Mumbai: Billions of hearts were left shattered on Sunday when the great Sachin Tendulkar announced his retirement from the One Day International Cricket. The wave of shock gripped the Indian sub-continent when the news hit the television screens that Sachin has said bye bye to the ODI cricket with immediate effect. The news was more of an emotional issue in also the sense that reports had on Friday stated that Sachin may be playing in the ODI series against Pakistan beginning from December 25. And his withdrawal from the game has come at the time when Indian squad was about to be announced for the home series against the arch rivals.
His undying passion for the love of the game can never be overshadowed. He is a living legend in true senses. He owns the place of God in the religion of Cricket. He is the greatest ever Cricketer in the history of the gentlemen’s game. He holds most number of world records. He is a player who has played most number of international Cricket matches. He has been the ray of light in tough times for India. He has given his everything to the game. But all this would become history now as the great Sachin Tendulkar has called it off from the One Day International Cricket on Sunday.
After the tough decision, an emotional Sachin Tendulkar said, "The way I have been honoured and supported over the years was immense. I am grateful to all those who have been my strength, to all those who loved me and to those too who stood by me through thick and thins."
"I have been fortunate to have been a part of the team that won the World Cup in 2011. I thank God. I wish that the Indian team should begin the preparations for the 2015 ODI World Cup. I wish them the very best of luck," said Sachin after his retirement.
The intensity of Sachin's fan following can be understood by the fact that people used to turn off their TV sets when Sachin got out. There have been countless stories of Sachin's encounter with his untainted fans.
THE MAGICAL STATISTICS:
Sachin has played most number of ODIs in the world limiting the figure to 463 stacking a mountainous total of 18, 426 runs facing 21367 deliveries. He is the first man on the planet earth to reach 200* in a single innings. He did the wonder against the South Africa. With a prolific batting average of 44.83, he has maintained the grinding zeal and the never dying hunger to score runs. He also has 41 not-out innings to his name. Having stroked 49 ODI tons with his bat Sachin has also made 96 half centuries that is most by any batsman in the world. He with his classical straight drives and majestic cover drives, has hit 2016 boundaries throughout his career and also sent the ball gazing the skies for six 195 times.
PERSONAL LIFE AND EARLY CAREER
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar was born on April 24, 1973 into a Rajapur Saraswat Brahmin family in Mumbai. His father Ramesh Tendulkar was a reputed Marathi novelist and his mother Rajni worked in an insurance industry. Ramesh named Tendulkar after his favourite music director, Sachin Dev Burman. Tendulkar has three elder siblings: two half-brothers Nitin and Ajit, and a half-sister Savita. They were Ramesh's children from his first marriage. He spent his formative years in the Sahitya Sahawas Cooperative Housing Society, Bandra (East), Bombay.
When Tendulkar was young, he was considered to be a bully, and often picked up fights with new children in his school. He also showed an interest in the game of Tennis with his idol being John McEnroe. To help curb his mischievous and bullying tendencies, Ajit introduced him to cricket in 1984. He introduced the young Sachin to Ramakant Achrekar, a famous cricket coach of Bombay and a club cricketer of repute, at Shivaji Park, Dadar, Bombay.
Achrekar was impressed with Tendulkar's talent and advised him to shift his schooling to Sharadashram Vidyamandir (English) High School, a school at Dadar which had a dominant cricket team and had produced many notable cricketers. Prior to this, Tendulkar had attended the Indian Education Society's New English School in Bandra (East).
He was also coached under the guidance of Achrekar at Shivaji Park in the mornings and evenings. Tendulkar would practice for hours on end in the nets. If he became 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 some of his most prized possessions. He moved in with his aunt and uncle, who lived near Shivaji Park, during this period, due to his hectic schedule.
Meanwhile at school, he developed a reputation as a child prodigy. He had become a common conversation point in Mumbai cricketing circles, where there were suggestions already that he would become one of the greats. Besides school cricket, he also played club cricket, initially representing John Bright Cricket Club in Bombay's premier club cricket tournament, the Kanga League, and later went on to play for the Cricket Club of India. In 1987, at the age of 14, he attended the MRF Pace Foundation in Madras (now Chennai) to train as a fast bowler, but Australian fast bowler Dennis Lillee, who took a world record 355 Test wickets, was unimpressed, suggesting that Tendulkar focus on his batting instead.
A couple of months later, former Indian batsman Sunil Gavaskar gave him a pair of his own ultra light pads. "It was the greatest source of encouragement for me," Tendulkar had said nearly 20 years later after surpassing Gavaskar's world record of 34 Test centuries. His season in 1988 was extraordinary, with Tendulkar 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 against Anjuman-E-Islam High School in 1988 with his friend and team-mate Vinod Kambli, who would also go 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 (not out) 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.
On 24 May 1995, at the age of 22, Tendulkar married Anjali, a paediatrician and daughter of Gujarati industrialist Anand Mehta and British social worker Annabel Mehta. Anjali is six years his senior. They have two children, Sara (born 12 October 1997) and Arjun (born 24 September 1999). Arjun, a left handed batsman, has recently been included in under-14 probables list of Mumbai Cricket Association for off-season training camp.
And Sachin's retirement has left many with moist eyes. He would be remembered till the world exits.
