Sachin Tendulkar
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Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar (born 24 April 1973) is an Indian cricketer, universally acknowledged as one of the best batsmen of the modern era. He currently holds the record for the most number of runs in One-Day Internationals, and the most number of centuries scored both in One-Day Internationals and in Test cricket. He made his international debut against Pakistan in 1989 at sixteen, becoming India's youngest Test player. Primarily a top-order batsman, Tendulkar has occasionally proven a useful slow bowler. He received the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, India's highest sporting honour, for 1997-1998, and the civilian award Padma Shri in 1999. Tendulkar appeared on the front cover of the Indian edition of TIME magazine in 2002 when he was chosen as one of its "Asian Heroes". His prowess has earned him the nicknames "Little Master" (also accorded to Sunil Gavaskar) and "Master Blaster" (once used for Viv Richards). He also received the Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1997.
Early days
Born in Mumbai (then Bombay) into a middle-class family, Sachin Tendulkar was named after his family's favourite music director Sachin Dev Burman. He went to Sharadashram Vidyamandir School where he started his cricketing career under coach Ramakant Achrekar. While at school, he was involved in a mammoth 664 run partnership in a Harris Shield game with friend and team mate Vinod Kambli. In 1988/1989, he scored 100 not-out in his first first-class match, for Bombay against Gujarat. Aged 15 years 232 days, he was by some distance the youngest player to score a century on debut.
Sachin played his first international match against Pakistan in Karachi, facing the likes of Wasim Akram, Imran Khan, Abdul Qadir, and Waqar Younis. He scored just 15 runs, being bowled by Waqar Younis, who also made his debut in that match. It was an inauspicious start, but Tendulkar followed it up with his maiden Test fifty a few days later at Faisalabad. However, he could not get a century in that series. His One-day International (ODI) debut on December 18 was equally disappointing, where he was dismissed without scoring a run, again by Waqar Younis. The series was followed by a non-descript tour of New Zealand in which he fell for 88 in a Test match, John Wright, who would later coach India, poaching the catch that prevented Tendulkar from becoming the youngest centurion in Test cricket. The long anticipated maiden Test century came in England's tour in 1990 but the other scores were not remarkable. Tendulkar truly came into his own in the 1991-1992 tour of Australia that included a brilliant century on the fast and bouncy track at Perth. He has been man of the match 11 times in Test matches and Man of the Series twice, both times in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia.
His first ODI century came on September 9, 1994 against Australia in Sri Lanka at Colombo. It had taken Tendulkar 79 ODIs to score a century.
Sachin Tendulkar is the only player to score a century while making his Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy and Irani Trophy debut.
Wisden named Tendulkar one of the Cricketers of the Year in 1997, the first calendar year in which he scored 1,000 Test runs. He repeated the feat in 1999, 2001, and 2002.
Tendulkar also holds the record for scoring 1,000 ODI runs in a calendar year. He has done it six times - 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000 and 2003. In 1998 he made 1,894 ODI runs, still the record for ODI runs by any batsman in any given calendar year.
Personal life
Sachin Tendulkar married Anjali Mehta, the paediatrician daughter of Gujarati industrialist Anand Mehta, in 1995, some years after they were introduced by mutual friends. They have two children, Sara (born October 1997) and Arjun (born 23 September, 2000). It's said that Sachin named his daughter Sara after the Sahara Cup victory over Pakistan in Toronto, one of his firsts after becoming the captain of the Indian cricket team. Marriage and fatherhood have reinforced the social values instilled by his parents; Tendulkar now sponsors 200 under-privileged children every year through Apnalaya, a Mumbai-based NGO associated with his mother-in-law, Annabel Mehta. He is reluctant to speak about this, or other charitable activities, choosing to preserve the sanctity of his personal life despite the overwhelming media interest in him. Tendulkar has been seen taking his Ferrari 360 Modena for late-night drives in Mumbai. (Gifted by Fiat through Michael Schumacher, the car became notorious when Tendulkar was given customs exemption; Fiat paid the dues to end the controversy.)
Criticism and Recent Performance
The case against Sachin Tendulkar's recent performances was summed up by no less than Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in its 2005 edition: "Apart from a glorious, nothing-to-lose 55 against Australia on a Mumbai terrortrack, watching Tendulkar became a colder experience: after his humbling 2003, he seemed to reject his bewitching fusion of majesty and human frailty in favour of a mechanical, robotic accumulation."
The criticism must be seen against the backdrop of Tendulkar's performance through the years 1994-1999, coinciding with his physical peak, at age 20 through 25. Tendulkar was told to open the batting at Auckland against New Zealand in 1994 [1]. He went on to make 82 runs off 49 balls. This was the beginning of a glorious period, culminating in the Australian tour of 1998-1999, following which Australian spinner Shane Warne ruefully joked that he was having nightmares about his Indian nemesis.
