have been raised in the past. Very conscious of his place in cricket history, Tendulkar has said he wants to shed that tag.

EXALTED STANDARDS

In one-day cricket, however, there has never been any room for doubt. His 13,415 runs and 37 centuries are both world records.

Tendulkar has set such exalted standards in the shorter version of the game that anything less than a match-winning hundred from him is regarded as failure.

Even now, Tendulkar is less dominant only when compared with himself.

In his prime in 1998, he scored 1,894 runs in 34 one-day matches at an average of 65.31 with nine centuries. In 18 games this year, he has made 730 runs at 42.94 with one century and five 50s.

Any team would be happy with such production from their one-day opener.

Tendulkar says he still has the hunger but he has suffered from a spate of wear and tear injuries over the years, from a broken toe to a fractured finger to a damaged ankle.

His biggest problem has been a long-term back injury that has resurfaced several times since 1999.

But former India captain Sunil Gavaskar gave him his vote of confidence last month, saying Tendulkar's best was yet to come.

Gavaskar holds the world record for Test centuries with 34. Tendulkar is just one behind.