Happy Birthday Sachin Tendulkar: Batting legend celebrates 51st birthday

Cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar celebrates his 51st birthday on Wednesday, April 24. The Indian cricketer, who goes by the moniker God of Cricket, was one of the most feared hitters in his heyday.

Tendulkar scored a grand total of 34,357 runs in international cricket (Tests, ODIs and T20Is) with 1oo centuries and 164 half-century knocks. Out of his 100 centuries, 49 hundreds came in the limited overs format while he scored 51 centuries in Tests.

A pivotal moment in his career came when he realised his lifelong dream of winning the World Cup, which the Indian team won in 2011, under Mahendra Singh Dhoni's captaincy.

Tendulkar made his international debut in November 1989 against Pakistan as a 16-year-old. He made a mark for himself and as the cliche goes, the rest is history. The Indian cricketing legend made nearly every batting record his own and was also awarded the Arjuna Award, the Khel Ratna, Padma Shri, Padma Vibhushan and the Bharat Ratna among several others.

Incidentally, Virat Kohli broke the record of 49 hundreds ODIs when he became the first batsman to score 50 tons in ODIs. He then famously bowed to Tendulkar, who was present in the stands to watch the game.

Tendulkar announced his retirement from ODI cricket in 2012 and in November 2013 he called it time over his Test career too. His last Test match was against the West Indies at the Wankhede Stadium, after playing 200 Test matches.

Tendulkar has dished out many classics in a long illustrious career. His iconic 98 against Pakistan at the 2003 World Cup, his timeless unbeaten 214 against Australia in Sydney, scoring the most runs in the 1996 World Cup, the first-ever double century in ODIs in 2010, and the ‘Desert Storm’ against Australia in Sharjah will always hold a special place in the hearts of cricket fans.