Sachin Tendulkar

The 1983 Cricket world cup changed the perspective of many people in India. For others, cricket might just be a sport in which one team loses and the other wins but for us Indians cricket is everything and it has been followed by some crazy fans as a religion. We often hear the term ‘Cricket is a religion in India and Sachin is God’. There is no better statement that can justify the status of cricket and Sachin Tendulkar in India. Though there were many great cricketers before Sachin Tendulkar his transition story has inspired many people to work on their dreams. For few people, he is a god and for others, he is the epitome of success on which the future of Indian cricket is the judge. Throughout his career of 30 years, he has accomplished wonders for the Indian cricket team and that is why many people worship him as the God of cricket. In this essay on sachin tendulkar we will try to understand the life and the mindset of the greatest cricket player to have ever played the game.

Who is Sachin Tendulkar?

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar was born on 24 April 1973.His father’s name is Ramesh Tendulkar, who was a Marathi novelist who wrote many Marathi novels. His mother's name is Rajni Tendulkar. Sachin is a former Indian cricket player who was also the captain of the Indian national team in many events. He is considered to be the greatest batsman in the history of Indian Cricket after Sir Donald George Bradman and Sir Vivian Richards. Sachin is the highest run-scorer in international cricket and he is the only player to have scored one hundred international centuries. He is also the first batsman to score a double a hundred in a One-day Internationals(ODI), he is also the player to complete more than 30,000 runs in international cricket and is also the holder of the record for the most runs in both Test and ODI cricket. Sachin Tendulkar retired from international cricket in 2013. He is often termed as the little Master or the Master Blaster by many fans on the field and off the field, he is considered to be the God of cricket because of his accomplishments.

Sachin Tendulkar’s Early Life and Career:

Sachin Tendulkar was born in a middle-class family and he was very interested in cricket. Sachin took up cricket at the age of eleven and was very popular due to the school tournaments. He came into the limelight with a performance at his school tournament where he played an innings which is considered to change his life. He held a record partnership of 664 runs with Vinod Kambli playing in a school tournament. That inning allowed the selectors to see the talent and it is considered to be the inning that changed Sachin’s life as he became famous in a fortnight. Because of that inning, people all around the country got to know about a 16 years old kid that bats till the bowlers collapse. The Indian cricket team selectors did not waste time in selecting him and before anyone could have imagined Sachin Tendulkar was selected for the series against Pakistan only at the age of 16.

On 15 November 1989, Sachin Tendulkar made his international debut against Pakistan in Karachi. Pakistan’s cricket team was known for its bowling during those days where the combo of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis were considered to be the most dangerous bowling duo. But Sachin faced them gracefully and even made a few runs. A 16 years old boy was able to face the most feared bowlers of that time which opened the doors for him to be selected for future cricket matches and a chance to represent the Indian National team. Sachin Tendulkar in his autobiography has mentioned that the series against Pakistan was memorable to him as he got a chance to meet and learn to form his idols such as Kapil dev and Sunil Gavaskar.

The Rise of Sachin Tendulkar

During the years 1994-1999, Sachin Tendulkar was in his twenties and his performance was at its peak. He opened the batting against New Zealand in 1994 and made 84 runs from just 49 balls, He then went on and scored his first ODI century against Australia. It took him around 78 ODI’s to score his first century but it was worth the wait. During the1996 World Cup, Sachin went on and became the leading run-scorer in the tournament and he also scored two centuries during that tournament.

After the World cup tournament, Sachin played a great inning against Pakistan at Sharjah. Tendulkar made another century and also had the highest second-wicket partnership with Navjot Singh Sidhu. India then went on to win that match against Pakistan.

Sachin Tendulkar was again tested when India toured for Australia in the year 1998. Tendulkar had scored three consecutive centuries before the Australian tournament the Shane Warne, the leg spinner had dismantled top-class batsmen before the tournament. All eyes were on the clash between Sachin Tendulkar, Indians best batsman, and Shane Warne, Australia’s most feared spinner.

Tendulkar went on and scored an unbeaten 204 runs in the first test and also dismantled the bowling of Shane Warne where he conceded 111 runs to Tendulkar. Australia lost the match to India within three days and it was all because of the exceptional batting that a twenty years old had shown. The bad luck for Australia continued as Tendulkar went on and scored two consecutive centuries. The twin knocks by Sachin Tendulkar are known as the ‘Desert Storm’ as they allowed Tendulkar to show his supremacy to the world.

