The journey of a curly-haired boy born into a middle-class Indian family, to become one of the legend players is a complete inspiration. Sachin Tendulkar is not just a cricketer but an institution in himself, who is worshipped as a God of cricket. His simplicity and humbleness further add to his popularity.
Early Life
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar was born on April 24, 1973, to a Marathi novelist and professor, Ramesh Tendulkar and is the youngest among four siblings. As a young boy, he was quite active and was encouraged to play cricket at a young age of 11. Owing to his interest in cricket, he went to cricket academy with Ramakant Achrekar. He did his schooling from Sharadashram Vidyamandir High School. Since his school days, he got recognized as a promising player and played various inter-school tournaments. In 1988, along with his buddy Vinod Kambli, he scored a record 664-run partnership in a match against St. Xavier’s High School. Later he went to Kirti College for his higher studies.
Cricket Career
Sachin is India’s youngest Test cricketer who started his career at just 16 years. In his earlier days, Sachin Tendulkar wanted to become a fast bowler but was rejected by Dennis Lillee’s MRF Pace Foundation in 1987. It is quite an irony that he served as a ball boy for the match between India and Zimbabwe in the 1987 World Cup.
In 1988, Sachin played his first domestic first-class match for Mumbai and scored a century. Thanks to his mind-blowing performance that he made his international test debut against Pakistan in 1989.Although, he could not score many runs yet his dedication and hard work did not go unnoticed. He also made his one-day international debut in 1989.
During the 1991-92 tour of Australia, he played remarkably well against the Australian team and scored 148 and 114 runs in two matches. In 1994, he made his first ODI century against Australia.
Sachin had two tenures as a captain of Indian cricket team in the year 1996 and 1999. Both the tenures spanned for short time as Sachin did not perform well as a captain.
In 2001, Tendulkar scored 10,000 runs in ODI matches and surpassed the great Don Bradman with his 30th Test century. In the Cricket World Cup 2003, although India lost the finals to Australia but Sachin performed extraordinarily and was given Man of the Tournament Award. In 2005, he became the first cricketer to score 35 centuries in Test cricket. In 2008, he broke the Brian Lara’s record of 11,953 Test runs. In Test cricket, he has scored 15921 runs and 51 centuries. On the other hand, in ODIs, he has scored 18,426 runs and 49 centuries. Apart from it, he is the first cricketer to score a double century.
In 2011 India won the cricket world cup by defeating Sri Lanka in finals and it was the first World Cup victory for him. He went through a lean phase after the World Cup and took retirement from all forms of cricket in November 2013.
He met Dr. Anjali, in 1990 and got married to her in 1995. He is involved in various social causes. He is associated with an NGO, “Apnalaya” and helps many other charities for several noble causes including underprivileged children, cancer research, and education.
Awards & Achievements
Sachin is one of the most celebrated cricketers and he enjoys a well-deserved legendary status globally. He has received various national and international cricketing accolades. Along with them, Sachin is also awarded the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, in 1997-98. In 2002, Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack ranked him the second greatest Test batsman and ODI batsman of all time.
He was honoured with the Bharat Ratna, in 2014 and he is the first sportsperson and the youngest ever individual to receive the award. He is the recipient of Arjuna Award and Padma Shri as well. He is the first sportsperson to be awarded the honorary rank of Group Captain by the Indian Air Force. He was awarded the 2010 Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for cricketer of the year at the ICC awards. In 2010, Time magazine included him in its Time 100 list of the “Most Influential People in the World”. In June 2012, he was sworn in as a Rajya Sabha member.
In a nutshell, he is the most celebrated sportsperson and a worshipped player in a cricket crazy country. He has proved that focus and hard work always pays off and has made him a unanimous choice globally.
Sachin Tendulkar Birthday, Age, Family & Biography
Dr. Smita Kapoor is a freelance content writer for last 6 years with hands-on experience in academic writing, article writing, web content and market research reports. She was formerly associated with a CSIR institute as a senior research fellow and holds a doctorate degree.