My Favourite Sportsperson

Cricket is the sport that holds the hearts of the Indians in its grip. Indians are the craziest fans of this sport. They live their lives, experience their joys and sorrows, victories and defeats through it. That is why the cricketers are their living gods. People adore them more than anything else. They hold ‘Pujas’ for the soundness of their health, for the betterment of their playing abilities, and for securing and ensuring their victory in the matches. I am also a diehard fan of cricket and my deity is none other than the master-blaster Sachin Tendulkar.

Sachin Tendulkar is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket. He is the leading run-scorer and century-maker in Tests and one-day International Cricket. He is the first player to score a double century in the history of the One Day International (ODI) Cricket.

Born in Mumbai on 24th April 1973, Tendulkar was the son of a famous novelist of Marathi, Sh. Ramesh Tendulkar and Smt. Rajni, an employee in an Insurance firm. His father named him after his favourite Music Director, Sachin Dev Burman. Originally named as Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar as, Tendulkar began his cricketing career during his schooling at Sharadashram Vidyamandir High School under the guidance of his coach and mentor, Ramakant Achrekar. When he was young. Tendulkar would practice for hours on end in the nets. If he got tired, Achrekar would put a one-rupee coin on the top of the stumps that would go to the bowler who dismissed Tendulkar. The coin would go to Tendulkar if the bowlers failed to do so. Tendulkar now considers thirteen coins he won then as one of his most prized possessions. When he was fourteen, Indian batting legend Sunil Gavaskar gave him a pair of his own ultra-light pads which according to Tendulkar were “the greatest source of encouragement for me”. Years later, he surpassed Gavaskar’s world record of 34 Test Centuries. However on 24th May 1995. Sachin married Anjali, a pediatrician, and has two kids Sara and Arjun.

On December 11, 1988, Tendulkar aged just fifteen years scored 100 not out in his debut first-class match for Bombay against Gujarat making him the youngest Indian to score a century in his debut match. He is the only player to score a century in all three of his Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy, and Irani Trophy debuts. He played his first Test match against Pakistan in Karachi in 1989. Although he made just 15 runs, being bowled by Waqar Younis but was known for handling numerous blows to his body at the hands of the Pakistani pace attack. His passion and dedication for the game can be observed for the incident that took place in the final test in Sialkot. He was hit on the nose by a bouncer but he declined medical help and continued to bat even as blood gushed from it.

Tendulkar’s performance through the years 1994-1996 coincided with his physical peak in his early twenties. His rise continued when he was the leading run-scorer at the 1996 Cricket World Cup scoring two centuries. He was the only Indian batsman to perform in the infamous semifinal against Sri Lanka. This was the beginning of a period at the top of the batting world, culminating in the Australian tour of India in early 1998 when he scored three consecutive centuries. He single-handedly won the ICC 1998 quarterfinal at Dhaka to pave way for India’s entry into the semifinals, when he took four Australian wickets scoring 141 runs in just 128 balls. After flying back to India during the 1999 cricket World Cup to attend to the funeral rites of his father, Tendulkar scored 140 off 101 balls in his next match against Kenya, dedicating it to his father.

His two tenures as captain of the Indian team were not very successful but Tendulkar remains an integral part of the Indian team’s strategic processes. Former Captain Rahul Dravid publicly acknowledge his suggestions as the promotion of Irfan Pathan had a splendid effect on the team’s fortunes. Tendulkar made 673 runs in 11 matches in the 2003 Cricket World Cup helping India reach the final. On December 10, 2005, he scored his record-breaking 35th Test Century against the Sri Lankans.

During the period from 2005-07, Tendulkar’s batting often seemed to be a shadow of its former self. He was inconsistent, and his big knocks mostly came in sedate, accumulative, and uncharacteristic fashion. However, after 2007 World Cup, his career had a second wind and his form and consistency have returned. He showed exceptional form in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2007-08. In the controversial New Year’s Test at Sydney, he scored an unbeaten 154 as India lost the test. This was his third century at the SCG, earning him an average of 221.33 at the ground. Even in the 2-Test series against South Africa in 2010, Tendulkar made seven and hundred in the first Test and 106 in the first innings of the second test. He continues to give his best till date.

Tendulkar has been honoured with the Padma Vibhushan award and the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award. He became the first sportsperson and the first personality without an aviation background to be awarded the honorary rank of Group Captain by the Indian Air Force. He has received honorary doctorates from Mysore University and Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences. He also holds the world record for playing the highest number of Tests and ODI matches. He is the first and the only player in Test Cricket history to score fifty centuries and the first to score fifty centuries in all International Cricket combined. He now has 100 centuries in International Cricket to his credit.

A cricketer par excellence, an active philanthropist, Sachin has risen to become a role model and a youth icon. He is a source of inspiration for everybody who wants to achieve excellence. May he live long! May God bless him with more success and more happiness in life!