Facts about Sachin Tendulkar
1. Sachin Tendulkar started off with centuries in
his debut matches in the Ranji, Duleep and Irani Trophy. No other
domestic cricketer has been able to break this record till now.
2. Sachin Tendulkar
was done in by a sharp bouncer from Zimbabwe’s Henry Olonga in a league
match at Sharjah in 1998. In the final match against the same
opposition, Tendulkar had his revenge as he smashed the bowler all
around the ground and belted an unbeaten 118 runs.
3. Sachin Tendulkar
is a big fan of tennis legend John McEnroe. In his formative years,
McEnroe was Tendulkar’s idol. The young Sachin pleaded his parents to
get a similar headband and wristbands like McEnroe. Also take one look
at his childhood snaps and the McEnroe styled shock of hair on his head
tells everything.
4. Sachin Tendulkar was named after the great musician SD Burman. Sachin’s father’s, Ramesh Tendulkar was a big fan of SD’s music.
5. Sachin Tendulkar was led onto the field on his Ranji debut by his then captain, Ravi Shastri.
6. Sachin Tendulkar
was gifted a Ferrari 360 Modena by F1 champion Michael Schumacher in
2002. Ferrari presented the car to Sachin in honour of him equalling Don
Bradman’s record of 29 Test centuries.
7. Sachin Tendulkar
spoke to his favourite music star, Mark Knopfler, the lead guitarist of
the rock band, Dire Straits for the very first time during a programme
he was doing for the ESPN network. It was Sachin’s birthday and it
turned out to be a happy surprise for him.
8. Sachin Tendulkar
went to watch the movie Roja in 1995 with a beard and disguise. And it
all went wrong when his glasses fell off and the crowd in the cinema
hall recognised him.
9. Sachin Tendulkar returned
from a four-month tour of Australia after the 1992 World Cup and
immediately turned up to represent Kirti College in April 1992. That’s
some commitment from a cricketer who was already a superstar by then.
10. Sachin Tendulkar uses a very heavy bat at the crease, weighing 3.2lbs. Only South Africa's Lance Klusener used a heavier bat in world cricket.
11. Sachin Tendulkar wanted to become a fast
bowler, but when he was rejected by Dennis Lillee’s MRF Pace Foundation
in 1987. Lillee told the young Tendulkar to focus on his batting. The
other youngster turned away by Lillee along with Tendulkar was Sourav
Ganguly.
12. Sachin Tendulkar fielded for Pakistan as a substitute during a one-day practice match against India at the Brabourne Stadium in 1988.
13. Sachin Tendulkar
and Vinod Kambli set a world record partnership of 664 runs in the
Harris Shield, an inter-school tournament in Mumbai. Tendulkar scored an
unbeaten 326 runs and reportedly the mammoth stand literally drove the
opposition to tears.
14. Sachin Tendulkar at the age of 19 became the youngest Indian to play in county cricket.
15. Sachin Tendulkar had to wait for 79 matches for his first ODI century and by that time he had scored seven Test hundreds.
16. Sachin Tendulkar
was the first batsman to be given out by the Third-umpire. In 1992, on
the second day of the Durban Test, a Jonty Rhodes throw caught Tendulkar
short of the crease. After watching TV replays he was adjudged out.
17. Sachin Tendulkar
made his Test debut in 1989 against Pakistan in Karachi. In the same
match, Pakistani pacer Waqar Younis also played his first Test match
ever.
18. Sachin Tendulkar went to Sharadashram
Vidyamandir School only after coach Ramakant Achrekar saw his batting
potential. Achrekar was the cricket coach of Sharadashram Vidyamandir
School. Before enrolling at Shardashram, Tendulkar went to New England
School of Indian Education Society in East Bandra
19. The first brand which
Sachin Tendulkar
endorsed was the health drink ‘Boost.’ He was seen alongside Kapil Dev
in many of their ad films, the start of which happened in 1990.
20. English fast bowler Allan Mulally playing in his debut Test against India complained that
Sachin Tendulkar
was batting with a bat broader than the normal willow. That’s how much
Tendulkar had psyched the bowler with his brilliant batting.
21. Sachin Tendulkar was without a bat contract
until the start of the 1996 Cricket World Cup. At the end of the
tournament a famous tyre manufacturer sponsored his willow.
22. Sachin Tendulkar
was a big bully in the school. Whenever his friend introduced him to a
new kid in the school, Tendulkar would invariably ask, “Will I be able
to beat him?’ He was famous for picking up a fight.
23. Sachin Tendulkar
asked his friend to dip the tennis ball in a bucket of water and hurl
at him so that he could find out whether he was hitting ball from the
middle of his bat.
24. Sachin Tendulkar has
been granted the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Arjuna Award and Padma Shri by
Indian government. He is the only Indian cricketer to get all of them.
25. Sachin Tendulkar
played for Yorkshire what was so special about it? Well, he was the
county side’s first overseas professional ever. He averaged 46.52 with
the bat in his stint with the county team.
26. Sachin Tendulkar's wife Anjali does not eat or drink whenever the Master is at the crease.
27. Sachin Tendulkar was most fascinated by band-aids. A hint of a wound and he would plaster it all over the injury.
28. Sachin Tendulkar loves collecting perfumes and watches.
29. Sachin Tendulkar batted in his debut Test against Pakistan wearing the pads gifted to him by Sunil Gavaskar
30. In 1992
Sachin became the youngest cricketer to reach a 1000 runs in Test cricket
31. Ashley Giles was the first bowler to get him stumped out in Test cricket in 2002
32. Sachin’s record of five test centuries before he turned 20 is a current world record.
33. Tendulkar is the only player who has 40 wkts and more than 11000 runs in Tests
34.
Sachin Tendulkar has the most number of Stadium Appearances: 90 different Grounds
35. Sachin Tendulkar
with Sourav Ganguly hold the world record for the maximum number of
runs scored by the opening partnership. They have put together 6,271
runs in 128 matches.
36. He has 20 century partnerships for opening pair with Sourav Ganguly is a world record.
37.
Tendulkar has scored most Centuries in a calendar year: 9 ODI centuries in 1998.
38. In 1998 he made 1,894 ODI runs, a record for ODI runs by any batsman in a calendar year.