Sachin Tendulkar announced his retirement in November, 2013, but he still continues to rule the hearts of his fans. As the “God of cricket” turns 45 today, here are some interesting facts about the man himself.
1: Sachin Tendulkar was born to Ramesh Tendulkar, who was a renowned Marathi novelist and poet.
2: He was named after Sachin Dev Burman, who was India musician. Sachin’s father was a huge fan of his music.
3: On a Sunday evening, Young Sachin fell from a tree during his summer vacations. It angered his elder brother and mentor Ajit Tendulkar, who admitted him off to cricket coaching class as a punishment.
4: In his junior days, he used to sleep with his cricket gear.
5: As a budding fast bowler, Sachin Tendulkar was rejected by Dennis Lillee’s MRF Pace Foundation in 1987.
6: Sachin’s idol was the tennis legend, John McEnroe. He copied his style and grew his hair which he tied up using a band.
7: Sachin Tendulkar took the field for Pakistan as a substitute during a one-day practice match against India at the Brabourne Stadium(Mumbai) in 1988.
8: During his early days, Sachin would win a coin from his coach Ramakant Achrekar if he could bat through an entire session of nets without getting out. Tendulkar has 13 such coins.
9: At the age of just 16, he made his international cricket debut in 1989 against Pakistan in Karachi. He scored a duck on his ODI debut, and eventually took 3 matches to score a run and 79 matches to score his first ODI century. It was surely not an easy task for the “Master” at the younger age.
10: In October 1995, Sachin became the richest cricketer when he signed a five-year deal worth Rs 31.5 crore with World Tel Limited.
11: At the age of 17, on his return from the tour of England, he met his wife Anjali for the first time at the Mumbai airport. He later married Anjali, at 22. The couple are proud parents to Sara Tendulkar and Arjun Tendulkar.
12: Sachin Tendulkar was the first international batsman to be given out by a third-umpire after being adjudged run-out on the second day of the Durban Test in 1992.
13: Sachin became the youngest cricketer to reach 1000 runs in test cricket in 1992.
14: Sachin was gifted a Magnum champagne bottle champagne when he scored his first Test hundred at Manchester in 1990. But since British rules state that its illegal to consume alcohal under 18, he waited 8 years and opened on his daughter Sara’s first birthday.
15: Sachin is the youngest Indian cricketer to play county cricket at the age of 19.
16: Sachin Tendulkar started off with centuries in his debut appearance in the Ranji, Duleep and Irani Trophy.
17: Zimbabwe is the only test playing country where Sachin has not scored a century.
18: Sachin is a fan of Kishore Kumar and rock group “Dire Straits”.
19: He has a passion for collecting watches and perfumes.
20: He was the first Indian active cricketer to be nominated to the Rajya Sabha.
21: He is the only cricketer to be feliciated with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Arjuna Award and Padma Shri by the Indian government.
22: Sachin Tendulkar once revealed in a Marathi news channel that his weakness is `vada-pao.
