Sachin Tendulkar ‐ God of Cricket in a New Avatar

The god of cricket is back to make us fall in love with cricket once again! The legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar has been announced as the brand ambassador of the Paytm First Games, which is one of the fastest-growing fantasy gaming and fantasy sports platforms in the country.

India's most popular, secure, and trusted online gaming platform Paytm First Games has a user base of more than 4.5 crore fans. Paytm First Games offers more than 300 sports such as cricket, football, kabaddi, ludo, and many more. Fans can win up to INR 5 crores every day playing fantasy games, rummy, multiplayer games and so much more.

It will be an understatement to say that Sachin Tendulkar was one of India's best cricketers. In fact, he perhaps is the greatest cricketer that the country has ever produced. He broke innumerable records during his career which began in the late 1980s and ended in mid-2010s. Sachin Tendulkar also created several records which will prove to be a humongous challenge for anyone to beat.

The Paytm First Games brand ambassador Sachin Tendulkar played most Tests (200) for any player, most One-Day Internationals (ODIs) (463), and scored most runs in both. Sachin Tendulkar is the only cricketer in history to have scored a hundred international centuries—51 came in Tests while 49 were hit in ODIs. He finished with 15,921 runs at an average of 53.79 in Test cricket while in ODIs, Sachin Tendulkar smacked 18,426 runs at an average of 44.83.

In February 2010, the Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar became the first batsman ever to score 200 in an ODI—a feat which he achieved at Gwalior against South Africa. He is also the only cricketer to have played 200 Tests—and Sachin Tendulkar's records will prove to be unbeatable for generations of players to come.

Born in 1973, Sachin Tendulkar celebrates his birthday on April 24. He made his Test debut against Pakistan at Karachi in November 1989. Tendulkar showed his mettle on debut— he was struck on the mouth by a fiery Waqar Younis but the young and gritty Sachin Tendulkar kept on batting and even took the attack to the great Pakistani spinner, Abdul Qadir. Sachin Tendulkar, who will inspire millions of Indian fans to take up fantasy sports or fantasy gaming, was destined for greatness became amply clear when he scored one of the best knocks of his career at the pace-friendly WACA pitch in Perth, and also got his first Test century in England—both at the age of 19.

The biggest icon in the fantasy gaming and fantasy sports arena, Sachin Tendulkar was a part of the Indian contingent in the 1992 World Cup, but it was in the 1996 edition held in the Indian subcontinent that Sachin Tendulkar truly made his mark. He was the leading run-scorer with 523 runs. Tendulkar was named the Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1997.

The Little Master Sachin Tendulkar as he was fondly known, who will be urging thousands and thousands of cricket fans to sign up for Paytm First Games, scored his first Test double century against Zimbabwe in 2000 at Nagpur. His highest Test score came against Bangladesh when Sachin Tendulkar scored 248 not out at Dhaka in December 2004.

However, what can be termed as the Master Blaster's finest Test knock came against Australia in an away series in 2003-04. Struggling for both form and runs and falling repetitively to the Australian trap of edging behind while attempting to drive the ball, Sachin Tendulkar decided to not attempt the shot at all. Most of his runs came on the leg-side as Tendulkar dominated a feisty Australian bowling attack to score a marvelous 241 not out.

Tendulkar's finest World Cup batting show came in 2003 when he set out to demolish bowlers from all parts of the world. He tore apart the mighty Pakistani bowling attack consisting Wasim Akram, Younis, and Shoaib Akhtar in a splendid 75-ball 98, while his onslaught against England in the same tournament was another knock to remember. He scored 673 runs and even helped India make it to the final, but Tendulkar had to be content with the Player of the Tournament award and not the World Cup trophy.

Sachin Tendulkar, who will inspire many young fans to take up fantasy sports or fantasy gaming on the Paytm First Games platform, went past his batting idol Sunil Gavaskar's record of highest centuries (35) in 2005, and one after the other, he tumbled many records and made new ones. He became India's most capped Test player in 2006 going past Kapil Dev, and in June 2007 Sachin Tendulkar became the first player ever to cross 15,000 runs in ODI cricket. In March 2008, Tendulkar became the most capped ODI player ever with his 417th ODI against Australia. In October 2008, Tendulkar went past Brian Lara's record of most Test runs (11,953).

One of the biggest moments in Tendulkar's career arrived in early 2010 when he did the unthinkable. Tendulkar became the first man ever to score 200 in an ODI, against South Africa. In the next year in 2011, Tendulkar proved to be the driving force for the Indian side which became the first team ever to win a World Cup at home. Sachin Tendulkar scored two centuries in the tournament. There was more in store for the Master Blaster as he became the first batsman to score 15,000 Test runs in November 2011.

Sachin Tendulkar created history once again in March 2012 when his 49th century in ODI cricket helped him touch the mark of 100 international centuries. He retired from ODI cricket later that year, and in October 2013, Sachin Tendulkar played his final and world record 200th Test.

Sachin Tendulkar was India's most dependable, iconic, and inspiring player. During his remarkable career, Sachin Tendulkar played with some of India's best cricketers and helped many of them achieve their potential. He was a strong force behind MS Dhoni being named as captain. Sachin Tendulkar has been a guide to the current Indian captain and batting maestro Virat Kohli.

In February 2014, Paytm First Games brand ambassador Sachin Tendulkar was conferred with India's highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna.