Sachin Tendulkar Turns 42 on Desert Storm's 17th Anniversary

Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar will celebrate his 42nd birthday on Friday. It will be exactly 17 years to the day when the mighty Australians succumbed to Tendulkar's Desert Storm in the Coca-Cola Cup in Sharjah. Little wonder then that April 24 happens to be a cherished date for generations of Indian cricket fans. (Tendulkar Graces World Cup 2015 Final at MCG)

Tendulkar was only 25 when he took on Michael Kasprowicz, Shane Warne, Tom Moody, Damien Fleming and Steve Waugh to single-handedly deliver India a historic win against the Aussies, who would go on to win their second World Cup a year later. (Tendulkar Makes Rare Appearance in Parliament)

While most young men his age would celebrate their birthdays with lavish parties, Tendulkar made his memorable by giving Warne, the greatest leg-spinner to have played the game, some serious nightmares.

Two days before that 131-ball 134, Tendulkar had played another gem, smashing 143 against the same team, to secure India a berth in the final of the tri-nation tournament.

A brief sand storm had interrupted that assault from Tendulkar and the twin hundreds have since been part of a cricketing folklore titled the Desert Storm.

Tendulkar went on to achieve many more accolades and scored thousands of runs the world over. It was just over 16 months ago that he stepped out of cricket's arc-lights by bidding adieu to the game after becoming the first man to play in 200 Tests.

Though the batting maestro has ended his on-field journey, he continues to attract attention with his insights and comments about the game that he adorned for nearly a quarter of a century.

Tendulkar, whose autobiography 'Playing It My Way' was released to massive response in November last year, was the Brand Ambassador of the ICC World Cup held in Australia-New Zealand in February-March.

Now a co-owner of Indian Super League (ISL) football franchise Kerala Blasters, cricket's most prolific run-maker and compiler of a staggering 100 international hundreds will be in Mumbai on Friday to celebrate his birthday, a day before MI's next home game against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the Wankhede Stadium.

Saturday's match has been earmarked for Reliance Foundation's Education For All initiative and is expected to be watched by Tendulkar and 28,000 children for whom the game has been earmarked.

(With inputs from PTI)