Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, born on 24 April 1973, is an Indian former international cricketer who led the Indian national team. Widely acclaimed as one of cricket’s greatest batsmen ever, he holds the distinction of being the highest run-scorer in both One Day Internationals (ODIs) and Test cricket, amassing over 18,000 runs in ODIs and 15,000 runs in Tests. Additionally, he holds the record for receiving the most player of the match awards in international cricket. Tendulkar also served as a Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha, from 2012 to 2018.
Tendulkar began his cricket journey at the age of eleven and made his Test debut at sixteen against Pakistan in Karachi on 15 November 1989. Over the span of more than 24 years, he represented Mumbai in domestic cricket and India internationally. In 2002, he was ranked by Wisden as the second-greatest Test batsman and the second-greatest ODI batsman of all time, following Don Bradman and Viv Richards, respectively. Tendulkar played a pivotal role in India’s joint-winning campaign at the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy and their victorious campaign at the 2011 Cricket World Cup, where he was named “Player of the Tournament”.
Throughout his illustrious career, Tendulkar received numerous accolades from the Government of India, including the Arjuna Award (1994), the Khel Ratna Award (1997), the Padma Shri (1998), and the Padma Vibhushan (2008). In recognition of his outstanding contributions, he was awarded the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honor, making him the first sportsperson to receive this distinction and the youngest recipient as of 2023. Time magazine included Tendulkar in its list of the most influential people in the world in 2010, and he was honored with the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for cricketer of the year at the 2010 ICC Awards.
Tendulkar retired from ODI cricket in 2012 and subsequently retired from all forms of cricket after playing his 200th Test match in November 2013. Across his career, he played a total of 664 international cricket matches, scoring 34,357 runs. In 2019, he was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. On his 50th birthday and the 30th anniversary of Brian Lara’s innings of 277 at the Sydney Cricket Ground, a set of gates was unveiled at the ground named after Tendulkar and Lara.
