The Master Blaster will retire from Cricket after playing his 200th test on November 14. With several records under his belt and a batting style that no one could replicate, Sachin has established his name amongst the greatest cricketing giants in the history of cricket and will always be an inspiration to youngsters.
As he prepares to say goodbye to International Cricket, let's take a trip down memory lane.
1973-A star is born
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar was born on 24 April 1973 in Mumbai to a Marathi novelist father and mother who worked in the insurance sector. Interestingly, his father came up with the name "Sachin" after being inspired from Sachin Dev Burman, a music director.
According to Astroyogi astrologers, Sachin's sun sign is Taurus and is governed by the planet Venus. Those born under this sign are quite headstrong and work steadily towards their goals in life. His ruling number is 6 (2+4=6). Number 6 individuals are dedicated towards their goals in life-no matter what they are. They happen to be quite rich and are also often talented.
1984-The journey begins
During his early years, Sachin was very mischievous. It wasn't cricket but Tennis which was his favourite sport. He adored John McEnroe, a former world number 1 tennis player from the US. Sachin's elder brother Ajit introduced him to cricket in 1984 in order to direct his energy in something constructive. Under the aegis of Ramakant Achrekar, Sachin flourished as a cricketer. Soon, people started making prophesies about his bright future, which later proved to be true. He came to be known as a child protege in his school.
In 1987, at the age of 14, after dabbling in school and club cricket, Sachin went to MRF Pace Academy where famous Australian bowler Dennis Lillee rejected him, telling him to focus on his batting.
In 1988, Vinod Kambli and Sachin together broke the record for the highest run partnership in any form of the game in an interschool game when together they scored 664 runs. This record was broken in 2006, nearly 18 years later by two under 13 batsmen during a cricket match in Hyderabad.
1989-International debut
Sachin made his international debut at the young age of 16 years, 205 days in a test match against Pakistan in Karachi. Kris Srikkanth was the captain of the team at that time. Even though he scored a measly 15 runs in this debut, his talent was noticed and he went on two score a half century a few days later in the same test series. Not many know that Sachin served as the ball boy in the 1987 world cup semi final of India vs England in Mumbai.
1990-First test century
Sachin hit his maiden test century in 1990 against England. He made 119 not out.
1992-Scores 1000 runs
Sachin became the youngest cricketer to score more than 1000 runs. He is also the first cricketer to be run out by a third empire.
1994-First ODI century
It took Sachin 79 matches to score his first One Day International Century against Australia.
1995-Gets married to Anjali Mehta
He married Anjali Mehta, a pediatrician by profession who is also 6 years older to him.
2001-Scores 10,000 runs
In 2001, Sachin became the first batsman to score 10,000 runs in the history of cricket. In the same year he took his 100th wicket in ODI.
2004 - 2012-Breaks more records
In 2004, Sachin equaled Sunil Gavaskar's record of 34 test centuries. He also became the only player after Gary Kirsten and Steve Waugh to have hit centuries against all Test playing nations. His record breaking spree continued when he completed 10,000 runs in Test Cricket the next year in 2005 in his 122nd match. In 2009, he became the first batsman to amass 16,000 runs in ODIs. He also beat Brian Lara's record of 11953 runs, becoming the highest run scorer in test cricket.
In 2010, Sachin scored a double century in 147 balls against South Africa, becoming the first batsman to score a double century in ODIs. India won that match by a massive 153 runs.
In 2011, when India won the world cup, Sachin was the highest contributor of runs, making 482 runs.
2012-100th test century
Sachin's 100th test century came against Bangladesh, where he scored 114. In the same year, in the month of December, Sachin declared his retirement from the 50 over format of the game.
2013
Sachin calls it a day in test cricket.
Sachin may have hung up his boots, but his name has been etched in history as one of the greatest batting legends ever.