Sachin Tendulkar Stats, Wife, Family, Age and Records

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar also known as the God of Cricket was born on 24 April 1973, in a Nirmal Nursing Home in Dadar, Mumbai into a Brahmin family. His father, Ramesh Tendulkar, was an established Marathi poet and novelist. His mother Rajni, on the other hand, worked in an insurance company.  He grew up with two half-brothers; Nitin and Ajit and one half-sister, Savita. All his half-siblings are his father's children by his first wife, who unfortunately passed away after the birth of her third child. 

Sachin's father named him after Sachin Dev Burman, his favourite music director of that time. As a child, Sachin was interested in playing both cricket and tennis. He idolised American Tennis Player John McEnroe and grew his hair long, just like his idol. He also wore multiple tennis bands & wristbands and carried a tennis racquet, exhibiting his love for tennis! 

Sachin Tendulkar’s elder brother Ajit Tendulkar was the person who encouraged him to start playing cricket in 1984 under the coach of Ramakant Achrekar. At their first meeting, he couldn't play properly and cited his self-consciousness as the reason as the coach was observing his skills. Ajit requested Ramakant to give him another chance. He hid behind a tree to watch him play and during his second innings, Sachin showed immense potential and was accepted at Achrekar's Academy. 

He was later advised to change schools to Sharadashram Vidyamandir School, Dadar, as it had produced many notable players in the past. Tendulkar attended the Indian Education Society's New English School in Bandra. He began coaching under the guidance of Achrekar at Shivaji Park, where he would practice for hours. Whenever he got exhausted, Achrekar would put a one-rupee coin on the top of the stumps and give the coin to the bowler who dismissed him. If Sachin completed the session without getting dismissed, then he earned that coin. With these practices, he earned 13 one-rupee coins and considered them their more prized possessions. 

During his cricket training at Shivaji Park, he decided to move in with his uncle and aunt, who lived in the vicinity. Besides playing during his school hours, he also played club cricket.  When he was 11, Sachin made his debut in the Kanga Cricket League, representing John Bright Cricket Club.

Sachin Tendulkar's Wife

Sachin Tendulkar was married to Anjali Mehta on May 24th, 1995. In 1997, Sachin and Anjali were blessed with their first child, Sara Tendulkar, and their son, Arjun Tendulkar, was born in 1999.

You might not know, but Anjali Tendulkar is 6 years older than Sachin Tendulkar, who has been a strength through all his highs and lows. Sachin was approached by Anjali Tendulkar when she was returning from London Although, she didn’t even know who he was when she saw him for the first time. It was Anjali’s friend, who told her about Sachin. After embracing motherhood, Anjali Tendulkar left her career as a successful paediatrician to manage her home.

Sachin Tendulkar's Domestic Career 

On 14 November 1987, 14-year-old Sachin was selected to represent Bombay in the Ranji Trophy for the 1987–88 season. He didn't play any final matches and was only used as a substitute fielder for all 11 matches. On Dec 11, 1988, he made his debut for Bombay at Wankhede Stadium, against Gujarat. He proved that he's the one to look out for as he scored a century (not out), making him the youngest Indian player to score 100 runs on debut in first-class cricket.

He got selected to play by Dilip Vengsarkar when he observed him play with Kapil Dev in cricket practice nets at Wankhede Stadium. Later, he scored a century in the Deodhar and Duleep Trophies. He had an impressive run and finished the 1988–89 Ranji Trophy season as the highest run-scorer for Bombay! He scored 583 runs, pulling an average of 67.77, making him the eighth-highest run-scorer overall. During the 1990–91 Ranji Trophy final, Tendulkar scored 96 runs from 75 balls, but Bombay lost to Haryana.

At the start of the 1989-90 season, Sachin scored another unbeaten century in an Irani Trophy match! He was the captain of the Bombay team during the 1995 Ranji Trophy final match, he scored 140 and 139 against Punjab. During the 1995-96 Irani Cup, he captained Team Mumbai against the rest of India.

He scored his first double-century (204 runs) while visiting the Australian team in 1998. He scored another double century (233 runs) in a match against Tamil Nadu during the 2000 Ranjhi Trophy Semi-finals! In total, Sachin played in 5 Ranji Trophy finals, in which his team, Bombay, won 4 times! Till this date, he is the only player to score a century in their domestic first-class tournaments debut matches; the Ranji, Irani, and Duleep Trophies!

Sachin Tendulkar's ODI Career 

Sachin Tendulkar's ODI (One Day International) career spanned an impressive 23 years! He debuted in 1989 and played his last ODI match in 2012.  

1994–1996

On November 15, 1989, Sachin started his journey to becoming an icon by making his international debut at just 16 years old! He made his debut against Pakistan in the first Test of India’s tour. Even though his first match was not his best, he knew that the only way is up!

Talking about Sachin Tendulkar total centuries in ODI format, the GOD of Indian cricket has represneted the Indain cricket team for 24 long years where he has scored  49 hundreds in ODI format by playing  a total of 464 ODIs for Men in Blue, scoring 18426 runs with an average of 46.

In 1994, he opened the batting at Auckland for a match against New Zealand in 1994, scoring 82 runs via 49 balls. He scored his first ODI century on 9 September against Australia in Sri Lanka, Colombo. He was the leading run scorer at the World Cup in 1996, scoring two centuries.

1998

Sachin scored 143 runs off 131 balls in Sharjah in the 1998 Coca-Cola Cup 1998. His iconic inning is also known as the 'Desert Storm' because it was interrupted by a sand storm.  

In early 1998, he scored three consecutive centuries while playing the Australian Tour. Everyone had their eyes glued to the screen because both Sachin and Shane Warne were at the peak of their cricketing careers and to see them play against each other was a moment in history!

