When Sachin Tendulkar carried his 10th grade school books to study during India's tour to England in 1990

Indian batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar made five tours to England in his 24-year career between 1989 and 2013. His first tour to the country came in 1990, when, as a 17-year-old, he made his first Test hundred at Old Trafford to help his side draw the match.

Former India captain Kapil Dev had earlier recalled being around the 52-year-old on the tour. In an interview with the BBC in 2013, the 1983 World Cup-winning captain revealed that Tendulkar had carried his 10th-grade school books to study during the course of the tour.

“He (Tendulkar) was very quiet. On that first tour he was carrying his school books to study in tenth grade. He was shy, did not talk too much and he was just a normal kid. He did not involve himself in topics. He used to observe,” Dev had said (via Indian Express).

Tendulkar had made his Test debut a year before the tour, in 1989, as a 16-year-old against Pakistan at Karachi. His century at Manchester made him the youngest Indian to reach the landmark, at the age of 17 years and 107 days - a record he holds to this day.

How Kapil Dev realised the genius within Sachin Tendulkar on the 1990 England tour

Kapil Dev had played Test cricket for over a decade when India's tour to England in 1990 came around. The all-rounder witnessed the early years of Sachin Tendulkar in India colours and recalled how he felt, upon watching him, that the future of cricket had arrived.

“Two things were very different about him at that age. His balance was so good… unbelievable! And he did not hit the ball, he pushed the ball! He had a heavy bat. During that period I had never seen someone using that heavy bat and he held the bat low down."

“With his left hand, he did writing and eating. But batting, bowling was with right hand. Later on, I realised he must be a genius who has power in both hands. That is the future of cricket. If you can have balanced power you can control the ball and balance of your body," Dev said.

Tendulkar made four hundreds across his five tours to England, the last of which came in 2002 when he made 193 at Leeds.