In a fitting finale to a glorious career, cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar has been selected for the country's highest civilian award Bharat Ratna. A Rashtrapati Bhawan communique issued today said the country's highest civilian award has been awarded to Tendulkar besides to eminent scientist and scientific advisor to the Prime Minister Prof. C.N.R. Rao, the man behind India's maiden Mars Mission.
Tendulkar gets the award as he hung up his bat and pad today with India sweeping the two test series against West Indies 2- Nil in Mumbai. The cricket legend bid a tearful farewell with thousands of his fans at his home ground – Wankhede Stadium – giving a standing ovation to him as he walked out of the field for the last time after a glittering 24 year international cricket. There was an outpouring of emotions when the moment arrived as a teary-eyed Tendulkar left the playing arena. Amid cheers by his teammates as well as the fans Tendulkar walked into the sunset of his glittering career.
In his brief farewell speach, Sachin recalled his father, his coach and his close family and team mates, who were part of his life in making a outsatanding cricket career. Starting his career at the young age of 16 years, Tendulkar has played cricket across the world and won laurels for the country. In his last match today, he played his part brilliantly helping Indian team out calss west Indies.The 40 year old super star batsman called off his game scoring a massive 15,921 runs in 200 Tests. In his ODI career Tendulkar amassed 18,426 runs in 463 matches.He is the only batsman in international cricket to score 100 centuries. He was the first batsman to get a double hundred in one-dayers.Tendulkar also became the first active sportsperson to become a Rajya Sabha member last year. He has been a true ambassador of India in the world of sports. His achievements in cricket are unparalleled, the records set by him unmatched, and the spirit of sportsmanship displayed by him exemplary.
Prof. C.N.R. Rao, who has been selected for the Bharat Ratna today, is an eminent scientist and a well recognized international authority on solid state and materials chemistry. He has published over 1,400 research papers and 45 books. Prof. Rao's contributions have been recognized by most major scientific academies around the world through conferment of memberships and fellowships. He has been honoured with several national and international awards. The last recpient of Bharat Ratna was classical vocalist Pandit Bhimsen Joshi.
