Hailed as the God of Cricket, a living legend, an inspiration, Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar is an ex-Indian cricketer who contributed to Indian cricket for more than two decades. One of the greatest sports personalities of the world, Tendulkar dominated the sport of cricket with his immaculate batting skills and sports intellect.
Making his international debut in a Test match against Pakistan on 15th November 1989, the Little Master - a title given to him for his unparalleled batting technique - went on to become one of the greatest batsmen to play the game of cricket. Tendulkar was only 16 when he made his debut. In a span of almost 24 years, the batting maestro broke and set several records.
Tendulkar became the first batsman in the history of cricket to score 100 international centuries, the first to score a double century in an ODI (One-Day International), and the first to complete 30000 international runs.
Amongst the many accolades received by Tendulkar include the Arjuna Award (1994), Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award (1997), Padma Shri (1999) and Padma Vibhushan (2008). In 2013, the Indian government announced the decision to award him with Bharat Ratna, Indias highest civilian award, making him the youngest sportsperson to receive the award at the time. He was also nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 2012. Tendulkar is a philanthropist, contributing to several causes and he also sponsors 200 underprivileged children every year through a Mumbai-based NGO, Apnalaya.
After playing the sport for almost 24 years, Sachin Tendulkar retired from ODIs in December 2012 and later announced his retirement from T20 cricket in 2013. Subsequently, he played his final test match against the West Indies in Mumbai on 16th November 2013 - which marked his retirement from all forms of cricket.
Early Life
Sachin Tendulkar was born in a Maharashtrian family to Ramesh Tendulkar, a prominent Marathi novelist, and Rajni, who worked in the insurance industry. He is the youngest amongst his siblings - two half-brothers Ajit and Nitin, and Savita, his half-sister. Tendulkar spent his growing years in the Sahitya Sahawas Cooperative Housing Society, located in Bandra, Mumbai.
As a child, Tendulkar was considered to be a bully and to curb his attitude, his brother, Ajit introduced him to Ramakant Achrekar, a reputed cricket coach at Shivaji Park, Dadar, Mumbai. This turned out to be the vital turning point in his life. The meeting Tendulkar with Achrekar would later be referenced on many occasions and cited to be one of the most important moments that shaped his career.
Achrekar, who was initially not very impressed with Tendulkars batting, gave him a second chance only after Ajit requested him to do so. Ajit reasoned with Achrekar citing Tendulkar to be self-conscious. Later, Achrekar hid behind a tree and watched Tendulkar play and much to his surprise, the latter performed better. Soon, Tendulkar was accepted at Achrekars academy and with his ingenious batting skills became to be known in local cricketing circles. Many of them even suggested that he would go on to become one of the greats of the game. He later played for his school team, Shardashram Vidyamandir, and also represented the John Bright Cricket Club before playing for the Cricket Club of India.
At the age of 14, Sachin Tendulkar attended to MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai in order to pursue a career as a fast bowler. However, cricket bowling legend Dennis Lillee was unimpressed with his bowling skills and told him to focus on his batting. A few years later, Tendulkar made his debut for Mumbai in a first-class cricket match against Gujarat and scored 100 not out - making him the youngest Indian batsman to score 100 on debut at the time.
Later, after having a successful first-class season for Mumbai he was selected to play for India and made his test debut in November 1989 against Pakistan. A month later, on 18th December 1989, Tendulkar made his ODI debut against the same opponent.
Personal Life
Sachin Tendulkar married to Anjali Mehta, a pediatrician and the daughter of Anand Mehta, a Gujarati industrialist, and Annabel Mehta, a British social worker. Tendulkar met Anjali at the Mumbai report in 1990 after he returned from the tour of England. The couple, after a courtship of five years, got engaged in 1994. A year later, the couple got married on May 24, 1995. Their daughter Sara was born on 12th October 1997, and son Arjun was born on 24th September 1999. Arjun is a left-handed batsman and a seamer and was selected to play for the Mumbai under-14 team.
Movie Career
In 2016, it was announced that James Erskine will be directing the biopic on Sachin Tendulkar titled Sachin: A Billion Dreams (2017). The movie showcases the journey of Tendulkar from being a boy to becoming the greatest batsman of modern era. It also showcases a never seen before footage of Tendulkar with this family and captures his personal life and cricketing career in substantial detail. The music of the movie is given by A. R. Rahman and it is produced by Ravi Bhagchandka and Carnival Motion Pictures under the banner of 200 NotOut Productions.