15 iconic pictures of Sachin Tendulkar's life

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar turns 42 today. A legend, idol, icon, inspiration and to many, God.Tendulkar started his international career at the age of 16, and entertained fans across the globe for the next 24 years. Among his achievements, he is the only person to have scored a hundred international centuries, is the first person to reach a double century in ODI cricket, and has scored the highest number of runs ever, in both ODI and Test formats. Rightly acknowledged as one of the greatest batsmen to have ever played cricket, his elegance, humility, class and sportsmanship are hard to find in the best of sportsmen.This great batsman has given the country innumerable reasons to smile and cheer. On his 42nd birthday today, we bring to you the 15 most iconic pictures of the Little Master.

#1 Naughty young Sachin

Sachin was always a naughty child; his friends remember him climbing mango trees to pluck mangoes for them. They all used to wait down for the little master to throw the fruit towards them.

His family members used to worry about Sachin’s future. But Ajit Tendulkar (Sachin’s elder brother) made sure he has a great future by recognizing his talent and introducing his brother to the world of cricket at a very young age.

#2 Sachin\'s Test debut

Sachin debuted for India at the age of 16 and became the third youngest player overall to play for any nation. He played his first Test match in Karachi against Pakistan in 1989. While he was practising in the nets before the match, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis saw him and commented, “See India has brought a kid to play against us.”

#3 When Sachin met his heroes

Kapil Dev, who was captaining India against Pakistan in the first Test Sachin Tendulkar ever played, was very impressed with Sachin’s balance and demeanor. He was also amazed with Sachin’s ambidextrous skills and maintained that he was the future of cricket. This picture was taken during Sachin’s first test series.

#4 Sachin\'s first Test century

Little Master Sachin’s first test ton didn’t take much time to come as he scored a marvelous century against the mighty England attack in the 2nd Test match at Old Trafford, August 1990. India was a star-studded team on that tour which included the likes of Ravi Shastri, Navjot Sidhu, Dilip Vengsarkar, Sanjay Manjrekar, Azharuddin, Manoj Prabhakar, Kapil Dev, Kiran More but amidst them, Sachin’s performance got attention.

He was just a 17-year-old then and was compared to many greats soon after that and his performance came as a revelation.

#5 Sachin becomes Yorkshire\'s first overseas player

Sachin became the first-ever overseas player to play for the Yorkshire county team. He made his debut for the Yorkshire team on April 30, 1992. In picture Indian batsman Sachin arrives at the Heddingley with a pint of English beer.

#6 The calm after the storm

Sachin Tendulkar’s innings against Australia played at Sharjah in 1998 still haunts Shane Warne. He admitted after the match where Australia lost both the qualifier and final against India saying, “I’ll be going to bed having nightmares of Sachin just running down the wicket and belting me back over the head for six.” In the picture, Warne greets Sachin after getting slammed by the Little Master in his match winning innings of Sharjah Cup final.

#7 Greatness together

This picture was taken in Sir Don Donald Bradman’s home where Sachin Tendulkar was invited to meet the legend. Bradman always admired Sachin’s batting and also said that he sees himself batting when Sachin bats. Two of the greatest batsmen in cricket history finally met in 1998 during India’s tour of Australia.

#8 Sachin gets emotional after a personal loss

Just three days after his fathers demise, Sachin Tendulkar decided to play the World Cup 1999 group match against Kenya and bought in a very brave century in Bristol, England. He dedicatedthis special century to his late father.

#9 When Sachin conquered Shoaib Akhtar

In the 2003 World Cup, Sachin Tendulkar was adjudged Man of the series award with him scoring 700 plus runs in the series. His most special innings came against Pakistan in which he blasted the fearsome Pakistan bowling atttack and made 98 runs off just 75 balls. This picture of Sachin hitting an upper-cut of a Shoaib Akhtar delivery became iconic after the World Cup.

#10 Sachin creates ODI history

Sachin Tendulkar became the first person ever to score a double century in One Day International match. Sachin was 37 when he reached this historic mark and this came against one of the World’s most furious bowling attack of South Africa.

#11 Sachin\'s dream comes true

It was always Sachin Tendulkar’s dream to hold the World Cup in his hands and in 2011 it finally happened. India became the first team to win a World Cup at home and all the players dedicated the trophy to Sachin. In picture Sachin alongside his son Arjun (L) and daughter Sara (R) in the dressing room after the final match presentation.

#12 Sachin\'s long wait comes to an end

Sachin Tendulkar had been striving for almost a year to reach the iconic landmark of 100 international centuries. He finally got there against Bangladesh in the Asia Cup in 2012, in the process also reaching his 49^th ODI century. His overwhelming relief at reaching the coveted figure was evident in his celebration afterwards.

#13 Sachin\'s last innings

Sachin Tendulkar bid adieu to international cricket after the two-match home Test series against the West Indies in 2013. This picture is of Sachin coming out of the Wankhede Stadium dressing room to resume his innings on the second day of his last Test illustrate.

#14 Sachin given guard of honour

Sachin Tendulkar received a guard of honour from his teammates after India’s victory over West Indies in the Little Master’s last Test match. In this picture, we see Sachin collecting his winning souvenir stump after winning the last test match.

#15 When Yuvraj Singh bowed down to \"God\"

Sachin Tendulkar is a hugely revered figure by his teammates, courtesy, his illustrious cricketing achievements. Yuvraj Singh, rather cheekily, illustrated this as he bowed down and touched Sachin’s feet during last year’s exhibition match celebrating the bicentanery anniversary of the iconic Lord’s cricket ground. This was the last time we saw Sachin playing a cricket match.