After Sachin Tendulkar was the youngest ever to score fifty goals internationally to set a record of 100 centuries in all formats, he raised the bar in modern percussion and became the nation’s favorite son.
Tendulkar’s legacy and work are so vast that even today, more than five years after his international retirement, the loudest cheers in stadiums – in India and elsewhere – are often reserved when the cameras project him onto the screen.
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar made his India debut at the age of 16 and almost instantly became the eye-catcher of his cricket-obsessed country. When he finally said his goodbyes after two and a half decades, he had several important strike plates and, according to his compatriots, had risen to become an almost immortal being.
Humbled and happy to be inducted into the #ICCHallOfFame.
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) July 19, 2019
A lot of people have contributed towards helping me become who I am today.
A big thank you to my family, friends & fans across the globe for the love & support.
Congratulations to Cathryn Fitzpatrick & @AllanDonald33. https://t.co/F0o7W6TJP5
If immortality comes from achievements, the “little master” has a very good claim to it. For starters, he has an impressive total of 34,357 multi-format editions, more than 6,000 ahead of second-placed Kumar Sangakkara. Those numbers were on the backs of hundreds – more precisely hundreds – of which Ricky Ponting was the next on the list.
Tendulkar also redefined the areas that were considered feasible in international cricket. The best example of this would be his pioneering act of celebrating a one-day international double century in 2010. He brought the brand to the point 39 years after the creation of the format. In the nine years since then, there have been seven more ODI doubles.
Tendulkars fondness for big records goes back to his school days in cricket, when he set up with Vinod Kambli, who also played for India, against St. Xavier’s High a hitherto uninterrupted partnership of 664 runs school in 1988.
He made his Ranji Trophy debut for Mumbai in the 1988/89 season and scored a goal of 100 in the debut against Gujarat at the age of 15, ending his team’s top scorer for the season. Soon thereafter, during his India trip to Pakistan in November 1989, he was called to the test for the first time.
A tough fifty in his second inning against an attack with Imran Khan, Wasim Akram and Abdul Qadir showed he was at the highest level. Nine months later, he scored his first century against England in Manchester. As the story goes, Tendulkar, after tasting the joy of three-digit numbers, became hungry for more and scored 51 centuries in testing and 49 in ODIs.
On April 2, 2011 Tendulkar could finally realize the dream after five unsuccessful attempts to get the World Cup trophy, as India defeated Sri Lanka in his home with six wickets. With his last World Cup at age 37, his appetite for runs remained unbroken as he became India’s leading scorer in the season and second in the standings.
He called it exit from the ODIs in 2012 after scoring the most anticipated hundredths in his penultimate game. His final Test Match against the West Indies in Mumbai in November 2013, his 200th game, was a great way to deregister for a player who had dealt with it for centuries.
Since retiring from international cricket, Tendulkar has had a close relationship with cricket and has served as an ambassador for various tournaments at ICC events, including the 2015 Men’s Cricket World Cup and the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017, and served as a mentor to the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League.
Tendulkar is often discussed by commentators and experts as the elevated standard against which contemporary batsmen are compared. Similar to the names of Sir Donald Bradman, Sir Vivian Richards, Sir Garfield Sobers, Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan, and Jacques Kallis, his name is believed to live on as long as the game exists.