In their tour opening match, Sachin scored 204 runs while Shane Warne conceded 111 runs in 16 overs, which led to Australia losing the match. Sachin's contribution to the 1998 ICC match (quarter-final) paved the way for India's entry into the semi-finals where he scored 141 runs in 128 balls and also took 4 wickets.

1999

The inaugural Asian Test Championship was played between India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka in Feb-March 1999. The first match was between India and Pakistan at Eden Gardens where Sachin was dismissed by Shoaib Akhtar. The angry crowd started throwing objects at the incredible bowler and the players had to be taken off the field. The match resumed after an appeal from Sachin and the president of the ICCI to the crowd. In a Test Match against Pakistan in 1999, he scored 136 runs but India lost the match by 12 runs.

Sachin skipped the match between Zimbabwe during the same year as his father unfortunately passed away and he flew back to India for his final rites. He did return in his form for the next match and scored 140 runs (not out), dedicating the match, to his dead father. Due to increasing political tensions between India and Pakistan, India refused to participate in the 2001–02 Asian Test Championship.

2001–2002

In the five-match ODI series of 2001, he took his 100th wicket! In the 2002 series, he scored 79 runs in the first match held in West Indies. During the second test at the Port of Spain, he scored 117 runs in his first innings. Unfortunately, his form for the next matches was disappointing, with him scoring just 0, 0, 8, and 0 in the next four innings! 

2003

In the Cricket World Cup 2003, he scored 673 runs in 11 matches, resulting in team India reaching the finals. Even though Australia took the trophy home, Sachin was honoured with the Man of the Tournament award. In the tri-series involving New Zealand and Australia, he scored two 100s!

As India toured Australia during the 2003-04 season, it also marked the end of Sachin's incredible Test Match journey. He scored 241 runs in 436 balls at the strike rate of 55.27 in Sydney- putting India in an unbeatable position. He spent over 613 minutes at the crease during this inning and followed it up with 60 minutes in the second inning. He scored 194 runs against Pakistan in the same series and a tennis elbow injury led him not to play for the rest of the series. He did return for the remaining two test matches when Australia toured India and scored 55 runs!

2005–2006

He scored his 39th ODI century in Feb 2006 in a match against Pakistan. He followed this by scoring a half-century (42 runs) in the second One-Day International against Pakistan. He scored 95 runs on 13 Feb and just 1 run in March 2006, which resulted in the crowd booing him out of the stadium.  Sadly, he ended the three-Test Series without creating any epic moments on the field! He did make his comeback in the DLF Cup in Malaysia. Even though he scored 141 runs (not out), West Indies won the match via the D/L Method as the match got interrupted by the rain gods!

2007

During the World Cup, the Indian Cricket Team was led by Rahul Dravid. Tendulkar was pushed to bat lower and didn't create any impact throughout the series.After losing against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, Sachin battled with depression and gave early retirement a thought. But Viv Richards (West Indies player) and Ajit (his brother) suggested him not to! He states that the loss against Bangladesh is one of the worst days of his cricketing career to date.

In December 2008, England returned for a two-match series and the venue was shifted to Chennai instead of Mumbai. Sachin scored 103 runs (not out) in an unbroken fifth-wicket partnership with Yuvraj Singh. This marked his third century in the fourth innings of a Test Match! He dedicated it to all the victims of the terror attacks.

2011

Bangladesh, India, and Sri Lanka hosted the World Cup in 2011. Tendulkar was India's leading run-scorer for the tournament, as he amassed 482 runs! The only person to beat this incredible score was Tillakaratne Dilshan (Team Sri Lanka), who was named in the ICC "Team of the Tournament." India proudly defeated Sri Lanka in the finals! 

He created another record in November 2011 when he became the first cricketer to score 15,000 runs in Test cricket, which he accomplished during the opening Test match against the West Indies. For his incredible performances in 2011, he was named in the World Test XI by the ICC.

2012

In a surprise turn of events, the BCCI selection committee included Tendulkar in the national Test squad for the series against New Zealand that commenced in 2012. Finally, on 16 March 2012, he accomplished a remarkable feat by scoring his 100th international century at the Asia Cup! This was a proud moment for him and all the cricket stans across the globe as he was also the first cricketer ever to do so. It was also his first ODl century against Bangladesh. 

India's tour of Bangladesh, 2007

Upon reaching his 38th Test Century against Australia, he scored 154 runs (not out) in 2008. On the second day of the Nottingham Test Match on 28 July 2007, he became the third cricketer to complete 11,000 Test runs. He was also the leading run-scorer from India, with an average of 53.42 runs.

Sachin’s Retirement

Unfortunately for all the crickets fanatics across the globe, he retired from playing Indian Premier League in 2013. His team retired his iconic number 10 jersey as a tribute to the legend! He played 78 IPL matches and scored a total of 2,334 runs! During his retirement, he was the fifth-highest run-scorer in IPL's history. 

In 2014, he was appointed as the 'Team Icon' for Mumbai Indians. During the 2021 IPL season, he worked as a mentor for Mumbai Indians.

• Sachin announced his departure from One Day International cricket on 23 December 2012 after a series of underwhelming performances during the 2012 series against England.
• After playing a twenty-20 match in 2006 against South Africa, Sachin expressed his desire to not play the format again.
• In November 2013, Tendulkar (sadly) announced that he would retire from all cricket forms, breaking the hearts of millions of fans! His announcement came after the two-Test series against West Indies.
• Upon his request, the BCCI arranged for the two matches to be played at Kolkata and Mumbai so that the farewell would happen at his home ground; where it all began! He scored 74 runs in his last Test innings against West Indies and failed to score 16,000 runs in Test cricket. He was only 79 runs short.
• The Cricket Association of Bengal and the Mumbai Cricket Association organized memorable events to mark his retirement from cricket.