10 Lesser Known Facts about Sachin Tendulkar

The greatest cricketer that ever lived has called time on his glorious 24 year career. The Brazilians may adore Pele, Maradona may hold cult status in Argentina, the Americans may be proud that there cannot be another Muhammad Ali or Michael Jordan and every Swiss individual’s heart swells up when there is any mention of Roger Federer but Sachin Tendulkar is much more to the Indians than these great sports personalities; he is like a God whom Indians worship.

There is hardly any batting record which has not been broken by the ‘Little Master’ but in this column let us look into some of the little known facts about the master.

1. The first brand which Sachin endorsed was the health drink Boost. He was seen alongside Kapil Dev in many of their adverts from 1992 onwards.

2. Sachin was the first batsman ever to be given out by the third umpire, when he was run out against South Africa in the first test in Durban in 1992.

3. Despite all his success, Sachin has never scored a Test century at Lord’s, the mecca of cricket.

4. Sachin made a special appearance in the Bollywood film Stumped in 2003, appearing as himself.

5. He sponsors 200 underprivileged children every year through his mother-in-law Annabel’s Mumbai-based NGO Apnalaya. Sachin has been brand ambassador for Support My School campaign which aims at the betterment of water, sanitation and infrastructural provisions for schools across India.

6. Sachin is set to star in a series of Virgin Comics as the strip’s superhero.

7. Sachin Tendulkar may be the owner of some of the costliest cars like Nissan GT-R or a Mercedes Benz C-36 or a Porsche Boxster but Tendulkar’s first car was a Maruti-800.

8. Sachin Tendulkar wanted to become a fast bowler, but when he was rejected by Dennis Lillee’s MRF Pace Foundation at Chennai in 1987. Lillee told the young Tendulkar to focus on his batting. The other youngster turned away by Lillee along with Tendulkar was Sourav Ganguly.

9. Sachin Tendulkar started off with centuries in his debut matches in the Ranji, Duleep and Irani Trophy. No other domestic cricketer has been able to break this record till now.

10. Sachin Tendulkar is a big fan of tennis legend John McEnroe. In his formative years, McEnroe was Tendulkar’s idol. The young Sachin pleaded his parents to get a similar headband and wristbands like McEnroe. Also take one look at his childhood snaps and the McEnroe styled shock of hair on his head tells everything.