Revered as the “god of cricket”, Sachin Tendulkar is a living legend in the sport. We investigate what makes the title so apt for the sporting icon.
The best batsman of his generation
Before the start of his 199th Test in Kolkata, Sachin Tendulkar has 15837 test runs in 327 innings in 198 test matches at an average of 53.86 with his highest score being 248. With 51 test centuries and 67 test fifties he stands head and shoulders above any other contemporary in getting to scoring landmarks. In 463 ODIs, Sachin has scored 18426 runs with 49 centuries, an average of 44.83 and a top score of 200. He has also scored centuries against all test playing nations. He has double centuries in both formats of international cricket. He is the only player to have scored 1000 runs in a calendar year on 6 occasions.
A long list of awards and honors
Sachin Tendulkar has won a lot of awards for being a champion sportsman including Player of the tournament for the 2003 World Cup, ICC cricketer of the year 2010 and Sir Garfields Sobers Trophy. He also has a number of civilian honors to name that reflect his contribution to Indian society. The Rajiv Gandhi University of Health and Science and the University of Mysore have bestowed honorary doctorates on his, the Indian Air force has honored him with a “Group Captain” designation, he is the recipient of the “Padma Vibhushan”, the 2nd highest civilian honor in India as well as the 4th highest civilian honor of India “Padma Shri” along with the highest sporting honor in India, the “Rajeev Gandhi Khel Ratna Award”. For outstanding achievements in Sport, he was awarded the “Arjuna Award” by the Government of India, “Maharashtra Bhushan Award”, the highest civilian award in the state of Maharashtra.
Sachin holds more batting records and awards than any other cricketer of his generation. Along with his impressive statistics, his gentle manners and genial nature have earned him a god-like stature in the sport.
