Sports

‘I have seen God, he bats at no. 4’: Social media leads wishes as Sachin Tendulkar turns 52

admin
‘I have seen God, he bats at no. 4’: Social media leads wishes as Sachin Tendulkar turns 52
‘I have seen God, he bats at no. 4’: Social media leads wishes as Sachin Tendulkar turns 52

New Delhi: Former Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, who is highly revered for making “a billion’s dreams come true” with his masterful batting skill, turned 52 on Thursday. A true champion on the field, Sachin’s illustrious cricketing career is filled with memories of Team India dominating the world across all three formats. Although Sachin mostly spent his career in ODIs and Tests, he carved out a glittering path for himself.

Widely known as the God of Cricket, Sachin’s stroke play can be termed as one for the ages. His magnificent “straight drive” is still a treat for the eyes. That graceful stance and only letting his bat speak when being hassled or sledged by the opposition players. Debuting at the tender age of 16 for Team India, Sachin himself has stated that he wasn’t very sure if he had chosen the right career path when he was up against the fiery duo of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis.

He didn’t let these thoughts bother him much and held belief in his training that he received from the renowned cricket coach late Shri Ramakant Achrekar. He surely made his coach proud when he started to dominate the field and took bowlers to the cleaners, making the batting look completely effortless. In no time, Sachin became a household name in the 1990s and went on to conquer the record books, rewriting history and establishing new milestones.

The Indian team could never overlook Sachin either in a home bilateral series or an away tour of the squad. His exploits at the 1997-98 Coca Cola Cup are well known, and his groundbreaking brand deal in 1995, which would make him one of the very first cricketers to endorse products on national media. Words and pages would fall short to define and count the greatness of Sachin, who was a vital cog in Team India’s batting lineup.

Sachin’s legacy

Throughout his career, he carried one dream of clinching a World Cup for India before he retires, and the Men in Blue scripted history in 2011 when they lifted the ODI World Cup after a long wait of 28 years. Sachin has quoted it several times that India’s triumphant 1983 WC campaign fuelled the fire in him to do the same for the nation, and he was indeed a part of the Indian team which beat Sri Lanka in the final in Mumbai and carried him on the shoulders during a lap of honour at the Wankhede.

This wasn’t all for the Master Blaster who, in the very next year, became the only person in the history of sport to smash 100 international centuries. Sachin already had 51 Test centuries to his credit (a record in itself) and was lingering on 48 ODI hundreds, but the moment arrived in an ODI against Bangladesh in which Sachin scored his 49th ODI ton, effectively making a century of centuries.

For Team India, Sachin featured in 664 international matches, accumulating 34,357 runs and still holds the record of most runs in an international career across formats. Although being credited as a pure batter, Sachin also came in handy as an occasional right-arm leg break bowler, getting crucial breakthroughs for his side. He has a total of 201 international wickets to his credit as well.

Nonetheless, on his 52nd birthday, it seems the whole cricketing world has come forward to pour in wishes for the Little Master –

 The BCCI, former cricketers, fans, and even the IPL franchises have come together to shower wishes upon the legendary Sachin Tendulkar who celebrates his 52nd birthday on Thursday.  Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today

Related Posts