Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar-The Deity of cricket

Full name Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar
Born April 24, 1973, Bombay (now Mumbai), Maharashtra
Current age 34 years 207 days
Major teams India, ACC Asian XI, Mumbai, Yorkshire
Nickname Tendlya, Little Master
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm offbreak, Legbreak googly
Height 5 ft 5 in
Education Sharadashram Vidyamandir School

Sachin Tendulkar has been the most wholesome batsman of his time, and arguably the biggest cricket icon as well. His batting is based on the purest principles: perfect balance, economy of movement, precision in stroke-making, and that intangible quality given only to geniuses, anticipation. If he doesn't have a signature stroke - the upright, back-foot punch comes close - it is because he is equally proficient in each of the full range of orthodox shots (and plenty of improvised ones as well) and can pull them out at will.

Though he has adopted a noticeably conservative approach in the last quarter of his career, there are no apparent weaknesses in Tendulkar's game. He can score all around the wicket, off both front foot and back, and has made runs in all parts of the world in all conditions.

Some of his finest performances have come against Australia, the overwhelmingly dominant team of his era. His century as a 19-year old on a lightning fast pitch at the WACA is considered one of the best innings ever to have been played in Australia. A few years later he received the ultimate compliment from the ultimate batsman when Don Bradman confided to his wife that Tendulkar reminded him of himself.

Blessed with the keenest of cricket minds, and armed with a loathing for losing, Tendulkar set about doing what it took to become one of the best batsmen in the world. This was after he was turned away from a fast-bowling camp in Chennai by Dennis Lillee.

Tendulkar's greatness was established early: he was only 16 when he made his made his Test debut. He was hit on the mouth by Waqar Younis but continued to bat, in a blood-soaked shirt. His first Test hundred, a match-saving one at Old Trafford, came when he was 17, and he had 16 Test hundreds before he turned 25. In 2000 he became the first batsman to have scored 50 international hundreds, and he currently holds the record for most hundreds in both Tests and ODIs - remarkable, considering he didn't score his first ODI hundred till his 79th match.

Tendulkar's considerable achievements seem greater still when looked at in the light of the burden of expectations he has had to bear from his adoring but somewhat unreasonable followers, who have been prone to regard anything less than a hundred as a failure. The aura may have dimmed, if only slightly, as the years on the international circuit have taken their toll on the body, but Tendulkar remains, by a distance, the most worshipped cricketer in the world.
Sambit Bal October 2007

Batting and fielding averages
	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	4s	6s	Ct	St
Tests	140	226	23	11150	248*	54.92			37	45		42	93	0
ODIs	406	396	37	15932	186*	44.37	18642	85.46	41	87	1741	166	120	0
T20Is	1	1	0	10	10	10.00	12	83.33	0	0	2	0	1	0
First-class	239	373	38	19894	248*	59.38			63	91			160	0
List A	493	481	51	19484	186*	45.31			52	105			155	0
Twenty20	5	5	0	198	69	39.60	119	166.38	0	2	30	5	2	0

Bowling averages
	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4w	5w	10
Tests	140	115	3718	2135	42	3/10	3/14	50.83	3.44	88.5	0	0	0
ODIs	406	263	7985	6774	154	5/32	5/32	43.98	5.09	51.8	4	2	0
T20Is	1	1	15	12	1	1/12	1/12	12.00	4.80	15.0	0	0	0
First-class	239		7077	4024	67	3/10		60.05	3.41	105.6		0	0
List A	493		10161	8402	201	5/32	5/32	41.80	4.96	50.5	4	2	0
Twenty20	5	4	57	65	2	1/12	1/12	32.50	6.84	28.5	0	0	0

Career statistics
Statistics	Statsguru Tests | Statsguru ODIs | Statsguru T20Is
Test debut	Pakistan v India at Karachi, Nov 15-20, 1989 scorecard
Last Test	England v India at The Oval, Aug 9-13, 2007 scorecard
ODI debut	Pakistan v India at Gujranwala, Dec 18, 1989 scorecard
Last ODI	India v Pakistan at Gwalior, Nov 15, 2007 scorecard
Only T20I	South Africa v India at Johannesburg, Dec 1, 2006 scorecard
First-class debut	1988/89
Last First-class	England v India at The Oval, Aug 9-13, 2007 scorecard
List A debut	1989/90
Last List A	India v Pakistan at Gwalior, Nov 15, 2007 scorecard
Twenty20 debut	South Africa v India at Johannesburg, Dec 1, 2006 scorecard
Last Twenty20	Bengal v Mumbai at Ahmedabad, Apr 19, 2007 scorecard