India's batting legend, revered as the God of cricket, celebrates his 51st birthday on Wednesday, April 24.
Since that day against Pakistan in 1989, when a 16-year-old Sachin Tendulkar became the youngest Indian cricketer to play in an international match, the kid grew into a cricketer that went on to rewrite numerous batting records in his name, including the first to score 100 international centuries.
Such was his aura that even Sir Don Bradman once said that Sachin was the closest when it came to picking someone who batted like the Australian legend.
Sachin, who finished his career with 18,426 runs in ODIs and 15,921 runs in Tests, fulfilled his dream of winning the World Cup in 2011 under the captaincy of MS Dhoni.
Of his 100 international centuries, 51 came in Tests and 49 in ODIs. Virat Kohli broke his record in ODIs by becoming the first batsman to score 50 centuries in ODIs. He then famously bowed to Sachin, who was present in the stands to watch the game.
He quit playing ODI cricket in 2012 and a year later, in November 2013, bid adieu to the game by retiring from all forms of cricket after playing his 200th Test.
He entertained the cricket world in 664 international appearances and put up a mountain of 34,357 runs at the world stage.
