Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar (born April 24, 1973) is an Indian cricketer, widely

considered to be one of the greatest batsmen of all time. He currently holds the
records for the most cumulative runs in One-Day Internationals, and the most
number of centuries scored in both One-day Internationals and Test cricket. He
made his international debut against Pakistan in 1989 at the age of sixteen,
becoming India's youngest Test player. Although primarily a top-order batsman,
Tendulkar has often proved to be a useful and effective slow bowler. He received
India's highest sporting honour, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna in the year 19971998 and the civilian award Padma Shri in 1999. His cricketing and batting
abilities are widely regarded as genius by many stalwarts of the game. For
instance, Sir Donald Bradman, the Australian great said of Sachin, "He reminds
me of myself". He is affectionately known as The Little Master by his adoring
fans. On 23 December 2012, Tendulkar announced his retirement from ODIs and
from Twenty20 format in May 2013. He retired from cricket on 16th November
2013 after playing his 200th Test match, against the West Indies in Mumbai's
Wankhede Stadium. Following the end of his final match, the Prime Minister's
Office on 16 November declared Bharat Ratna,
the highest civilian honour, making him the first
sportsperson and youngest to receive it.