New Delhi: At a glittering ceremony in the chandeliered hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan, cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar was conferred India's highest civilian honour the Bharat Ratna.
Tendulkar, alongwith eminent scientist CNR Rao were conferred the Bharat Ratna by President Pranab Mukherjee.
The ceremony was attended by many celebrities including Sachin's wife Anjali Tendulkar, vice president Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and his wife, Defence Minister A K Antony, and others.
India TV brings to you some of the interesting facts about the Master Blaster ahead of his farewell test.
1. Praveen Amre bought Sachin Tendulkar his first pair of international quality cricket shoes
2. Sachin used to ask Ramesh Pardhe to dip a rubber ball in water and hurl it at him to know whether he had middled the ball
3. During his school days, Sachin grew his hair and tied a band around it to copy tennis legend John McEnroe
4. Sachin's father named him after the legendary music director Sachin Dev Burman
5. When Sachin was 14, Sunil Gavaskar gave him ultra-light pads. However they were stolen when he was at U15 camp in Indore
6. Dilip Vengsarkar gifted Sachin a Gunn & Moore bat after he was picked for the Mumbai Under-15 team
7. Sachin won 13 coins from his coach Ramakant Achrekar. He won a coin every time he remained unbeaten in the nets
8. Sachin wanted to be a fast bowler but was rejected by Australian great Dennis Lillee at Chennai in 1987
9. Sachin was a ball boy during the 1987 World Cup semi-final between India and England at Wankhede Stadium
10. Gursharan Singh played with one hand (despite a broken finger) to help Sachin get to a century in Irani Cup game of 1989-90
