
Known as the master blaster of cricket, Sachin Tendulkar created a craze for cricket not just in India but around the world. Today on his 43rd birthday, let’s sway through the life of the legend.
Tendulkar was named after a music director
He was born in a Marathi family. His father Ramesh Tendulkar, a well-known Marathi novelist, named Tendulkar after his favourite music director, Sachin Dev Burman.

Tendulkar was a bully
When he was a child, Tendulkar was considered a bully and often picked up fights with new kids in his school.
Tendulkar’s most prized possession are 13 coins
Whenever he was exhausted at practice, Tendulkar’s coach Ramakant Achrekar would place a one-rupee coin on the top of the stumps. If Tendulkar passed the whole session without getting dismissed, he would win the coin, otherwise the bowler gets it. This way he collected 13 coins which are now his most prized possession.
Tendulkar served as a ball boy
He was made a ball boy in the 1987 Cricket World Cup when India played against England in the semifinal in Mumbai. Who knew he would make India win the World Cup 24 years later!
Tendulkar was a substitute fielder
Although he was selected to represent Mumbai in the 1987-88 Ranji Trophy, he was not selected for the final 11 in any of the matches and was often used as a substitute fielder.
At a very young age, Tendulkar ruled cricket
He took up cricket at the age of 11, made his Test debut against Pakistan at 16 and represented Mumbai domestically and India internationally at 24.

It was love at first sight for Tendulkar and his wife Anjali
Tendulkar was returning from his first international cricket tour in 1990 and met Anjali at the Mumbai airport who came to receive her mother. Their eyes met and smiles were passed. They instantly fell in love!

Tendulkar is the only player to score 100 international centuries
His total of 51 centuries in Test matches and 49 in One Day Internationals are world records for the highest number of centuries by a batsman. He is also the first batsman to score a double century in an ODI, the holder of the record for the number of runs in both ODI and Test cricket

Tendulkar is the only player to complete more than 30,000 runs in international cricket
He became the first cricketer to make 30,000 international runs, on the final day of the first Test between India and Sri Lanka in Ahmedabad.
Tendulkar has a die-hard fan
He has so millions of fans but there is something special about this one fan – Sudhir Kumar Gautam. You’ll recognize this fan through his tri-colored body paint. In 2003, Gautam forcefully met Tendulkar (literally fell on his feet) and managed to get himself invited to Tendulkar’s home. Ever since, Gautam is invited to every match India plays.

Tendulkar was the first group captain at the Indian Air Force without aviation degree
He was the first sportsperson and the first person without an aviation background to be awarded the honorary rank of group captain by the Indian Air Force.
Happy Birthday the God of Cricket!