Hyderabad: Today is April 24, the birthday of cricket's favourite son Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. The legendary Indian batsman is celebrating his 47th birthday at his sprawling Bandra residence amid COVID-19 lockdown. Sachin was born of April 24, 1973, to Ramesh Tendulkar and Rajni Tendulkar in Bombay (now Mumbai).
In the sphere of cricket, Sachin Tendulkar was an institution. For over two and a half decades Sachin had been the reason for India's happiness. He was the man who brought the smile to millions of Indians' face playing one after another superlative innings. After making his debut in 1989 he went on to dominate the game till the last day of his international career that came to end in 2013 in Mumbai.
So on this special occasion, ETV Bharat brings you some awe-inspiring facts about the living legend of cricket Sachin Tendulkar.
1. The Namesake
The iconic name 'Sachin' was given by his father Ramesh Tendulkar. Sachin's father was fond of legendary Indian musician Sachin Dev Burman- father of RD Burman. So his father named him after the musical maestro who gifted us many masterpieces during his career spanned from the 1950s to 1970s.
2. Falling from a tree to becoming a cricketing legend
During his childhood days, Sachin used to give his family members a tough time. On a Sunday evening, he fell from a tree during his summer vacation. It made his elder brother Ajit furious who on the very next day enrolled Sachin to a cricket coaching class as a mean of punishment. But that punishment changed the life of Tendulkar and Indian cricket for ever.
3. Numismatist
Coach Ramakant Achrekar found young Sachin so tough to be dismissed. So he decided to offer one rupee coin to the bowlers who would dismiss Sachin at Shardashram. But in most of the cases, bowlers couldn't dismiss him. So being unbeaten Sachin won the coin. Those coins are now safely preserved at his home as the most precious award of his career.
4. Sachin- a ball boy
You may find it hard to believe but it was true. Sachin, then 14, was a ball boy during India's 1987 World Cup match against Zimbabwe. Two years later he made his debut for India.
5. A long wait for maiden ODI ton
Sachin made his Test and ODI debut against Pakistan as a 16-year-old boy in 1989. He scored his maiden Test ton in the very next year against England in Manchester but it took him almost five years to reach the three figures mark in ODI. Sachin got out for a duck in his ODI debut. Then he took 3 matches to get off the mark. But a century was not coming of Sachin's bat. It took him 79 ODIs to score his first ODI ton that he hit against Australia in Colombo in 1994.
6. Batting was not his first love
He finished his career as the highest run-scorer in both Test and ODI cricket. But batting was not the first love for Sachin. To everyone's surprise, Sachin wanted to be a fast bowler. In 1987, he visited the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai but Australian bowling great Dennis Lillee was not impressed with Sachin's diminutive stature. His brother, Ajit, was not sure about Sachin's venture so he carried his batting luggage with him. Lillee saw Sachin batting against some of the quality bowlers at the academy that impressed him and he told him to stick to that.
7. How many times has Sachin been stumped?
Only once. In a career that spanned over 24 years, wicketkeepers hardly got any chance to stump Sachin out. But during 2001 England's tour of India, Ashley Giles' negative bowling had frustrated Sachin during his 90 runs knock at Bengaluru. An annoyed Tendulkar overstepped to hit Giles over the boundary. But he missed the ball and wicketkeeper James Foster stumped him out. This was the only time Sachin was stumped in his career.
8. 1st cricketer and youngest Indian to receive Bharat Ratna
Sachin Tendulkar was the first cricketer to be conferred with India's highest civilian award- Bharat Ratna. On 4 February 2016, he became the youngest Indian to receive the award from then President Pranab Mukherjee for his larger than life contribution to the game.
9. Who is Sachin's favourite tennis player?
Don't get me wrong. It is not tennis legend Roger Federer with whom Sachin now shares a great rapport. Sachin was a huge fan of John McEnroe. Such was the American's influence in Sachin's life that the batsman grew his hair and tied the band around it to imitate his idol. It was much later in his career Sachin became a fan of Federer.
