Sachin Tendulkar seeks divine intervention, prays at Tirupati

Tirupati: Star batsman Sachin Tendulkar sought divine intervention at the famous hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara at Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh state on Saturday.

Tendulkar arrived on a maiden pilgrimage at the Tirupati temple. He offered prayers in the traditional manner, wearing a dhoti and a white shirt. Tendulkar also participated in the ''Suprabhatha recitation seva'' (a ritual). The temple management presented the ace cricketer with a sacred silk cloth, prasad (religious offerings) and holy water, while the priests’ chanted hymns to bless him in his future innings. In December, iconic batsman Sachin Tendulkar quit the one-day format of the sport to make way for youngsters to prepare for the 2015 World Cup. Tendulkar possesses bundles of batting records in international cricket and achieved his long-cherished dream of being part of a World Cup-winning team in 2011, when India won the 50-over tournament in Mumbai. Tendulkar is the leading run-scorer and century maker in test and one-day international cricket. He is the first male cricketer to score a double century in ODI cricket. In 2002, just 12 years into his career, Wisden ranked Tendulkar as the second greatest Test batsman of all time, behind Donald Bradman, and the second greatest one-day-international (ODI) batsman of all time, behind Viv Richards. ANI