When a 16 year old boy was selected in the Indian side, which was to tour Pakistan in 1989, little did anyone know of what Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar was going to become in the time to come. Few Pakistani cricketers even belittled the youngster for his age, but when he took on the likes of Wasim Akram, Imran Khan and Waqar Younis and notched a 35 in Sialkot, it was evident that cricket was on the brink of a revolution.
In 1990, Tendulkar scored his first century at the Old Trafford, Manchester and followed it up with 99 more international tons in the next 23 years. His long wait to lift the World Cup finally ended in 2011 when India defeated Sri Lanka in the final at Wankhede, after coming agonizingly close in 2003.
Over the years, Tendulkar has achieved literally everything and here are some very interesting and unknown facts about Tendulkar which will blow your mind.
1) Named After a Singer
Im sure many of you have heard of the legendary Sachin Dev Burman, one of the finest music directors Bollywood has ever seen. But how many of you that Sachin’s father Ramesh Tendulkar was a huge admirer of SD Burman and named his son after the great composer? I’m sure this must have come in as a shocker but Sachin himself said it in many interviews.
2) Rejected By MRF Pacers Academy
MRF Pacers academy, led by the legendary Dennis Lillee, denied Sachin Tendulkar an entry into the academy. As they say, everything in life happens for a reason and how thankful are the Indian fans to Lillee for rejecting Sachin as a fast bowler all those years ago. Since if he would’ve been a part of the academy, his prime time concentration would’ve been on fast bowling and god, can you imagine Indian batting line up without Tendulkar? I can never do that!
3) One of the First Users Of A Heavy Bat
Sachin’s career began in an era where people preferred bats which were lighter in weight. But Sachin used a bat which was around 3.2 pounds in weight, which received severe criticism. But with time, that became a trend and today we see so many cricketers using a heavy bat to score runs quickly.
4) Sachin and Warne Were Invited To Sir Don Bradman’s place for Lunch
Now that’s something even the greatest of cricketers didn’t achieve over the course of time. Sir Donald Bradman, who undoubtedly is the face of cricket, met people quite rarely and never invited anyone to his place. But Sachin and Shane Warne got this great opportunity to go and meet “The Don” and discuss cricketing things with him in 1999. Sachin still rates this as one of the greatest moments of his life for obvious reasons.
