Tendulkar, Sachin
Sachin Tendulkar
1973-
Indian cricket player
The "Super Natural," the "Willow Prince," "the King," and even "a god" are terms that have been used to describe Indian cricket batsman Sachin Tendulkar, yet he refers to himself as a normal person who is satisfied with being counted among the best batsmen in the world. A young prodigy, Tendulkar began playing cricket as a toddler and at age sixteen was selected to play on India's national team. In 2001 he became the first batsman to score a total of 10,000 runs in one-day cricket. He is an idol in his native India, where he lives humbly even though his salary and product endorsements have made him the world's wealthiest cricket player. Still at the top of his game in 2003, Tendulkar is sometimes compared to the great West Indian cricketer Vivian Richards and to Australian cricket legend Don Bradman , who died in 2001 at age 92.
Thirteen Coins
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar was born April 24, 1973, in Bombay (now Mumbai), India. His father, Ramesh Tendulkar, was a language professor; he died in 1999. Sachin has two brothers and a sister. He began playing cricket at age 2 1/2, with his nanny in the family's backyard, using a broomstick for a bat. As he grew, he began playing street cricket with neighborhood children, and
after watching the World Cup on television at age ten, he began to get serious about the game. Although left-handed, he learned to bat with his right hand as a youth. Street rules required players to bat with their nonpreferred hand to increase their chances of being eliminated. After the family moved close to Shivaji Park in Bombay, Sachin's game began to improve. At ages twelve and thirteen, he was practicing and playing school matches a total of twelve hours a day on some days. He once played fifty-four matches in a row. His coach, Ramakant Acherkar, encouraged Sachin to play his hardest by placing a rupee on top of one of his wicket stumps and offering the money to anyone who got Sachin out. If no one did, Sachin won the money. He still treasures thirteen of the coins he won in that way.
At age thirteen, Sachin scored his first century (100 runs) at school, and the following year he was invited to a net session with the Indian professional team. At age fifteen, he and a friend set a world record of runs (664) for his school, and at sixteen, Sachin was picked to play his first Test match for India against Pakistan. His father signed the papers for him, because Sachin was too young. By age seventeen, Sachin had toured New Zealand and England with the team. On the England tour he scored a match-saving 119 points, which made him the second youngest test century-maker ever. From there, his career has become better each year. On March 31, 2001, he became the first batsman to score 10,000 runs in one-day cricket, setting this record during a five-match series against Australia. He has broken the world record for maximum centuries in International cricket and continues to set records with every passing season. At the end of 2002 he was ranked third in the world in Test batting and was preparing for a forty-seven-day tour of New Zealand, after recovering from a hamstring injury.
India's Idol
For a country in love with the sport of cricket, Sachin Tendulkar has become a national treasure, idolized by millions. Cricket players the world over consider him probably the most complete batsman the game has ever seen. He is so skillful that there is practically no shot he cannot play. Bowlers dread facing him, because he is unflappable and succumbs to none of their tricks. Ace Australian bowler Shane Warne once said Tendulkar gave him nightmares.
The 5'5" boyish star is mobbed by fans wherever he goes in India, except for his old neighborhood in Mumbai, where he still plays cricket with friends and is treated like a normal person. Every televised game he plays becomes a national event, and the details of his life are a national obsession. He is accustomed to the fuss but remains humble, in spite of the fact that he is the world's wealthiest cricketer and appears in about one-fourth of all Indian television commercials, so prolific are his endorsements.
Tendulkar is the first Indian to achieve such heights in both sports and media stardom. Over his career, he has helped to bring Indian cricket from a little-televised sport to a major national pastime. His talent and skill place him in the world annals of cricket, with the best of players from any country. Yet, he humbly said, in 1999, "I've never thought of myself as the best batsman in the world. My ambition was to be considered one of the best, and to stay there."
