Just about every big-name cricket player of the last 25 years was at Citi Field on Saturday for an exhibition match. But the thousands of mostly South Asian-Americans who fought traffic or rode the crowded, slow-moving 7 trains to the stadium were mainly there to see one man: Sachin Tendulkar.

Vinod Vellore of Atlantic City, who brought along a pole with an Indian flag on one side and a United States flag on the other, was one such fan. “We live for him; we die for him,” he said of Tendulkar. “He’s a god.”

In clarifying his motivation for driving up with a group of six fans, Vellore said, “Eighty percent for Tendulkar, 20 percent for cricket.”

He added: “It’s all about Sachin. That’s it. It’s a dream come true.”

Tendulkar, 42, began playing on the Indian national team at 16, and by the time he retired in 2013, he had amassed more runs (34,357) at the top level of the game than any other player. But it is not just that Tendulkar is among the greatest sportsmen India has produced and one of the greatest players in cricket history. Fans seem to love him just as much for his personality.