Tendulkar's batting slumped in 1999. A chronic back problem flared up when Pakistan toured India in 1999, with India losing the historic Test at Chepauk despite a gritty century from Tendulkar himself. Worse was to come as Professor Ramesh Tendulkar, Sachin's father, died in the middle of the 1999 cricket World Cup. Tendulkar, appointed captain once again, then led India on a tour of Australia, where the visitors were blown away by the newly-crowned world champions.
Tendulkar lost the captaincy to Sourav Ganguly in 2000. He played a minor part in the Indo-Australian encounters of 2001, hailed as one of the greatest series in Test history. The batting heroics of V. V. S. Laxman and a rejuvenated Rahul Dravid carried the day for India at a memorable Test in Eden Gardens, along with the dramatic spin of Harbhajan Singh. The drawn series as India toured Australia in 2003-2004 again saw Dravid and Laxman coming to the fore, helped with superb bowling from Anil Kumble and Ajit Agarkar. Tendulkar could make his mark only in the last Test of the series, with a double century in Sydney.
Amidst criticism on his form, Tendulkar cameback in roaring fashion in the World Cup 2003 where India lost only to Australia in the whole tournament. Tendulkar then made 592 runs in 10 innings in the 2003 World Cup, helping India reach the finals. His World Cup campaign included 5 fifties and 1 century. A swashbuckling 98 against Pakistan helped ensure that India's arch-rivals were eliminated from the tournament. He was awarded Man of the Series in the World Cup.
Tennis elbow then took its toll on Tendulkar. He was struggling to be fit for the home Test series against Australia. However, he overcame the injury, and displayed proof of it in fine fashion scoring a double hundred against Bangladesh.
Of late, as Wisden noted, Tendulkar has not been his old aggressive self. Expert opinion is divided on whether this is due to his increasing years or the lingering after-effects of injuries over 17 years at the highest level. On 10 December 2005, at Feroz Shah Kotla, he delighted his fans with a record-breaking 35th Test century, against the Sri Lankans. But doubts were raised once again when he averaged a mere 21 over three Test innings when India toured Pakistan in 2006. The subsequent criticism led former Pakistani opener Saeed Anwar to remind cricket fans that "form is temporary but class is permanent".
On 6 February 2006, Tendulkar scored his 39th ODI hundred, in a match against Pakistan. Tendulkar now has 16 more ODI tons than the man who is second on the list of ODI century-makers, Sourav Ganguly. He followed this up with a run-a-ball 42 in the second ODI against Pakistan on February 11 2006, and then a truly masterly 95 in hostile conditions on February 13 2006 in Lahore.
Early days
Born in Mumbai (then Bombay) into a middle-class family, Sachin Tendulkar was named after his family's favourite music director Sachin Dev Burman. He went to Sharadashram Vidyamandir School where he started his cricketing career under coach Ramakant Achrekar. While at school, he was involved in a mammoth 664 run partnership in a Harris Shield game with friend and team mate Vinod Kambli. In 1988/1989, he scored 100 not-out in his first first-class match, for Bombay against Gujarat. Aged 15 years 232 days, he was by some distance the youngest player to score a century on debut.
Sachin played his first international match against Pakistan in Karachi, facing the likes of Wasim Akram, Imran Khan, Abdul Qadir, and Waqar Younis. He scored just 15 runs, being bowled by Waqar Younis, who also made his debut in that match. It was an inauspicious start, but Tendulkar followed it up with his maiden Test fifty a few days later at Faisalabad. However, he could not get a century in that series. His One-day International (ODI) debut on December 18 was equally disappointing, where he was dismissed without scoring a run, again by Waqar Younis. The series was followed by a non-descript tour of New Zealand in which he fell for 88 in a Test match, John Wright, who would later coach India, poaching the catch that prevented Tendulkar from becoming the youngest centurion in Test cricket. The long anticipated maiden Test century came in England's tour in 1990 but the other scores were not remarkable. Tendulkar truly came into his own in the 1991-1992 tour of Australia that included a brilliant century on the fast and bouncy track at Perth. He has been man of the match 11 times in Test matches and Man of the Series twice, both times in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia.
His first ODI century came on September 9, 1994 against Australia in Sri Lanka at Colombo. It had taken Tendulkar 79 ODIs to score a century.
Sachin Tendulkar is the only player to score a century while making his Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy and Irani Trophy debut.
Wisden named Tendulkar one of the Cricketers of the Year in 1997, the first calendar year in which he scored 1,000 Test runs. He repeated the feat in 1999, 2001, and 2002.
