Padma Vibhushan (2008)

Sachin Tendulkar is a popular Indian cricketer and one of the greatest batsmen of the world. He is the leading scorer of runs in both ODI and Test matches, the only male player from India to score double century in ODI cricket history. He was born on 24^th April 1973 in Mumbai. From his childhood days he showed great interest for cricket.

His father is Rajni and his father is Ramesh Tendulkar. He has three siblings, Ajit, Nitin and sister Savita. He studied at Sharadashram Vidhyamandir School. It was in this school that he started his career in cricket under the guidance of Ramakant Achrekar. He was a child prodigy when at school. During 1987 World Cup, he was only 14 and was a ball boy in the Wankhede Stadium in the match against Zimbabwe. He married Anjali, a paediatrician. She is the daughter of Anand Mehta and Annabel Mahta and she is six years older than Sachin Tendulkar. They have two children, Sara born on 12^th October 1997 and Arjun born on 24^th September 199.

He is the first one to score 10,000 runs in one day cricket. He reached this milestone in his 266^th match. He has scored 28 centuries and 50 half centuries in his 10,000 runs. He is a great genius in cricket and made his International debut in both ODI and Test matches when he was only 16. He played his first match against Pakistan. He is specialized in straight drive, square cut, late cut, lofted shots, late cut, mid-on and mid-off. He has so much power that the ball often rockets to the fence.

His tenures as captain of the Indian cricket team were not successful. He is the only person to have scored 11,000 runs in ODI. He has got most number of Man of the Matches in one day international cricket. He is the second Indian to cross 10,000 in Test matches. He has got highest individual score in One day International cricket among Indian batsmen. He is the fastest batsman to score 10,000 runs in test matches which he got in his 195^th innings.

He played a vital role in winning the 2011 World Cup with 482 runs totally at an average of 53 runs per match. This includes two centuries. His remarkable achievements helped India to taste its victory against Sri Lanka in the final match. He said that winning the World cup made him shed tears of joy marking the proudest moment of his life. 

After waiting more than a year, Sachin Tendulkar finally became the first cricketer to score 100 international centuries during an Asia Cup one-day match against Bangladesh on March 16, 2012.