1. Named after legendary music director Sachin Dev Burman by his father.
2. Grew his hair and tied a band around it to copy his idol JohnMcEnroe.Was called McEnroe by his friends. Admires BorisBecker, PeteSampras and DiegoMaradona.
3. Wanted to be a tearing fast bowler and even went to the MRF Pace Academy but head coach DennisLillee asked him to concentrate on his batting.
4. Has scored big runs on Indian festivals like Gokulashtmi, RakshaBandhan, Holi and Diwali.
5. Loved to have i-can-eat-more-vada-pavas-than -you competitions with cricket buddies VinodKambli and SalilAnkola.
6. A foodie who loves sea food. Co-owns a restaurant.
7. Sydney Cricket ground is his favorite ground.
8. Loves Kishore Kumar and rock group Dire Straits. Fusses over his personal stereo.
9. A Ganesh devotee, he visits SiddhiVinayak temple in the early hours of the morning.
10. Wears his left pad first, has the tri-color pasted inside his kit bag.
11. Remembers every Test dismissal – especially the bowler who dismissed him.
12. Likes to dunk his glucose biscuits into his tea.
13. Ambidextrous: bats with his right hand, autographs and eats with his left.
14. Used to sleep with his cricket gear during his junior days
15. Refused to shoot for a soft drink ad of him smashing cricket balls with a fly swatter. He reportedly told film-maker PrahladKakkar, ” That would make me greater that the game.” The ad was modified: he hit the balls with a stump .
16. A fast car fiend who likes to tear down Mumbai roads at 4 am.
17. Fell from a tree on Sunday evening during the summer vacation, when Guide was showing on national TV. His infuriated his brother ( and mentor) Ajit packed him off to cricket coaching class as punishment.
18. Came back from the four month tour of Australia after the 1992 World Cup and turned up to play from his college, Kirti College, in April 1992.
19. Was without a bat contract during the 1996 world cup where he emerged as the highest run – getter. A famous tire company signed up after that.
20. His coach at Shardashram RamakantAcherkar used to offer a one rupee coin as price to any bowler who dismissed him. If he remained not out, the coin belonged to Sachin. That he still has a good bunch of those coins tells the story.
21. Fielded for Pakistan as a substitute during a one day practice match against India at Brabourne Stadiumin 1988.
22. Was a ball boy during the 1987 world cup semi-finals between India and England at Wankhende.
23. The first ad he shot was for Luna mopeds.
24. In school he was once mistaken for a girl by good friend Atul Ranade because of his long curls
25. Amitabh Bachchan became his biggest hero after watching Deewar and Zanjeer.
26. Played tennis – ball cricket and darts during rain breaks.
27. Sang and whistled with Vinod Kambli during their 664 run record stand in the Harrisshield in 1988 to avoid eye contact with the coach’s assistant, who wanted to declare while the duo wanted to bat on.
28. Teammate Praveen Amre brought him his first pair of international quality cricket shoes.
29. Was a bully at school but was kind to cats and dogs. His first captain, SunilHarshe, said that he loved to pick a fight. Every time he was introduced to someone. His first reaction was, ” Will I be able to beat him? ”
30. Used to go fishing for tadpoles and guppy fishes in the stream that ran through out the compound of Sahitya Sahwas, his building in Bandra East.
31. Made his mother once look for a frog bhaji recipe.
32. The nanny who looked after him is now universally called Sachuchi bai.
33. Colony watchman’s son RameshPradhe, was his playmate, said sachin would ask him to dip a rubber ball in water and hurl it at him. He wanted to see the wet marks left on the bat to know whether he had middled the ball correctly.
34. A prankster, he once put a hose pipe into SouravGanguly’s room and turned on the tap. Ganguly awoke to find his gear floating. Calls Ganguly Babu Moshai. Sourav cals him Chota Babu.
35. Great spinner of yarns. If he had a cut on his finger it was because it had been chopped by a helicopter flying low.
