Sachin Tendulkar @ 42: The man and his game

During his memorable 24 years in cricket, he played 664 international cricket matches

He has retired from all forms of the game. But no chat on cricket is complete, even today, without one name — Sachin Tendulkar. The legendary cricketer, hailed as one of the greatest of all time, turned 42 on Friday.

An entire generation of cricket lovers that grew up watching Tendulkar play knew the game by his name, and him by the name of cricket — such was the majesty of this Mumbai boy who started playing at 11, and had already donned the India cap by time he was 16. Fondly called the Master Blaster, Tendulkar played international cricket for India for 24 years, during which he set several records that remain unbeaten and are likely to inspire many a young sportsman in the years to come. 

Tendulkar played his first international game, a Test match against Pakistan in Karachi, on November 15, 1989. And he ended his glorious career on November 16, 2013, after playing his 200th test match, against West Indies in Mumbai’s Wankhede stadium. During these 24 years, he played 664 international cricket matches — 463 one-day internationals (ODI), 200 Tests and one T20 international. 

The list of his career highlights and records seem endless but some consider his unbeaten 200 runs in an ODI innings — the first double ton in men’s international 50-over cricket — as his best. Also, he is the only player to have struck a century of centuries — the maestro has 100 tons under his name in international cricket.

Here are a few major achievements of the sport genius:

· Only player to have scored 100 international centuries

· First batsman to score a double century in an ODI

· Only player to score more than 30,000 runs in international cricket

· Holds the record for the highest number of centuries in both Tests (51) and ODIs (49)

· First batsman to score 12,000 runs, 13,000 runs, 14,000 runs, and 15,000 runs, in Test cricket

Again, the list of awards and accolades he has received seem endless. 

Here are a few prominent ones:

· The Arjuna Award (1994) 

· The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award (1997) — the highest honour in Indian sports

· The Padma Shri (1999)

· The Padma Vibhushan (2008)

· Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy as cricketer of the year at ICC awards (2010)

· The Bharat Ratna (2014) — the highest civilian award in India

Tendulkar's autobiography, Playing It My Way, released in November last year, receiving an overwhelming response. Today, he is a co-owner of Indian Super League football franchise Kerala Blasters, and is a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha. Also, 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.