Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar is was a master Indian cricketer, and is retired at the moment. He waved goodbye to the sport officially in 2013 but that, of course, isn’t the end for him. He is remembered as one of the best cricketers of all time, particularly batsmen. Sachin holds many records and was awarded Arjuna Award in 1994 for his outstanding sporting achievement. Three years later Sachin Tendulkar received Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, which is India’s highest honor for when it comes to sports. Today he’s enjoying his retirement with his wife and two children, but still has a huge following over social media.

It all started in the year of 1987 when Sachin Tendulkar was selected to represent his city at the Ranji Trophy, India’s domestic First-class cricket tournament. He wasn’t included in the main play and was kept as a substitute fielder, though. However, a year later, in 1988, he made his debut against Gujarat when he was 15 and a half years old. Sachin Tendulkar was handpicked by Dilip Vengsarkar and managed to score a century in Deodhar and Duleep Trophies, two other domestic tournaments.

The season was extremely successful for young Tendulkar, and he was the highest run-scorer with 583 runs at an average of 67.7, making him the sixth highest in scoring. Sachin’s first double century happened when he was playing against the Australian team in 1988, and he broke a second significant record. He was the only player to score a century on debut in all three of his Trophy tournaments. A breakthrough happened four years later – Yorkshire team accepted him as a replacement for an injured member of the team. It was revolutionary because the team never accepted players even from other English countries,  let alone from India.

His performance from the year of 1994 all the way to 1999 was luckily coincided with his physical peak, making it a perfect combination. He batted at Auckland-New Zealand game, and made 82 runs off 49 balls and scored his first ODI century, for which it took 78 ODIs. The success continued for Sachin Tendulkar when he was a leading run-scorer at the World Cup in 1994, not only being the only Indian batsman to perform great but also scoring two centuries.

That was just the beginning though – in early 1998, Tendulkar scored three consecutive centuries, entertaining the public with his rivalry with Shane Warne, world’s leading spinner. However, after Asian Test Championship in 1999, with India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, he ran out of nine after colliding with a bowler, putting the crowd into a frenzy after he was dismissed, and later lead to India not progressing further. In the middle of 1999, another tragedy struck, Sachin Tendulkar’s father Ramesh died, forcing him to fly back to India to attend the final rituals, thus missing a match, but later returned to play against Kenya, and he dedicated the century to his father.

As we previously mentioned, Sachin Tendulkar has retired, following his poor performance in 2012. It all happened after a match against England, and while former India captain Sourav Ganguly said he could’ve waited to play against Pakistan, he stayed with his decision firmly. Also, after Twenty20 International in 2006, even though it was very successful for Sachin Tendulkar, he said he will never play the format again. BCCI (The Board Of Control For Cricket In India) arranged for two last matches to be played on his home ground as an homage and farewell for him, to mark the end of a great chapter. To prove just how influential he was, various people from both national and international cricket spoke about him in a conclave organized by India Today.