APART FROM lots criticism by former coach (Greg Chappell), many politicians and the media commented on Sachin’s low performance and inability to play any further. But, Sachin Tendulkar never looked behind and proved himself as the a real hero. Tendulkar is the highest run scorer in both Test matches and ODIs (one day international matches) and also the batsman with the most centuries in these two forms of the game. On October 17, when he surpassed Brian Lara’s record for the most runs scored in Test cricket, he also became the first batsman to score 12,000 runs in that form of the game. Tendulkar had been the third batsman and first Indian to pass 11,000 runs in Test cricket. He was also the first player to score 10,000 runs in one-day internationals.

Tendulkar was born on April 24, 1973 in Mumbai (financial capital of India). His father, Ramesh Tendulkar, a Marathi novelist, named Tendulkar after his favourite music director-Sachin Dev Burman. His elder brother, Ajit, encouraged him to play cricket. Tendulkar has two other siblings, brother Nitin and sister Savitai.

Tendulkar attended Sharadashram Vidyamandir, where he began his cricketing career under the guidance of his coach and mentor, Ramakant Archarya. During his school days he attended the MRF Pace Foundation to train as a fast bowler. But fast bowling guru Dennis Lille was unimpressed and suggested Tendulkar to ’just focus’ on his batting.

When he was young, Tendulkar would practice for hours on end in the nets. When he felt exhausted Achrekar would put a one rupee coin on the top of the stumps and the bowler who dismissed Tendulkar would get the coin. If Tendulkar passed the whole session without getting dismissed, the coach would give him the coin. Tendulkar now considers the 13 coins he won then as his most prized possessions.

While at school, he developed a reputation as a child prodigy. He had become a common conversation point in Mumbai circles, where there were suggestions already that he would become one of the greats. His season in 1988 was extraordinary, scoring a century in every innings he played. He was involved in an unbroken 664-run partnership in a Lord Harris Shield inter-school game in 1988 with friend and team-mate, Vinod Kambli, who also went on to represent India. The destructive pair reduced one bowler to tears and made the rest of the opposition unwilling to continue the game. Tendulkar scored 326 in this innings and scored over a thousand runs in the tournament. This was a record partnership in any form of cricket, until 2006 when it was broken by two under-13 batsmen in a match held at Hyderabad in India.

When he was 14, Indian batting legend, Sunil Gavaskar gave him a pair of his own ultra light pads. “It was the greatest source of encouragement for me”, he said nearly 20 years later, after surpassing Gavaskar’s top world record of 34 Test centuries. This was in the same year as his first-class debut. Tendulkar never played for any under-19 team, crossing straight into the seniors.

In 1995, Sachin Tendulkar married Anjali (born November 10, 1967), the daughter of Gujarati industrialist, Anand Mehta. They have two children, Sara (born October 12, 1997) and Arjun (born September 24, 1999).

Tendulkar sponsors 200 underprivileged children every year through Apnalaya, a Mumbai-based NGO (Non-Governmental Organisation) associated with his mother-in-law, Annaben Mehta. He is reluctant to speak about his charitable activities choosing to preserve the sanctity of his personal life despite media interest in him. The One-Day International Commonwealth Bank Tri-Series, involving Sri Lanka and Australia, Sachin became the first and only batsman to complete 16,000 runs in ODIs. He achieved this feat against Sri Lanka on February 5, 2008 at Brisbane. He started the CB series well notching up scores of 10, 35, 44 and 32, but could not convert the starts into bigger scores. His form dipped a bit in the middle of the tournament, but Sachin came back strongly in India’s must-win game against Sri Lanka at Hobart, scoring 63 off 54 balls. He finished the series with a match winning 117 not out of 120 balls in the first final and 91 runs in the second final.

Sir Donald Bradman, the greatest batsman of all time, considered Tendulkar to have a batting style similar to his. In his biography, it is stated, “Bradman was most taken by Tendulkar’s technique, compactness and shot production and had asked his wife to have a look at Tendulkar, having felt that Tendulkar played like him. Bradman’s wife, Jessie, agreed that they did appear similar”.

Sachin is an excellent bowler as well, he can deliver medium pace, leg spin and off spin with a beautiful action. Tendulkar was the highest run scorer of the 2003 and 1996 cricket world cups.

At last, a player like Sachin Tendulkar is born once in the world, who can put the name of nation to such heights. He is a real super hero and pioneer in India.