In the thirteen years that he has been in the public eye, Sachin Tendulkar has been explosive on the cricket field and just as reticent off it.
He was barely fifteen years old when he first wrote his name into the record books with a stupendous 664-run partnership with his childhood friend Vinod Kambli. A few months later, he struck his first century in first-class cricket.
At seventeen he became the second youngest man to make a hundred in international cricket, and after that there was no looking back. Records tumbled as he captivated audiences first in his home city of Mumbai, then in the rest of India and all over the cricket-playing world.
Today, Sachin is widely regarded as the world's finest batsman, with impeccable technique, an incredible array of strokes, and maturity far beyond his years. His teammates and friends swear by him, his fans worship him and there are few, if any, critics of his game or his temperament.
