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Sachin Tendulkar (born 24 April 1973) is a former Indian cricketer and captain, widely acknowledged as one of the greatest cricketers of all time and by many as the greatest batsman of all time. He took up cricket at the age of eleven, made his Test debut on 15 November 1989 against Pakistan in Karachi at the age of sixteen, and went on to represent Mumbai domestically and India internationally for close to twenty-four years. He is the only player to have scored one hundred international centuries, the first batsman to score a double century in a One Day International, holds the record for most number of runs in both ODI and Test cricket, the only player to complete more than 30,000 runs in international cricket.
In 2002 just half way through his career, Wisden Cricketers' Almanack ranked him the second greatest Test batsman of all time, behind Don Bradman, and the second greatest ODI batsman of all time, behind Viv Richards. Later in his career, Tendulkar was a part of the Indian team that won the 2011 World Cup, his first win in six World Cup appearances for India. He had previously been named "Player of the Tournament" at the 2003 edition of the tournament, held in South Africa. In 2013, he was the only Indian cricketer included in an all-time Test World XI named to mark the 150th anniversary of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack.
Tendulkar received the Arjuna Award in 1994 for his outstanding sporting achievement, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award in 1997, India's highest sporting honour, and the Padma Shri and Padma Vibhushan awards in 1999 and 2008, respectively, India's fourth and second highest civilian awards. After a few hours of his final match on 16 November 2013, the Prime Minister's Office announced the decision to award him the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award. He is the youngest recipient to date and the first ever sportsperson to receive the award. He also won the 2010 Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for cricketer of the year at the ICC awards. In 2012, Tendulkar was nominated to the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Parliament of India. He was also 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. In 2012, he was named an Honorary Member of the Order of Australia.
In December 2012, Tendulkar announced his retirement from ODIs. He retired from Twenty20 cricket in October 2013 and subsequently announced his retirement from all forms of cricket, retiring on 16 November 2013 after playing his 200th and final Test match, against the West Indies in Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium. Tendulkar played 664 international cricket matches in total, scoring 34,357 runs.
Family
On 24 May 1995, at the age of 22, Tendulkar married Anjali, a paediatrician and daughter of Gujarati industrialist Anand Mehta and British social worker Annabel Mehta. Sachin's father-in-law, Anand Mehta, is a seven-time national bridge champion. Anjali is six years his senior. His wife Anjali said in an interview that she first met him at the Mumbai airport when he returned from his first tour of England in 1990, after scoring his maiden Test ton and when she was there to pick up her mother and Sachin was arriving with the Indian team. They had a courtship of five years and had got engaged in 1994 in New Zealand. They have two children, Sara (born 12 October 1997) and Arjun (born 24 September 1999). Arjun, a left handed batsman, has recently been included in under-14 probables list of Mumbai Cricket Association for off-season training camp. In January 2013 he was selected in Mumbai under-14 team for the west zone league.
National honours
In 2002 just half way through his career, Wisden Cricketers' Almanack ranked him the second greatest Test batsman of all time, behind Don Bradman, and the second greatest ODI batsman of all time, behind Viv Richards. Later in his career, Tendulkar was a part of the Indian team that won the 2011 World Cup, his first win in six World Cup appearances for India. He had previously been named "Player of the Tournament" at the 2003 edition of the tournament, held in South Africa. In 2013, he was the only Indian cricketer included in an all-time Test World XI named to mark the 150th anniversary of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack.
Tendulkar received the Arjuna Award in 1994 for his outstanding sporting achievement, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award in 1997, India's highest sporting honour, and the Padma Shri and Padma Vibhushan awards in 1999 and 2008, respectively, India's fourth and second highest civilian awards. After a few hours of his final match on 16 November 2013, the Prime Minister's Office announced the decision to award him the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award. He is the youngest recipient to date and the first ever sportsperson to receive the award. He also won the 2010 Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for cricketer of the year at the ICC awards. In 2012, Tendulkar was nominated to the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Parliament of India. He was also 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. In 2012, he was named an Honorary Member of the Order of Australia.
In December 2012, Tendulkar announced his retirement from ODIs. He retired from Twenty20 cricket in October 2013 and subsequently announced his retirement from all forms of cricket, retiring on 16 November 2013 after playing his 200th and final Test match, against the West Indies in Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium. Tendulkar played 664 international cricket matches in total, scoring 34,357 runs.
Family
On 24 May 1995, at the age of 22, Tendulkar married Anjali, a paediatrician and daughter of Gujarati industrialist Anand Mehta and British social worker Annabel Mehta. Sachin's father-in-law, Anand Mehta, is a seven-time national bridge champion. Anjali is six years his senior. His wife Anjali said in an interview that she first met him at the Mumbai airport when he returned from his first tour of England in 1990, after scoring his maiden Test ton and when she was there to pick up her mother and Sachin was arriving with the Indian team. They had a courtship of five years and had got engaged in 1994 in New Zealand. They have two children, Sara (born 12 October 1997) and Arjun (born 24 September 1999). Arjun, a left handed batsman, has recently been included in under-14 probables list of Mumbai Cricket Association for off-season training camp. In January 2013 he was selected in Mumbai under-14 team for the west zone league.
National honours
- 1994 – Arjuna Award, by the Government of India in recognition of his outstanding achievement in sports.
- 1997–98 – Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, India's highest honour given for achievement in sports.
- 1999 – Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian award.
- 2001 – Maharashtra Bhushan Award, Maharashtra State's highest Civilian Award.
- 2008 – Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian award.
- 2014 – Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award.
Other honours
- 1997 – Wisden Cricketer of the Year.
- 2002 – In commemorating Tendulkar's feat of equalling Don Bradman's 29 centuries in Test Cricket, automotive company Ferrari invited him to its paddock in Silverstone on the eve of the British Grand Prix on 23 July, to receive a Ferrari 360 Modena from the F1 world champion Michael Schumacher.
- 2003 – Player of the tournament in 2003 Cricket World Cup.
- 2004, 2007, 2010 – ICC World ODI XI.
- 2009, 2010, 2011 – ICC World Test XI.
- 2010 – Outstanding Achievement in Sport and the Peoples Choice Award at The Asian Awards in London.
- 2010 – Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World.
- 2010 – ICC Award-Sir Garfield Sobers trophy for cricketer of the year.
- 2010 – LG People's Choice Award.
- 2010 – Made an Honorary group captain by the Indian Air Force.
- 2011 – BCCI Cricketer of the Year award.
- 2011 – Castrol Indian Cricketer of the Year award.
- 2012 – Wisden India Outstanding Achievement award.
- 2012 – Honorary Life Membership of Sydney Cricket Ground
- 2012 – Honorary Member of the Order of Australia, given by the Australian government.
- 2013 – Indian Postal Service released a stamp of Tendulkar and he became the second Indian after Mother Teresa to have such stamp released in their lifetime.
