Sachin Tendulkar is also the first sportsperson in the country to be awarded the 'Bharat Ratna ' the highest civilian honour given in the country. Sachin on his retirement has said that "
All my life I have had a dream of playingcricket for India. I have been living this dream every day for the last24 years. It's hard for me to imagine a life without playing cricket because it's all I have ever done since I was 11 years old. It's been a huge honour to have represented my country and played all over the world."