Schools across India do not have teachers, libraries, playing grounds and even toilets. I do not want to see empty classrooms, empty libraries. I do not want to see cattle grazing on fields meant to be cricket or football grounds.

He made 200 runs and broke the previous record of 194 runs jointly held by Pakistan opener Saeed Anwar and Zimbabwe's Charles Coventry. Maharashtra Bhushan Award Maharashtra State's highest Civilian Award in 2001. Explaining this change in his batting style he has acknowledged that he is batting differently because firstly no batsman can bat the same way for the entire length of a long career and secondly he is a senior member of the team now and thus has more responsibility.

In 2012 he was nominated to Rajya Sabha the upper house of the Parliament of India. Tendulkar won the 2010 Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for cricketer of the year at the ICC awards. Two years later he became the first player to score 100 international centuries.