Sachin Tendulkar inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame

What's the story?

'Sachin...Sachin' – These chants reverberate in the minds of the fans even six years after his retirement and give them goosebumps. He is easily the biggest phenomenon in Indian cricket, in fact, world cricket. In his 24-year-long international career, the 'Master Blaster' has won several awards and laurels.

Now, Sachin Tendulkar has added another precious feather in his cap. The Mumbai cricketer has been inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame on Thursday at a ceremony in London. Along with the 46-year-old, South Africa's Allan Donald and Australia's Cathryn Fitzpatrick were given his honour. Over the years, Sachin has had a massive contribution to the sport of cricket.

In case you didn't know...

Sachin Tendulkar was also bestowed with the Bharat Ratna award, which is the highest civilian honour in India. He has featured in 200 Test matches which is more than anyone else. Moreover, he is also the all-time leading run-scorer in Tests and ODIs.

In both these formats, Sachin has scored 15,921 and 18,426 runs respectively. While the legendary cricketer registered 51 Test centuries, he reached the triple figures on 49 instances in ODIs. He only played one T20I game where he scored 10 runs.

The heart of the matter

Sachin Tendulkar retired from ODI cricket in 2012 and bid adieu to the longest format of the game the following year. The ICC didn't take too long to give Sachin this honour. A player becomes eligible to be inducted into the 'Hall of Fame' after five years of his retirement. Thus, Tendulkar became the sixth Indian to get this recognition with the last one being Rahul Dravid.

"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.

What's next?

Even after his retirement, Sachin Tendulkar has been constantly involved with the sport. He has mentored the IPL franchise Mumbai Indians. He has also kept himself busy with commentary stints and was one of the guest analysts at the World Cup 2019. He continues to be one of the most sought-after cricketers and is expected to have many more assignments ahead.