Sachin Tendulkar's century craze started at age 12, says brother Ajit

Sachin Tendulkar's elder brother says the batting maestro, who retired last November from all forms of cricket, was always keen to get to the three-figure mark even when he was a kid

Sachin Tendulkar's hunger for centuries was developed long before he made it to the Indian team at a record-breaking age of 16. In fact, the batting maestro, who retired last November from all forms of cricket, was always keen to get to the three-figure mark even when he was a 12-year-old kid.

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Ajit Tendulkar. Pic/ Atul Kamble

Ajit Tendulkar, Sachin's elder brother and one of the guiding forces in his 24-year career, recalled the time when Sachin was restless to score his first ever hundred. "He was just 12, playing a Harris Shield inter-school match.

96 not out
"On the first day of the two-day game where he was batting on 96, Sachin came home instead of going to my uncle's place where he was staying. He was very anxious to score those four runs. He was talking irrelevant things. My parents read his mind well and allowed him to just talk.

"They just listened to him without saying anything. He finally fell asleep. Next day, he blasted two boundaries in the first over to complete his century. It was only his second year in school cricket," recalled Ajit on his legendary brother's 41st birthday during a Legends Club gathering at the Cricket Club of India yesterday.

Tendulkar is the latest member of the club which includes Vijay Hazare, Vinoo Mankad, Vijay Merchant and Sunil Gavaskar. Mankad's birth anniversary that fell on April 12 was also celebrated yesterday.

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