Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], November 15 (ANI): Indian batting icon Sachin Tendulkar, who made his international cricket debut 37 years back, celebrated the occasion in style by recreating an iconic childhood picture of himself with his first-ever cricket bat in his hand.
On this day back in 1989, Sachin, at the age of 16 years and 205 days, made his international debut against Pakistan at Karachi. For years, he was the youngest Indian to play international cricket until Vaibhav Sooryavanshi broke his record by making his T20I debut in England earlier this year at an age of 15 years and 99 days.
When one talks about Sachin's cricket journey, a picture of him as a kid, sporting long hair with a bat in his hand, ready to face a ball, is one of the first things coming into fans' minds. This picture captures Sachin's journey from a childhood prodigy to a cricket icon.
Now, years later, Sachin, at the age of 53, recreated the image, holding the same bat that he had held years back.
In the caption, he wrote, "Pehle bat ki baat hai, 49 saal baad bhi mere saath hai!" (The first thing is that even after 49 years, it's still with me!)".
Pehle bat ki baat hai, 49 saal baad bhi mere saath hai!❤️ https://t.co/kuRzxTfOoF
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) November 15, 2026
Tendulkar was the most complete batter of his time, the most prolific run-maker of all time, and arguably the biggest cricket icon the game has ever known.
Tendulkar holds the record for the most centuries in both Tests and ODIs, a remarkable feat, especially considering he didn't register his first ODI hundred until his 79th match.
With a staggering 34,357 international runs, Tendulkar stands as the most prolific batter in cricket history. Throughout his illustrious international career, he rewrote the record books time and again, setting milestones that remain unchallenged to this day. With his unwavering patience and resilience, the 'Master Blaster' has 200 Test appearances to his name, the most by any player in the format.
Tendulkar amassed 15,921 runs, 51 centuries, and 2,058 fours, the most by any player in red-ball cricket. Revered as India's "God of Cricket", he also became the fastest to 15,000 Test runs, reaching the milestone in just 300 innings, a distinction he holds exclusively. With 18,426 runs in ODIs at an average of 44.83 in 463 matches, 49 centuries and 96 half-centuries, Tendulkar evolved from a middle-order batter to being the greatest ODI batter and opener ever.
He was the part of the team which won the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup and the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy. In 45 matches in World Cup cricket, he made 2,278 runs at an average of 56.95, with six centuries and 15 fifties, including a best score of 152. He is still the highest run-scorer in the tournament's history. (ANI)