Chronology
| 1973 | Born April 24 in Bombay (now Mumbai), India |
| 1975 | At age 2 1/2, begins hitting ball with a broomstick in his backyard |
| 1983 | Watches World Cup cricket match on television and becomes seriously interested in the game |
| 1986 | Scores his first century (100 runs) in his school, at age 13 |
| 1987 | Is invited by captain of Indian team to a net session with the team |
| 1988 | With friend Vinod Kambli, sets world record of 664 runs for Shardashram School at inter-school tournament; at age 15, scores 100no (not out) in his first-class debut for Bombay team |
| 1989 | Scores 103no at one-day debut for Bombay team |
| 1989-90 | At age 16, is selected to play for India against Pakistan, making his international debut in One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and Test matches. On a tour of New Zealand, scores 88, just short of being the youngest century-maker in a test match |
| 1990 | Tours England and scores 119 in a match, making him the second-youngest test century-maker |
| 1995 | Signs first contract with WorldTel, for five-year commercial endorsements and marketing deal that will make him the world's richest cricket player |
| 1996 | Is appointed captain of Indian team—will serve until early 1998 |
| 1997 | Daughter, Sarah, is born to Tendulkar and wife, Anjali, in October |
| 1998 | Makes 155 runs against Australia in Madras (now Chennai), India; meets 90-year-old Australian cricket master Sir Donald Bradman |
| 1999 | Begins having back pain in January—doctors later determine scar tissue in his lower vertebrae had become inflamed, but problem can be quickly corrected; bats in India's first World Cup match, against South Africa; flies home from match in England when father dies of cardiac arrest in mid-May; is again named captain of Indian team, in July; second child, a son, is born September 23 |
| 2001 | Is invited to Bradman's 92nd birthday party, shortly before his death at 92; becomes first batsman to score 10,000 runs in one-day cricket, setting this record in third game of five-match series against Australia on March 31; re-signs with WorldTel; in November, is accused of tampering with cricket ball at match in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, and fined |
| 2002 | Pulls out of seven-match India-West Indies series with hamstring injuries; makes his thirtieth Test century, one more than Bradman; at end of November ranks third in international Test ratings, with 856 points and 58.46 average |
Awards and Accomplishments
| Has broken the record for maximum centuries in International cricket (One-Day Internationals + Test matches) | |
| 1992 | Became youngest player to score 1,000 runs |
| 1997 | Voted Wisden Cricketer of the Year |
| 1998 | Received Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, India's highest honor for achievement in sports, for the year 1997 |
| 1999 | Received Padma Shri Award, bestowed by India's president, the nation's highest civilian honor |
| 2001 | On March 31, became first batsman to score 10,000 runs in one-day cricket |
| 2002 | On September 5, became youngest cricket player to play 100th Test match |
CONTACT INFORMATION
Address: c/o Mumbai Cricket Association, Wankhede Stadium, D. Road, Churchgate, Mumbai, India 400020. Fax: 022-2811795. Phone: 022-2817851. Email: mca@cricinfo.com. Online: http://www.tendulkar.cricinfo.com.
FURTHER INFORMATION
Periodicals
Joshi, Ruchir. "Bat out of Heaven: Many Factors Divide India, but Two Things Unite it: Cricket and a Star Named Sachin Tendulkar." Time International (April 29, 2002): 40.
Other
Brenkley, Stephen. "The Price of Being a God." CricInfo. http://www-usa.cricket.org/ (December 3, 2001).
CricInfo. "Sachin Tendulkar." http://www-usa.cricket.org/ (January 24, 2003).
CricInfo. "Sachin Wins Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award." http://www-usa.cricket.org/ (August 12, 1998).
CricInfo. "Tendulkar Conferred 'Padma Shri'." http://www-usa.cricket.org/ (March 23, 1999).
Hughes, Simon. The Electronic Telegraph. "The Super Natural." http://www-usa.cricket.org/ (May 8, 1999).
"I Did Not Want to Be Indian Captain Says Tendulkar." Agence France Press. http://www-usa.cricket.org/ (July 30, 1999).
Lamb, Stephen. "Sachin Tendulkar: Masterful." CricInfo. http://www-usa.cricket.org/ (May 23, 2002).
LiveIndia.com. "Indian Cricket Test Records." http://www.liveindia.com/cricket/ (January 27, 2003).
LiveIndia.com. "Profile of Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar." http://www.liveindia.com/cricket/ (January 27, 2003).
Longley, Geoff. "Tendulkar Finds Fatherhood 'Charming'." The Christchurch Press (New Zealand). http://www-usa.cricket.org/ (December 21, 1998).
Mumbai Cricket Association. http://www-usa.cricket.org/ (January 27, 2003).
"Ponting Overtakes Tendulkar in Test Batting Ratings." IndiaExpress Bureau. http://www.indiaexpress.com/ (November 25, 2002).
Ramchand, Partab. "A Different Sort of Century." CricInfo. http://www-usa.cricket.org./ (September 4, 2002).
Ramchand, Partab. "Tendulkar Will Be Back in Action Soon." CricInfo. http://www-usa.cricket.org/ (September 15, 1999).
Reuters News Service. "Tendulkar Greater Than Bradman, Says Gavaskar." http://www-usa.cricket.org/ (August 24, 2002).
"Tendulkar Re-Signs With WorldTel." CricInfo. http://www-usa.cricket.org/ (May 17, 2001).
"Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan Fit for New Zealand Series." CricInfo. http://www-usa.cricket.org/ (November 23, 2002).
Vasu, Anand. "Former Cricketers Express Anger at Denness' Decision." CricInfo. http://www-usa.cricket.org/ (November 20, 2001).
Vasu, Anand. "Tendulkar Junior Born Yesterday." CricInfo. http://www-usa.cricket.org/ (September 24, 1999).
"World Cup Star Tendulkar Flies Home after Father's Death." Agence France Press. http://www-usa.cricket.org/ (May 19, 1999).
Sketch by Ann H. Shurgin