Harsha Bhogle would be better off writing his own tribute, but since he can't, I'll make an attempt.

I must say, at the risk of sounding repetitive and obsessed, that Harsha Bhogle is the most amazing thing that happened to cricket.
The next time someone asks me who's the one person I want to meet before I die, I know the answer. I suspect I've known it for a while, but never actually thought about it. Sure, I admired him as a commentator. I admired him as a writer; as a master of words.
But I have realised, that I also admire him as a person, a character, a human being. He is like an uncut diamond. I know many see uncut diamonds as synonymous to "potential yet to shine through", but I see uncut diamonds as synonymous to elemental, grounded, modest with absolute blinding brilliance inside. Just like Harsha Bhogle- who is frank, opinionated, unpretentious, humility personified, with brilliance which shines through when he speaks. Like an uncut diamond, he hides away this brilliance with his modesty. With a simple exterior.

I think everyone should listen to his interview on Indicast. If you are a cricket follower, it is something you cannot miss. And if you are a Harsha fan and haven't heard it yet, it's an absolute pity and it should be the first thing you do after reading this post. Actually no, don't even continue reading, just go listen to it first.

http://www.theindicast.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7900231&Itemid=64/

What a gem of a person. He said in his interview that a Tendulkar comes along once in a lifetime and that we should simply thank him for his presence, because he is so great.

I would like to say that a Harsha Bhogle also comes along once in a lifetime, and while I'd like to say more than just a thank you to him if I ever meet him, I might just be so awed that I wouldn't even be able to string two words together. I used to pride myself on being able to speak and write reasonably well (I don't think I wrote BADLY, at least), but when I read Harsha's writing or listen to his commentary, I feel utterly insignificantly small in comparison. But the best part is that I don't mind it at all.

It's like when you stand next to a Tendulkar and feel incredibly disabled at cricket in comparison, but don't mind it one bit, because he is just so great.

Harsha Bhogle is an all-time great. When he leaves the game behind, unlike the Tendulkars and the Gavaskars and the Waughs and the Warnes, he won't have eternally preserved statistics in his name for future generations to remember him by. But I for one, hope that his name will live on in the hearts of all who love the game of cricket, in its purest essence.

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As a parting shot-

“Rahul Dravid is charging for a third run, but V.V.S. Laxman, who is a part-time traffic constable in Hyderabad, puts his hand up and says no.”
-Harsha Bhogle comes up with a gem during the 2nd test in Sydney