Riot police stood nearby, dotted about Bradman Oval like poorly placed fielders, while a mob wielding bats gathered.

Then the black helicopter came down, its force blowing away sets of plastic yellow stumps.

Sachin Tendulkar had arrived.

The night before, the former Indian captain and world's highest Test run scorer became a Bradman Foundation honouree at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

But after decades of trips to Australia, Tendulkar was still yet to make one pilgrimage: to the Don's home town.

"I'm extremely excited to be here," he said on Thursday morning.

"I've heard so many stories of the great man."

Asked what he thought of the oval where Bradman first honed his skills, Tendulkar perused the short boundary before replying: "Here I would like to bat first."

Perhaps one of the most ardent Indian fans present, Sudhir Katti, had driven straight from Sydney at 7am after his night shift.

Katti, whose sister once taught Tendulkar in Mumbai, said he had named his son Sachin.

"He's our main hero," Katti said.

Tendulkar paid the most attention to his younger fans, dispensing what he called the "magic tonic" of encouragement to some "unpolished diamonds".

He spoke of using music as a motivator, the power of preparation, the importance of not becoming angry after defeat.

As batsmen, he counselled them, "let your subconscious mind respond".

Alex Biggs, 12, saw one problem with that.

"My subconscious mind says 'just tonk it', but that does not work all the time," he said.

As Alex lined up to bowl against Tendulkar, his mind was crowded with thoughts.

"What shot is he going to do? What am I going to do? Is it going to be too short? Too long? Is it going to go over him?"

But there were no nerves as he faced one of the greatest batsmen of all time.

"I knew I would do good or bad and he would understand."

Inside the Bradman museum, Tendulkar spoke of the inevitable hype around his 15-year-old son Arjun's prospects as a left-arm quick.

"He should be given that space to be madly in love with his game," Tendulkar said.

"All I could expect from everyone around us is that he should not be judged at every step. He should be given freedom to express himself on the field and play as freely as any other kid."

Tendulkar said that while he had not missed the game after his retirement nearly a year ago, he had "worshipped cricket". He told the next generation to give to the game without demanding success.

"It should be like your temple," he said. "Just go and pray. Be in that space because it is a beautiful space."

Hal Canute, 9, a Bowral Public School student, said not all his classmates had heard of the town's guest.

But being from "a mad cricketing family", Hal remembered Tendulkar's positivity and graciousness after matches.

"He's one of the nicest cricketers in the world," he said, before correcting himself.

"One of the nicest people in the world."