Emotional Sachin Tendulkar reacts after Hall of Fame honour, says ‘thank you for finding me worthy enough’
Sachin Tendulkar is the sixth Indian after Bishan Singh Bedi, Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Anil Kumble, and Rahul Dravid to be bestowed in the ICC Hall of Fame.
Expressing his gratitude towards ICC for recognising his work on the cricket field, legendary Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar said he was humbled and honoured to become only the sixth India to be inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame on Friday.
Tendulkar first took to twitter to thank the people who contributed in shaping up his career.
“Humbled and happy to be inducted into the #ICCHallOfFame.A lot of people have contributed towards helping me become who I am today. A big thank you to my family, friends & fans across the globe for the love & support. Congratulations to Cathryn Fitzpatrick & @AllanDonald33,” Tendulkar tweeted.
Tendulkar is the sixth Indian after Bishan Singh Bedi, Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Anil Kumble, and Rahul Dravid to be bestowed in the ICC Hall of Fame.
The master blaster then thanked the ICC for finding him ‘worthy enough’ to be part of the Hall of Fame.
“I think all awards are important, I don’t like to compare them. Each award, each appreciation has its own place. And I value this. I think this is what I have been able to achieve for 24 years on the field and that has been appreciated by the ICC and its committee members who felt that I was worthy enough to be part of the Hall of Fame. It’s an incredible list and I feel privileged to be here,” Tendulkar told the ICC after being inducted into Hall of Fame,” Tendulkar told ICC.
Sachin also went to term India’s World Cup victory in 2011 as the most memorable moment of his illustrious career.
“Without any doubt, it has be 2011 World Cup because when you lift that beautiful trophy, it’s an impossible feeling to describe. It takes time to sink in and for me that actually happened. We became the world champions... it took me a while to register that the tournament was over and there were no more matches. It’s the greatest feeling in life,” Tendulkar added.
Tendulkar has set the standard extremely high for the modern-day cricketers. From becoming the highest run-scorer in the history of Test (15,921) and ODI (18,426) cricket, respectively, the former India batsman also holds the record for 100 international centuries.
The 46-year-old made his debut for India at the age of 16 and immediately became the country’s favourite cricketer. He aggregated 34,357 runs across formats, which is more than 6,000 runs ahead of the second-placed former Sri Lanka cricketer Kumar Sangakkara.
The master blaster, who made his Ranji Trophy debut during the 1988-89 season, scored a century for Mumbai on his debut against Gujarat at the age of 15. He finished as his side’s top-scorer for the season. Soon after, he received his maiden Test call for India’s tour to Pakistan in November 1989.
At the age of 37, Tendulkar played his final World Cup that turned out to be a fruitful campaign for India. The Men in Blue defeated Sri Lanka by six wickets at home in the 2011 edition, which made Tendulkar a member of the World Cup-winning team and he ended up becoming India’s leading run-scorer and second overall at the tournament.
He retired from the 50-over format in 2012. He scored his hundredth century in his second last match. The master blaster last featured in Test against West Indies at home in November 2013, which was his 200th match.
Since his retirement, Tendulkar has made appearances at ICC events as an ambassador of various tournaments including the 2015 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup and the 2017 ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup.
Tendulkar has been serving as a mentor to the Mumbai Indians that competes in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
(With inputs from agencies)
