What all has changed since Sachin Tendulkar's International debut?

It is pretty scary to know how time flies - James Wan

These lines by the Australian film director James Wan fit in aptly in the modern day world. It has been about 29 years now since a young, curly-haired Sachin Tendulkar made his International debut against the fiery Pakistan team. No one would have ever envisioned at that point in time that this little man, who was just 16 years old would be the next big thing in world cricket.

Since then, the time has just flown by. This young boy who was still in his adolescent years when he made his debut evolved into an all-time colossus and continued playing international cricket for another 24 long years. During this while, he won several laurels and went on to win myriad of honours.

Sachin surpassed everyone to become the leading run-scorer in both ODIs and Tests. He has over 34,000 international runs and a 100 international centuries to his name. The 'Master Blaster' has gained millions of fans and stood as one of the strongest pillars of Indian cricket during his playing days. He was so special that people would turn their television sets on only to watch the master bat.

But, apart from all the cricketing action, Sachin has witnessed the world transpire, all during his playing days. He has seen fashions evolve, trends change, countries develop, and much more. 29 years since the 'God' made his debut, this world is an entirely different place to be in.

A massive progress made since Sachin Tendulkar's debut

1. The US Dollar

There have been quite a few discussions about the Indian rupee hitting an all-time low in recent times. It reached a record low of ₹74.33 against the US Dollar. As on 5 November 2018, it stood at ₹73.05.

However, when Sachin Tendulkar made his debut in 1989, the value of 1 US Dollar averaged ₹16.65 and was ₹17.32 at the end of that year. Quite stunning, right? Moreover, we didn't even have the 'Rupee Symbol' back then.

2. Sensex

Just in case you are wondering what exactly Sensex is, it is a figure indicating the relative prices of shares on the Mumbai (Bombay) Stock Exchange. When Sachin made his international debut, the Sensex was at just over 700 points (714, to be precise). The Sensex first touched the four-digit mark on July 25, 1990.

This one comes as another surprise seeing how drastically this figure has increased since then. The Sensex is hovering around 34,000 and 35,000 points at the moment. It also touched 38,685 points in August this year, which is the highest ever.

3. Petrol and Diesel prices

Back when the 'Master Blaster' made his debut, the fuel costs were dirt cheap. But, affording a vehicle at that point in time was considered to be a luxury. Forward to the present day, almost every family has at least one vehicle and there are some crores of vehicles that ply on the roads. But, only if the fuel costs were as cheap as they were back then.

The cost of petrol was just ₹8.50 per litre in 1989 while it has soared up to almost ₹90 currently, which means that the costs have increased by more than 10 times. If the petrol prices came in as a surprise, don't even dare to imagine the diesel costs. One litre of diesel in those days only cost just ₹3.50 against ₹80-odd today. This effectively means that the diesel prices have increased an unbelievable 20-25 times. Also, another shocker is the LPG prices which were just around ₹58 back then.

4. Price of Gold

Just like the fuel prices, the price of gold has also increased manifold since Tendulkar's debut. The cost of 10 grams of 24k gold in now about ₹32,000. But, back then, it was just ₹3,140 per 10 grams which means that this cost has also augmented by over 10 times now.