Many people who became die-hard Rahman fans in the 90s were also hardcore Sachin fans (including me!). I have seen this in many cases... My friend Radhakrishnan who is also a Rahmaniac also was of the same opinion! I think this phenomenon is not without a reason, the reason being similarities between the two. Got this interesting comparison by Maddy, from ForumHub:

A startling but very logical coincidences between 2 of the greatest men of 90's......they characterised the 90's and were icons of the youth at that time......just see the startling similarities between these 2:

Entry into their respective fields:

A.R.Rahman (ARR): 1992
Sachin Tendulkar (SRT): 1989

They were an instant hit because:
ARR: Blasting music, classical songs at a very young age
SRT: Swashbuckling batting and a great cricketing sense at a very young age

How they stood out from others?
ARR: First to bring digital touch to Indian music and compose fusion that no one else dares to think off.
SRT: First to explore the first 15-over restriction, score centuries at bouncy, tough tracks like Perth.

As time moved on:
ARR: Stopped producing blasting music, instead delivered Classical melodies like Taal, Swades, Bose, Meenaxi and Tehzeeb out of maturity.
SRT: Stopped going over the top to bowlers, instead played exquisite drives and late cuts and produced innings with a lot of maturity.

Character similarity:
ARR: Shy towards media and lets his keyboard answer his critics
SRT: Shy towards media and lets his bat answer his critics

Media point of view:
ARR: Darling of Mumbai and London press
SRT: Darling of Mumbai and London press

International attention:
ARR: Admired by Andrew Lloyd Webber , Micheal jackson (who wore a t-shirt having Rahman's photo on it) and many other international music reviewers who want him to compose for Hollywood films.
SRT: Adored by the man himself the "DON" Bradman and Mike Atherton(who compared Sachin to W.G.Grace) and a never ending list of Australian, English, Kiwi, WestIndian players.

Earnings:
ARR: Draws 1 Crore/ film, ambassador of Bharti telecom, sizzled with the Airtel ad
SRT: Unimaginable money on contracts with big commercial giants. Sizzles in Pepsi ads.

Records:
ARR: 4 national awards, 17 filmfare awards, his music sold 210 million copies around the world (more than Britney and Madonna put together!!) and success rate of 80%+ album sales in Indian movies.
SRT: Look at this for a record: 37 ODI centuries, 35 TEST centuries, 13,000+ runs in ODI's, 44+ average in ODI's and 58+ average in Tests. What else u can ask for?

Popularity:
ARR: Has a huge fan following in India and in south he is a demi-god and captures the imagination of NRI's throughout the world
SRT: According to a survey, he is the most popular man in the Country edging out the Prime Minister and Shah-Rukh-Khan. He is popular even in places like U.S where the game is not that popular (featured in an exclusive article in an American sports magazine)

Career Graph & Present form:
ARR: Had fabulous nineties with all his albums doing well in this time. Reached dizzying heights during this period. Have had flops with major banners
since 2001, which got the critics interested. Had a great 2003 within this lean patch with Boys creating sales records. His fans base however is intact, proved that with success of Ah Aah album.

SRT: The star of 90’s, his batting propelled him into a youth icon status in India and was concurred with many awards from the government. Being pressurized by the detractors for a imaginary loss of form and injury worries since 2001. Had a great world cup 2003 scoring runs at will. Recently has had a good innings in a one-day match to prove that he is still fit.
(Their career-graph is one of the most fascinating things I have ever noticed, they always seem to have good times together. Bad times also coincides for both of them)

Fans:
ARR: Die-hard fans want him to go back to 90’s style of composing
SRT:Never say die fans want him to take up 90’s style of swashbuckling batting.

Successors:
ARR: His successors like Yuvan Shankar Raja and Himesh Reshammiya are more successful than him right now but no way near to him in terms of class.
SRT: Yuvraj Singh, Mohammed Kaif are more popular with people than him right now but as the old west-Indian saying goes: "Form is temporary, but class is permanent".

Duplicates:
ARR: Has a duplicate called Harris Jeyaraj who not only copies ARR's music and composing style but also his hairstyle and way of speaking in interviews.
SRT: Virendar Sehwag, a natural duplicate of sachin with looks and batting style similar to him. Called “Najafgarh ka Tendulkar”. (Najafgarh is Virendar Sehwag’s hometown.)

Where will they end up?:
ARR: Probably will put India into the world map of music and create records which upcoming Indian M.D's can't even dream of.
SRT: It would probably take an android or a special species of human being to erase his record in Cricket. Will always be remembered as the greatest ever batsman of modern era.