PTI, Mumbai :Cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar turned 41 on April 24 and celebrated his birthday in his home town in the midst of Indian Premier League action in the United Arab Emirates after being with his franchise Mumbai Indians in the initial phase of the T20 league. Tendulkar returned from the UAE two days ago for celebrating birthday with his family and friends in the city, sources close to the player said. This is the first birthday for the cricket great after he quit all forms of cricket in November 2013 after playing his 200th and final Test at his home ground, Wankhede Stadium, here against the West Indies. Jam-packed crowd had then giver Tendulkar a rousing adieu and the cricketer himself was emotional as he gave a stirring speech watched by his adoring fans in the crowd and by million others on TV after going to the middle of the pitch and paying obeisance to it in a symbolic gesture that touched the hearts of one and all. Tendulkar hung up his boots after a glittering international career that saw him amass 15,921 runs in Tests, at an average of 53.78, and 18426 runs in 463 ODIs at an average of 44.83. He had scored 100 centuries during his international with Test matches accounting for 51 of those, the most by any batsman in the world. He was the part of 2011 World Cup winning squad captained by Mahendra Singh Dhoni. His 49 ODI tons is also a world record. The recepient of India’s highest civilian honour ‘Bharat Ratna’, Tendulkar has been seen in public on very few occasions after his retirement.