Sachin Tendulkar’s performance in the ICC 1998 quarterfinal at Dhaka paved the way for India’s entry into the semifinals in which he scored 141 runs and also took four Australian wickets. In March 1999, the inaugural Asian test championship was held between India, Pakistan, and Srilanka in which during the second test Tendulkar went on and scored his 19th international test century.

Sachin again showed his class in a Test against Pakistan at Chepauk in 1999, where he scored 136 in the fourth innings and made sure that India had a good. Despite all his effort, India lost the match to Pakistan by 12 runs. During the 1999 Cricket World cup, Sachin faced a tragic loss as his father, Professor Ramesh Tendulkar passed away. Sachin flew back to India to attend the final rituals of his father which led him to miss the match against Zimbabwe. However, Sachin returned back to the world cup and scored another century against Kenya. India went on and won the match. This shows the character that Sachin has for the country. In spite of his father’s death, he was determined to make India win the match and progress further in the tournament.

During the 2003 Cricket World cup tournament, Sachin was the highest run-scorer where he scored 673 runs in 11 matches and helped India reach the final. In the final match, India lost the world cup to Australia but Sachin Tendulkar was given the man of the tournament award.

Sachin Tendulkar - The Opener

The main contribution of Sachin Tendulkar was the way he changed the opening of cricket. The Indian team was struggling with opening batsmen as many of them were unable to give India a good start against any teams. The whole scenario changed when Sachin was given an opportunity to open the innings against New Zealand in 1992 and he made it count. After that match, he was the opening batsman for the Indian cricket team. Sachin Tendulkar became very good at opening innings which helped the Indian team to have a good start in the match. The major runs Sachin scored in ODI cricket is by opening the batting for India. India got an opening in the form of Sachin Tendulkar who was very good at scoring and helping to set the momentum for India.

India started to get a good start in the match because of the opening which Sachin provided. The opposition was always under pressure because of his opening as they had no answers to the world-class batting which Sachin showed in every match. One of the things that made Sachin great was his ability to score against a very good bowling unit. He was consistent in scoring hundreds against teams such as Australia, New Zealand, and England. He is still the player to have the highest runs against mighty Australia. During the period of 1990 -2000 Australian cricket teams were considered to be invisible. Playing against Australia was considered to be a nightmare for many batsmen but for Sachin, it was the same as scoring for any other team. He was able to tackle the toughest bowling unit and come out victorious.

Sachin Tendulkar and his Greatest Innings

There are many innings of Sachin Tendulkar that are remembered to this day. Some of his innings are:

Sachin Tendulkar became the first batsman to score a double century in a one-day international match. In the year 2010, Sachin Tendulkar went on and scored 200 runs in just 147 balls against South Africa in Gwalior. That inning is remembered by many crickets as it showed the caliber of Sachin Tendulkar to the world.

The second most memorable inning of Sachin Tendulkar was his knock against Pakistan in Rawalpindi where he scored 141 runs in just 135 balls. Despite Pakistan winning the match, Sachin Tendulkar was declared the man of the man.

Before getting recognized by the world for his talent, Sachin Tendulkar played a school cricket tournament match where he had a 664 runs partnership with Vinod Kambli. Sachin was only 16 years old when he played that match and is considered to be the turning point in Sachin Tendulkar’s life.

Sachin Tendulkar and his Personal Life

On 24 May 1995, Sachin Tendulkar married Anjali Mehta who is a pediatrician and is of Gujarati origin. He had first met Anjali in 1990.they have a daughter by the name Sara Tendulkar and a son by the name of Arjun Tendulkar who is also in the news because of his Indian premier league debut.

Sachin Tendulkar and his Retirement

On 10 October 2013, Sachin Tendulkar announced his retirement from all forms of cricket after a two-test match against the West Indies in November. The BCCI had arranged two farewell matches to be played at Kolkata and Mumbai. He scored 74 runs in his last test innings against West Indies and fell short of 79 runs to complete 16,000 runs in test cricket. The cricket association of Mumbai and Bengal had organized events to mark his retirement from the sport. Various politicians and international celebrities were present to witness the last inning of the master blaster.

Legacy of Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar was the perfect vehicle for heroism in new India. He had inspired many future cricket players such as Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni to pursue their careers in cricket. His career in test cricket started in 1989 when he was just 16 years olds and really expanded in the 1990s. He was the poster boy who helped the Indian cricket team to be recognized by the world. Sachin Tendulkar is the first and the only batsman to score 100 international centuries. He was the first batsman to excel in all three formats of the game. He finished his career as the highest run-scorer in the history of test match cricket.