Sachin Tendulkar has been inducted into ICC’s coveted Hall of Fame. The Indian batting sensation along with Allan Donald and Australia’s Cathryn Fitzpatrick was included on Thursday. He is the sixth Indian to be honoured with this. Rahul Dravid, Kapil Dev, Anil Kumble, Bishen Singh Bedi, and Sunil Gavaskar had already made it to the elite list. Tendulkar had to wait for his time because a player is eligible for the distinction only after five years of his retirement. “On this occasion, I would like to thank all of those who were by my side over a long international career. My parents, brother Ajit and wife Anjali have been pillars of strength while I was lucky to have someone like coach Ramakant Achrekar as an early guide and mentor,” Tendulkar said during the event.
Congratulatory wishes have already started pouring in.
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar made his India debut aged 16 and almost instantly became the apple of his cricket-obsessed country’s eye. When he finally bowed out, two and a half decades later, he was the owner of several major batting records, and had risen, in the estimation of his countrymen, to an almost immortal being.
If immortality comes from achievements, the ‘Little Master’ does have a very good claim to it. For starters, he has a stunning aggregate of 34,357 runs across formats, more than 6,000 ahead of the second-placed Kumar Sangakkara. Those numbers came on the back of hundreds – hundred of them to be exact, 29 clear of the next on the list, Ricky Ponting.