Sachin the Warrior

Little master Short by stature, Sachin Tendulkar is just 5'4" tall. Less than two times the height of a cricket bat, the top of the handle of his bat should have reached the top of his thigh! This is one of the key drivers for a successful batsman. Nature blessed him this way.

Sachin the magician
He played in 90 different pitches in the world. Obviously he had the trick to defend and attack any kind of bowlers at any point of time - be it in-swinger, out-swinger, reverse-swinger, fast or spin - both in Test Matches and in ODIs. Without such a technique in hand, perfect concentration, physical fitness and good mind set to handle pressures, it would not be possible for him to break and make records - 60+ in all.

For records’ sake
His records include highest run scorer in Test Matches and ODIs, most number of man of the match awards and man of the series awards, most centuries in Test and ODIs etc. The number of runs he scored till 11th Feb 2009 in Test, ODIs and First Class cricket are equal to a distance of 1450 Kms. We should remember that the length of the pitch between the wickets is just 22 yards!

Unusual records
Sachin Tendulkar was the first batsman to have been declared run out by a third umpire in 1992 against South Africa in South Africa. He holds the record for the most number of scores ranging in the nineties in the ODIs. Sachin has lost his wickets thrice on the score of 99, most by any batsmen in the ODIs!

Facts you should know
He was the first overseas cricketer to play for Yorkshire CCC in 1993. Sachin Tedulkar has made the highest runs in ODIs in a given calendar year. He has scored over 1000 runs in a calendar year in ODI's 7 times. He is the only player to be in top 10 ICC ranking for 10 years. The India Poised campaign run by The Times of India had nominated him as the Face of New India next to the likes of Amartya Sen and Mahatma Gandhi among others.

Sachin, the captain
He is a great thinker of the game and a good strategist too. It was his great cricketing mind that saw him being appointed as the captain of the Indian side in 1996-97 making him the second youngest captain in the history of Indian cricket (the youngest being M.A.K. Pataudi who was appointed captain at the age of 21).

Sachin the warrior
He initially justified the faith put in him by leading India to series victories against Australia (Border - Gavaskar Trophy), South Africa (at home) and also lifted the Titan cup (Triangular tournament featuring India, Australia & South Africa). But after that, the performances dropped. Azharuddin was credited with saying, “He won't win! It's not in the small one's destiny”.

Sachin, the bowler
Initially Sachin Tendulkar aspired to become a fast bowler. He joined the MRF Pace Foundation to get training under Dennis Lillee, an Australian pace bowler. He could not impress Dennis with his bowling performance. Dennis advised him to concentrate on batting. This was the turning point and the cricket world got a legend.

Sachin, the brand
He is a cricketer and a brand all rolled into one. At any rate, he makes for a study in brand endorsement. His meteoric rise as a brand ambassador has been helped by the surfeit of cricket on television, the almost frenzied fan following for the game, and the man himself. Can you ever imagine Tiger Woods endorsing biscuits, or Michael Jordan selling tyres? Sachin does all this - and with aplomb.

King of endorsements
Sachin Tendulkar was an early pioneer in India on cricket business dealings when he signed a then record sports management deal with Worldtel in 1995, the value of the deal being Rupees 30 crore over 5 years. His next contract with WorldTel in 2001 was valued at 80 crores over 5 years. “You've got to create heroes and you've got to pay them," said Mark Mascarenhas back in 1996 after he made Sachin India's first multimillionaire sportsperson.

Richest cricketer
He is at present the highest earning cricketer in the world. While figures are not available for the various products that Sachin endorses, rough estimates reveal he charges about Rs 1.5 crore per endorsement. The curly-haired, chubby picture of Sachin domineering advertising hoardings and television sets brings him under the microscope. But nobody would mind as long as he also makes runs when India needs him the most - out there in the middle.

Ball tempering and Sachin? No way!
In the second Test of India's 2001 tour of South Africa, Tendulkar was given a suspended ban of one game in the light of alleged ball tampering. Television cameras picked up images that suggested Tendulkar may have been involved in cleaning the seam of the cricket ball.

Truth prevails
The match referee Mike Denness found Sachin Tendulkar guilty of ball tampering charges and handed him a one Test match ban. Back in India Sachin's supporters burnt an effigy of Mike Denness while the BJP wanted the national team to pull out of their South Africa tour if penalties imposed on Sachin stemmed from racial discrimination. After a thorough investigation, the ICC revoked the official status of the match and the ban on Tendulkar was lifted.

Ferrari farce
In commemorating Sachin Tendulkar's feat of equalling Don Bradman's 29 centuries in Test cricket, automotive giant Ferrari invited him to its paddock in Silverstone on the eve of the British Grand Prix (July 23, 2002) to receive a Ferrari 360 Modena from the legendary F1 racer Michael Schumacher.

IPL ‘09
Last year, an injured Sachin Tendulkar’s presence in the Mumbai IPL team was limited to the last few matches of the IPL cricket tournament. However, this time around he is in rollicking form - his recent batting exploits during India's tour to New Zealand make it clear that Sachin still has a lot of batting in him. And well his 59 in the inaugural match of IPL '09 has already proved that!

I think he is "all time great cricketer"...