6 Indian legends who bid goodbye this decade 

#1. Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar

As clichéd as it may sound, Sachin Tendulkar’s retirement from international cricket on November 16, 2013 marked the end of an era in Indian cricket. For more than two decades following his debut as a 16-year-old in Pakistan in 1989, chants of ‘Sachin, Sachin’ reverberated in most stadiums when he was batting, and many times even when he was not.

Tendulkar’s records will be written and spoken about for ages to come. He is the leading run-scorer in both Tests and ODIs with 15,921 runs and 18,426 runs respectively. In 200 Tests, Tendulkar notched up 51 hundreds and 68 fifties at an average of 53.78. Further, he smashed 49 hundreds and 96 fifties in ODIs.

The Indian maestro holds the record for the most hundreds in both Tests and ODIs, and is the first cricketer to score 100 international hundreds. He is the only cricketer to have played 200 Tests till date. Also, in Gwalior in February 2010, two months short of his 37th birthday, the Master Blaster created history by becoming the first batsman to score a double hundred in one-day cricket.

Tendulkar was part of India’s 2011 World Cup winning squad. Even in his last World Cup, he was the second highest run-getter with 482 runs in 9 games at an average of 53.55 with two hundreds and as many fifties, including the crucial half-century in the semi-final against Pakistan. Tendulkar holds the record for having scored the most runs in World Cup - 2,278 runs in 45 games. He also shares the record for the most World Cup hundreds (6) with Rohit Sharma.

Sachin Tendulkar got a grand farewell

Tendulkar was the part of the team that was whitewashed 4-0 in both England and Australia in 2011-12. He scored 273 runs in England and 287 in Australia. His last Test hundred came at Cape Town in 2011. He was well past his prime in his last couple of years. Even his 100th international hundred was a slow one, coming in a losing cause against Bangladesh at Mirpur in March 2012.

The don of Indian cricket retired with 74 at his home ground at Wankhede Stadium in November 2013. As Tendulkar walked away following his emotional retirement speech, he left behind a void that will remain in Indian cricket fans’ hearts forever.