During his initial days in international cricket, he attained the epithet of wiz kid, which he justified with perfection. Sachin began hogging limelight at an early age, his record breaking mammoth partnership of 664 in 1988 during the inter school tournament Harris Shield, with Vinod Kambli made him a cricket star in waiting, Sachin scored 326 in that memorable match.

 

When he was only 14, former cricket great, Sunil Gavaskar showered him with praise and even said that he would be one of the masters of the game in future. Gavaskar gave him his pair of pads, which Tendulkar took as a lucky charm, wearing this pair in his Test debut in 1989 on November 15. "It was a great source of encouragement for me," said Sachin when he beat Gavaskar's world record of 34 Test centuries in 2005.

There are many interesting facts about Sachin Tendulkar and his cricket guru Ramakant Achrekar. According to a former disciple of Achrekar, Naresh Churi, “I had passed out of school when Sachin joined him. I would often go to the nets and see him. Sir had a special net for the extra talented Sachin. Once I saw him hit the ball in the air and asked Acharekar why Sachin was not keepin the ball along the ground like the others. He told me that when Sachin hits the ball, he not only middles the ball but he clears the ground. Plus he doesn’t get out when he lifts the ball. I appreciated the logic and I knew then that Sachin was special, waiting to explode in the world of cricket.”

 

When he was only 15, Tendulkar was selected to represent the Bombay team in the first class tournament during the 1988/89 season. In this season, Sachin scored a century in his debut match in the prestigious Ranji Trophy tournament and was the highest scorer for Bombay in the first season itself. His stroke play, dedication and defence impressed selectors and he was picked for the national side that toured Pakistan in 1989, under the captainship of K Srikant.