Tendulkar also holds the record for scoring 1,000 ODI runs in a calendar year. He has done it six times - 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000 and 2003. In 1998 he made 1,894 ODI runs, still the record for ODI runs by any batsman in any given calendar year.
Personal life
Sachin Tendulkar married Anjali Mehta, the paediatrician daughter of Gujarati industrialist Anand Mehta, in 1995, some years after they were introduced by mutual friends. They have two children, Sara (born October 1997) and Arjun (born 23 September, 2000). It's said that Sachin named his daughter Sara after the Sahara Cup victory over Pakistan in Toronto, one of his firsts after becoming the captain of the Indian cricket team. Marriage and fatherhood have reinforced the social values instilled by his parents; Tendulkar now sponsors 200 under-privileged children every year through Apnalaya, a Mumbai-based NGO associated with his mother-in-law, Annabel Mehta. He is reluctant to speak about this, or other charitable activities, choosing to preserve the sanctity of his personal life despite the overwhelming media interest in him. Tendulkar has been seen taking his Ferrari 360 Modena for late-night drives in Mumbai. (Gifted by Fiat through Michael Schumacher, the car became notorious when Tendulkar was given customs exemption; Fiat paid the dues to end the controversy.)
Criticism and Recent Performance
The case against Sachin Tendulkar's recent performances was summed up by no less than Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in its 2005 edition: "Apart from a glorious, nothing-to-lose 55 against Australia on a Mumbai terrortrack, watching Tendulkar became a colder experience: after his humbling 2003, he seemed to reject his bewitching fusion of majesty and human frailty in favour of a mechanical, robotic accumulation."
The criticism must be seen against the backdrop of Tendulkar's performance through the years 1994-1999, coinciding with his physical peak, at age 20 through 25. Tendulkar was told to open the batting at Auckland against New Zealand in 1994 [1]. He went on to make 82 runs off 49 balls. This was the beginning of a glorious period, culminating in the Australian tour of 1998-1999, following which Australian spinner Shane Warne ruefully joked that he was having nightmares about his Indian nemesis.
Tendulkar's batting slumped in 1999. A chronic back problem flared up when Pakistan toured India in 1999, with India losing the historic Test at Chepauk despite a gritty century from Tendulkar himself. Worse was to come as Professor Ramesh Tendulkar, Sachin's father, died in the middle of the 1999 cricket World Cup. Tendulkar, appointed captain once again, then led India on a tour of Australia, where the visitors were blown away by the newly-crowned world champions.
Tendulkar lost the captaincy to Sourav Ganguly in 2000. He played a minor part in the Indo-Australian encounters of 2001, hailed as one of the greatest series in Test history. The batting heroics of V. V. S. Laxman and a rejuvenated Rahul Dravid carried the day for India at a memorable Test in Eden Gardens, along with the dramatic spin of Harbhajan Singh. The drawn series as India toured Australia in 2003-2004 again saw Dravid and Laxman coming to the fore, helped with superb bowling from Anil Kumble and Ajit Agarkar. Tendulkar could make his mark only in the last Test of the series, with a double century in Sydney.
Amidst criticism on his form, Tendulkar cameback in roaring fashion in the World Cup 2003 where India lost only to Australia in the whole tournament. Tendulkar then made 592 runs in 10 innings in the 2003 World Cup, helping India reach the finals. His World Cup campaign included 5 fifties and 1 century. A swashbuckling 98 against Pakistan helped ensure that India's arch-rivals were eliminated from the tournament. He was awarded Man of the Series in the World Cup.
Tennis elbow then took its toll on Tendulkar. He was struggling to be fit for the home Test series against Australia. However, he overcame the injury, and displayed proof of it in fine fashion scoring a double hundred against Bangladesh.
Of late, as Wisden noted, Tendulkar has not been his old aggressive self. Expert opinion is divided on whether this is due to his increasing years or the lingering after-effects of injuries over 17 years at the highest level. On 10 December 2005, at Feroz Shah Kotla, he delighted his fans with a record-breaking 35th Test century, against the Sri Lankans. But doubts were raised once again when he averaged a mere 21 over three Test innings when India toured Pakistan in 2006. The subsequent criticism led former Pakistani opener Saeed Anwar to remind cricket fans that "form is temporary but class is permanent".
On 6 February 2006, Tendulkar scored his 39th ODI hundred, in a match against Pakistan. Tendulkar now has 16 more ODI tons than the man who is second on the list of ODI century-makers, Sourav Ganguly. He followed this up with a run-a-ball 42 in the second ODI against Pakistan on February 11 2006, and then a truly masterly 95 in hostile conditions on February 13 2006 in Lahore.
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