India@75: Sachin Tendulkar - The God of 22 yards

When it comes to Indian cricket, Sachin Tendulkar has to be the most crucial name ever. The charismatic batter from Mumbai, often referred to as the Master Blaster, continues to rule the sport, especially in the two prime formats, Tests and One-Day Internationals. As India prepares to celebrate its 75th year of independence, we present 75 of India's top athletes, starting with the so-called 'God of Cricket' Tendulkar.

After just a dominant season in the domestic circuit, he quickly caught the selectors' eyes and was selected for the Pakistan tour in 1989, making his debut at the age of 16 years and 205 days. Although he could manage just 15 runs, hardly anyone knew that he would soon be rising the ranks so high that he would be ruling word cricket in years to come.

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In 1996, he was briefly handed the captaincy duties, only to step down soon after a series of defeats. Nevertheless, he continued to gel and impact as a batter. He soon surpassed India's highest run-scorer in both formats, Sunil Gavaskar, and overtook Australian Test legend, Don Bradman, to become the highest run-scorer in both formats. His splendid innings in Sharjah against Australia, scoring 143 off 131 deliveries, is still cherished by fans and historically referred to as the 'Desert Storm'.

He had a brief, poor spell in 2000 before bouncing back definitely by 2002. He finished as the highest run-scorer during the 2003 ICC World Cup in South Africa, with India finishing as the runner-up. Although he and India had a disastrous 2007 World Cup, he bounced back in style during the 2011 edition, helping Indian lift the title at his home ground of Wankhede Stadium. A year earlier, he had become the first man in the ODI history to slam a double hundred in a game. In 2012, he became the first cricketer to slam 100 centuries in international cricket, thus etching his names in the history books forever.

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He played just a Twenty20 International (T20I) and refrained from playing the format, citing that his prime was over. Nevertheless, he played the Indian Premier League (IPL) for his home team, Mumbai Indians (MI), before retiring after the 2013 season, while he helped the side win its maiden title the season before.

The same year, he also retired from international cricket. A year before, he had played his final Test in Wankhede against the Windies, while a capacity crowd bid him an emotional farewell. Post retirement, he continues to be associated with the sport in various manners, while he is still the mentor for MI. Also, he has an extensive business venture, owing to the Indian Super League (ISL) football franchise, Kerala Blasters.

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Some of Tendulkar's unbreakable records:
Highest run-scorer in Tests and ODIs - 15,921 and 18,426 runs, respectively
Most number of Tests - 200
Most tons in Tests - 51
Most runs in World Cup - 2,278

Some of the renowned awards Tendulkar has been conferred with
Arjuna Award - 1994
Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna - 1997-98
Padma Shri - 1999
Padma Vibhushan - 2008
Bharat Ratna - 2014
Polly Umrigar Award - 2006-07 and 2009-10
ICC Cricket Hall of Fame - 2019
Laureus World Sports Award - 2020
Also, he has won the ICC awards across categories on numerous occasions