Awards

1994 : Arjuna Award Receipient for achievements in Cricket
1997 : Tendulkar was one of the five cricketers selected as Wisden Cricketer of the Year
1997/98 : Sachin Tendulkar received India's highest sporting honour - Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna
1999 : Awarded Padma Shri - India's civilian medal of recognition

Early Career

Tendulkar played his first Test match against Pakistan in Karachi in 1989 under the leadership of Kris Srikkanth. According to Cricinfo's Andrew Miller and Martin Williamson, India took an unconventional approach to combating the Pakistani pace attack by calling up a "baby-faced 16-year-old with one season of first-class cricket to his name". He made just 15 runs, being bowled by Waqar Younis, who also made his debut in that match, but was impressive in how he handled numerous blows to his body at the hands of the Pakistani pace attack.[22] Tendulkar followed it up with his maiden Test fifty a few days later at Faisalabad. His One Day International (ODI) debut on December 18 was disappointing. He was dismissed without scoring a run, again by Waqar Younis. The series was followed by a tour of New Zealand in which he fell for 88 in the Second Test. His maiden Test century came in the next tour, to England in August 1990 at Old Trafford. Tendulkar further enhanced his development into a world-class batsman during the 1991–1992 tour of Australia that included an unbeaten 148 in Sydney (the first of many battles against Shane Warne who made his debut in the match) and a century on the fast and bouncy track at Perth. Merv Hughes famously commented to Allan Border at the time that "This little prick's going to get more runs than you, AB."

Style of Play

Tendulkar is ambidextrous: He bats, bowls, and throws with his right hand, but writes with his left hand. also practices left-handed throws at the nets on a regular basis. Cricinfo columnist Sambit Bal has described him as the "most wholesome batsman of his time". batting is based on complete balance and poise while limiting unnecessary movements and flourishes. He appears to show little preference for the slow and low wickets which are typical in India, and has scored many centuries on the hard, bouncy pitches in the Caribbean Islands and Australia. He is known for his unique punch style of hitting the ball over square. He is also renowned for his picture-perfect straight drive, often completed with no follow-through. Recently, legendary Indian batsman Sunil Gavaskar, in an article he wrote in the AFP, remarked that "it is hard to imagine any player in the history of the game who combines classical technique with raw aggression like the little champion does".

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 that "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."
Tendulkar at the crease.

Former Australian cricket team coach John Buchanan voiced his opinion that Tendulkar had become susceptible to the short ball early in his innings because of a lack of footwork. Buchanan also believes Tendulkar has a weakness while playing left-arm pace. He was affected by a series of injuries since 2004. Since then Tendulkar's batting has tended to be less attacking. Explaining this change in his batting style, he has acknowledged that he is batting differently due to that fact that No batsman can bat the same way for the entire length of a long career and He is a senior member of the team now and thus has more responsibility. During the early part of his career he was a more attacking batsman and frequently scored centuries at close to a run a ball. Ian Chappell, former Australian player, recently remarked that "Tendulkar now, is nothing like the player he was when he was a young bloke". However, during the latest tour of Australia in 2008, Tendulkar displayed glimpses of his attacking style with several masterful innings, dominating attacks in a manner reminiscent of his younger days.

While Tendulkar is not a regular bowler, he is adept at bowling medium pace, leg spin, and off spin with equal ease. He often bowls when two batsmen of the opposite team have been batting together for a long period, as he can often be a useful partnership breaker. With his bowling, he has helped secure an Indian victory on more than one occasion. He is the 9th highest wicket taker for India in ODIs.

Biography

Name: Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar
Nick Name: The Master Blaster, The Little Champion, The Bombay Bomber
DOB: 24-04-1974
Test Debut: Pakistan at Karachi, 1st Test, 1989/90
ODI Debut: Pakistan at Gujranwala, 2nd ODI, 1989/90
Batting Style: Right Hand Bat
Bowling Style: Right Arm Off Break, Leg Break, Right Arm Medium, Leg Break Googly

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar (born 24 April 1973) is an Indian cricketer. He holds several batting records, including the most Test centuries and the most one-day international centuries, and was rated in 2002 by Wisden as the second greatest Test batsman ever, after Sir Don Bradman[1]. He received the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, India’s highest sporting honour, for 1997-1998, and the civilian award Padma Shri in 1999. Tendulkar was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1997.

Early days

Born in Mumbai (then Bombay) into a middle-class family, Sachin Tendulkar was named after his family’s favourite music director Sachin Dev Burman. He went to Sharadashram Vidyamandir School where he started his cricketing career under coach Ramakant Achrekar. While at school, he was involved in a mammoth 664 run partnership in a Harris Shield game with friend and team mate Vinod Kambli. In 1988/1989, he scored 100 not-out in his first first-class match, for Bombay against Gujarat. At 15 years and 232 days he was the youngest to score a century on debut.


Sachin played his first international match against Pakistan in Karachi in 1989, facing the likes of Wasim Akram, Imran Khan, Abdul Qadir, and Waqar Younis. He made just 15 runs, being bowled by Waqar Younis, who also made his debut in that match. It was an inauspicious start, but Tendulkar followed it up with his maiden Test fifty a few days later at Faisalabad. His One-day International (ODI) debut on December 18 was equally disappointing, where he was dismissed without scoring a run, again by Waqar Younis. The series was followed by a non-descript tour of New Zealand in which he fell for 88 in a Test match, John Wright, who would later coach India, pouching the catch that prevented Tendulkar from becoming the youngest centurion in Test cricket. The long anticipated maiden Test century came in England’s tour in 1990 but the other scores were not remarkable. Tendulkar truly came into his own in the 1991-1992 tour of Australia that included a brilliant century on the fast and bouncy track at Perth. He has been Man of the Match 11 times in Test matches and Man of the Series twice, both times in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia.