Sachin Tendulkar – The God of Cricket

Sachin Tendulkar is a former Indian cricket player considered as one of the greatest batsmen of all time, he has also served as captain of the Indian national team. Cricket in India is just not a sport but their religion where Sachin Tendulkar is their God. He holds the title of God of Cricket among his fans and is also known as Little Master, and Master Blaster.

He became India’s youngest cricketer to play for the country at age of 19. He was the first active cricketer to be nominated to the Rajya Sabha (the Upper House of the Indian Parliament). In 2016, he was awarded the highest civilian honor “Bharat Ratna” and is the only cricketer who has received the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, Arjuna Award, and Padma Shri by the Indian government.

Fast Facts

Full Name: Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar
Nick Name: Little Master, Master Blaster
Birth: April 24, 1973
Birth Place: Bombay, Maharashtra
Father: Ramesh Tendulkar
Mother: Rajni Tendulkar
Sister: Savita Tendulkar (Half-Sister)
Brother: Nitin Tendulkar, Ajit Tendulkar
Height: 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Wife: Anjali Mehta
Son: Arjun Mehta
Daughter: Sara Tendulkar
Profession: Cricketer
Coach: Ramakant Achrekar
Batting: Right-handed
Bowling: Right-arm medium-fast, leg break, off-break
Role: Batsman/Right-handed, Right-arm medium, leg break, off break Bowler
Website: https://www.sachintendulkar.com

Records:

• He made 1,894 ODI runs in 1998, which is a record for most ODI runs by any batsman in a calendar year.
• Most number of Test runs – 15,921
• Most number of ODI runs – 18,426
• Most numbers of Tests played – 200
• Most numbers of ODIs played – 463
• First batsman to score a double hundred in ODIs
• Only batsman to have scored 100 international Centuries
• Most number of Test centuries – 51
• Most number of ODI tons – 49
• Most ODI half-centuries – 96
• Most number of runs (2,278) in World Cup history
• Most World Cup appearances (6 editions)
• Most number of centuries in World Cup history
• Most fifties in Tests – 68
• Fastest to 10,000 runs in Tests (195 innings – along with Brian Lara (WI) and Kumar Sangakkara (SL))
• Most runs in a single edition of World Cup (673 runs in 2003)
• Most ODI hundreds in a calendar year ( 9 in 1998)
• Only one to accomplish rare ODI triple: 15000 runs (18426), 100 wickets (154), and 100 catches (140)
• Most times to score 1000 runs in a calendar year: 7 times
• Most Fours: 2016
• Most runs in World Cups: 2278 runs at an average of 56.95 in 45 matches
• Most centuries in World Cups: 6 in 44 innings

Early Life

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar was born on 24 April 1973 in Bombay, Maharashtra to Ramesh Tendulkar and Rajini in a middle-class family. He was named after Sachin Dev Burman as his parents were fans of famous music director. Since childhood, he used to play cricket with his elder brother who himself is a good player. Sachin left his school in the middle to play cricket, he has studied only till 10th standard. Young Sachin was interested in becoming a fast bowler, but his height made him the finest batsman in the world. At the age of 10, he walked to the field. In 1985, he changed his school and was admitted to Dadar’s Shardashram Vidyamandir.

Sachin was trained under Ramakant Achrekar during his school days. Tendulkar would win a coin from his coach Ramakant Achrekar if he could bat through an entire session of nets without being dismissed. Tendulkar has 13 such coins. He scored over 1,200 runs in schools cricket, including two triple centuries. Involved in an unbroken 664 run partnership in a lord shield inter-school game in 1998 with a friend and teammate Vinod Kambli. He scored unbeaten 336 runs at the age of 13. He was also voted best junior cricketer by the BCA.

Domestic Career of Sachin Tendulkar

On 11th December 1998, ages just 15 years and Tendulkar scored 100 not out in his debut first-class match for Bombay against Gujarat, making him the youngest Indian to score a century on first-class debut. He followed this by scoring s century in his first Deodhar and Duleep trophy.

He also made an unbeaten century in the Irani Trophy final and was selected for the tour of Pakistan next year, after just one first-class season. On 14 November 1987, Tendulkar was selected to represent Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy, India’s premier domestic First-class Cricket tournament, for the 1987-88 season. Tendulkar played 16 first-class matches for the country and scored 1070 runs at an average of 46.52.

International Career of Sachin Tendulkar

Tendulkar played his first test match against Pakistan in Karachi in 1989 ages just 16. In all, he scored 215 runs at an average of 35.83 in the test series. He was dismissed without scoring a run in the only one-day international he played. When he took on tough Pakistan in the first Test at Karachi, he played alongside some of his childhood heroes on his debut. He represented India internationally for close to twenty-four years. Every time he walks into bat he carries the hopes of a billion people who look to him as the sole hope in a nation surrounded by gloom, and despair. His enormous and almost insatiable appetite for runs seems to be a never-ending process.

He is the only player to have scored one hundred international centuries, the first batsman to score a double century in a One Day International, the only player to complete more than 30,000 runs in international cricket, and the 16th player and first Indian to aggregate 50,000 runs or more in all form of domestic and international recognized cricket.

In December 2012, Tendulkar announced his retirement from ODIs. He retired from Twenty20 cricket in October 2013 and subsequently announced his retirement from all forms of cricket, retiring on 16 November 2013 after playing his 200th and final Test match, against West Indies in Mumbai Wankhede Stadium.

Sachin Tendulkar Awards

Awards always seem to be showered upon him always. On 4 February 2016, he was conferred with India’s Highest Civilian Award- Bharat Ratna. He was the youngest person to receive the prestigious award. Besides Bharat Ratna, Sachin Tendulkar has been conferred many other prestigious awards and honors such as the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Arjuna Award in 1994, and Padma Shri in 1999, the only Indian cricketer to get all of them. Other awards include Wisden Cricketer of the Year, Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy, Player of the tournament in the 2003 world cup, Maharashtra Bhushan Award, etc.

1994: Arjuna Award, by the Government of India

1997-98: Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, India’s highest honor given for achievement in sports

1999: Padma Shri, India’s fourth-highest civilian award

2001: Maharashtra Bhushan Award, Maharashtra State’s highest civilian award

2008: Padma Vibhushan, India’s second-highest civilian award

2014: Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian award

1997: Wisden Cricketer of the Year

2003: Player of the Tournament in the 2003 Cricket World Cup

2010: The Indian Air Force made him an Honorary Group Captain

2011: BCCI Cricketer of the Year award

2012: Honorary Life Membership of Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG)

2013: Indian Postal Service released a stamp of Tendulkar; making him the second Indian after Mother Teresa to have such a stamp released in their lifetime

2016: Bharat Ratna

Suggested Read: National Award of India