Sachin Tendulkar turns 50

Legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar turns 50 on Monday. Master Blaster as he is called played international cricket for 24 years for India, making his debut at 16 in Pakistan in 1989. The rest as they is history.

In his 24 years of international career, Sachin broke almost all batting records and created some that may never be broken. He is the only cricketer to score 100 international tons. Virat Kohli is second on the list with 75 centuries, reports Firstpost. 

With 34,357 runs, Sachin is way ahead in the list of most runs in international cricket and is also the leading run-getter in Test and ODIs formats. He also holds the record for most Test matches in a career (200), most ODI tons in a year (9), most player of the series wards (20) among many other world records.

“I still don’t feel like I’m 50, honestly speaking. Would rather put it differently. A 25-year-old with 25 years of experience sounds better. It’s been a wonderful journey. I have no complaints and no regrets. I got a chance to play for the country for 24 years and it’s been a huge, huge honour and a dream come true. That’s all I wanted in life. I didn’t want to be anything else. From the age of 10, I started to chase my dream and to be able to do that for 24 years, couldn’t have asked for more,” Sachin said reflecting on him turning 50 in an interview with Network18.

About his celebration plans, Sachin said: “It’s gonna be a surprise for me (laughs). There are not really going to be big celebrations, I’m not a sort of a person of big parties and big celebrations. I don’t remember going over the top and celebrating my birthdays. Would rather call close friends and that is all fine. So, I think there would be some plan this time but not at a mega scale, just close friends.”