11. Gavaskar's gift to Tendulkar
When Sachin was 14, India's first batting legend Sunil Gavaskar gifted him a pair of his own ultra-light pads. Unfortunately, those pads were stolen while Sachin was attending the India U-15 national camp.
11. When Sachin says no to alcohol
In 1994, Sachin won a champagne bottle as a Man of the Match prize for hitting his career's maiden ODI ton. But he refused to open it then. For many years he preserved the bottle at his home only to open it on his daughter's first birthday.
12. Right-hand batsman, left-handed man
Sachin bats and bowls with his right arm. But for eating and writing, he uses his left hand.
13. Sachin Tendulkar once played for Pakistan
This may sound absurd, but it is true. This happened during a warm-up match between India and Pakistan at Mumbai's Brabourne Stadium on January 20, 1987. Tendulkar was asked to take the field as a substitute fielder for Pakistan as Javed Miandad left the field for lunch.
14. Best Test batting average
For over a decade, Sachin Tendulkar maintained a Test average of 62.30 which was by far the best batting average in Test cricket then. Sachin did it between 1993 and 2002. He finished his Test career with an average of 53.78.
15. Which was Sachin's favourite batting position?
Sachin Tendulkar opened innings for India in ODI cricket, but in Test cricket, he played at a different position. In 200 Tests, he batted in 329 innings. He played 275 of them at the No. 4. At the beginning of his career, he played as a middle-order batsman, but he was promoted after scoring unbeaten 148 against Australia in Sydney in 1992.
16. First cricketer to be dismissed by the third umpire
In November 1992, while playing against South Africa at Durban Sachin Tendulkar became the first player to be dismissed by the third umpire. Sachin was run out. Third umpire Karl Liebenberg used television replays to rule Sachin out.
17. Most 1000 plus Test runs in a calendar year
The record is held by Sachin Tendulkar. The Indian batting superstar scored 1000 or more in a calendar year six times in his career. Sachin is followed by Australia's Ricky Ponting who scored 1000 or more in a calendar year five times.
18. Michael Schumacher's gift to Sachin, a Ferrari
It was in 2002 when F1 legend Michael Schumacher presented Sachin a Ferrari on behalf of Fiat. The gift was very special as it came just after he equalled Sir Don Bradman's record of 29 Test centuries. Though Sachin never allowed his wife, Anjali, to drive Ferrari, he sold it in 2011 to a Surat-based Real Estate businessman, Jayesh Desai.
19. Nervous Nineties
Sachin is a man of many records. The Indian batsman is the only cricketer in the world who scored 100 hundreds, 51 in Test and 49 in ODI. But he also failed to reach triple-figure mark 27 times. He was dismissed in the 90s for record 17 times in ODIs and 10 times in Test. There is no other batsman who got dismissed in the 90s as many times as Sachin.
20. And Tendulkar has gone
Tendulkar played 664 matches for India across the three formats. He played 200 Tests, 463 ODIs and a T20I. In his career, Tendulkar has been dismissed 681 times. For just over 60% of those dismissals, he was out caught.
21. Tendulkar's 1st bat
Tendulkar once revealed that his first-ever bat was gifted by his sister Savita, eldest among their siblings. The bat was made of Kashmir willow.
22. Worked at a garment factory
Sachin hailed from a middle-class family. So to make the end meet, he once worked at a garment factory in Mumbai.
23. Cricket's first millionaire
In 1990, just a year before economic liberalisation in India, Sachin got his first endorsement deal from Band-Aid. Two years later, PepsiCo signed an advertisement deal with him that made him cricket's first millionaire. By 1995, a year after his first ODI ton, he was flooded with several endorsement deals as multinational companies looked to set their feet in India after economic liberalisation.
24. God of cricket
Sachin Tendulkar is the only cricketer in the world who has been worshiped as the God. Riding on his big innings, India won many matches. There was a time when he entered the field 'Sachin! Sachin!' chant reverberated around the stadium. But whenever he got out Indians switched off their TV sets.
Talking about him once former Australian batsman Matthew Hayden said, “I have seen God, he bats at no. 4 for India.”
