FACTBOX - Batsman Sachin Tendulkar

London: Factbox on batsman Sachin Tendulkar, the most prolific international run scorer in cricket history, after he announced his retirement from all forms of cricket on Thursday.

Tendulkar, 40, will play his 200th and final test against West Indies next month. * Born on April 24, 1973, in Mumbai. Made his test debut against Pakistan as a 16-year-old, becoming the youngest Indian test player. A year later, he hit his maiden test hundred in England. * Tendulkar has played the most tests (198 to date), scored the most test runs (15,837 to date), most one-day international runs (18,426), most test centuries (51) and most one-day hundreds (49). * He had two unsuccessful terms as India captain, the first aged 23 in 1996 before being axed 17 months later after his batting suffered. He was reappointed in 1999 but stood down after a 3-0 test series rout in Australia the following year. * Tendulkar was named player of the 2003 World Cup, scoring a record 673 runs to help India reach the final where they lost to Australia. In the next year, he equalled compatriot Sunil Gavaskar`s world record of 34 test hundreds while compiling 248 not out, his highest score, in Australia. * Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1997. * Surpassed West Indies` Brian Lara as the highest test run-scorer in 2008. Lara had scored 11,953 runs before he retired from international cricket in 2007. * Became the first batsman to score 200 runs in one-day internationals against South Africa in Gwalior, India in February 2010. He finished on 200 not out off 147 balls with 25 fours and three sixes. * Became the first batsman to score 100 international centuries after stroking a single off left-arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan in an Asia Cup one-dayer against Bangladesh on March 16, 2012. * Announced his retirement on October 10, 2013.