page_title: Sachin Tendulkar
section_title: Fan following
hierarchical_section_title: Sachin Tendulkar / Fan following
caption_attribution_description: Fan at the Chepauk stadium, Chennai, day three India vs England. Just been told by Bhutti82 (guardian.co.uk) that he is actually quite famous: "His name is Sudhir Kumar Chaudhary. This is a report from IANS" He sends 1,000 litchis to Sachin Tendulkar every year in appreciation for the match tickets that the batting maestro gives him. He once threatened self-immolation if he was not given lifelong guarantee of tickets to watch all India matches. Meet Sudhir Kumar Chaudhary, the cricket-crazy fan who has the Indian flag painted on his body. With his entire torso, face and his head painted in the colours of the national flag with the words 'Sachin Tendulkar' boldly written over, the 26-year-old from Bihar could be seen cheering for the Indian team by tirelessly waving a huge Indian tricolour at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium. "I have dedicated my entire life to cricket, and there is no looking back at my decision," Chaudhary, who is also a regular at all matches in India, told IANS here. "Sachin has promised me that he would provide me with the tickets of all international matches played in the country, and he is living up to his words. He is like a god to me," said Chaudhary. As a gesture of gratitude, Chaudhary travels down to Tendulkar's Mumbai home to present him with litchis every summer. "I have been presenting him 1,000 litchis every year since 2004. By the time I return to India after this Test match, the litchis would be ripe and I will take another 1,000 for him soon," he said excitedly. "I have also presented litchis to Virender Sehwag and Sourav Ganguly. And I have promised Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh that I would also send them the litchis this year," said Chaudhary, who has travelled from his native Muzaffarpur district to Bangladesh on his bicycle for the current series. While Tendulkar has assured him of tickets in the matches he plays, Chaudhary is worried of the time after Tendulkar retires. "Last year Sachin did not play a match and I missed that because only he gives me the tickets. After that I met the cricket board president Pawar thrice in Delhi and requested him to guarantee me one match ticket for my entire life. I don't want any money," he said. Chaudhary met Pawar thrice in six days in April last year, but he failed to eke out a guarantee from him. "After he ignored me twice, I took an appointment in the name of another person. I covered my painted body with a 'chadar' (sheet) and removed it in front of him," he said of his meeting. "I told him clearly that if he does not guarantee me one ticket for every international match in India, I will immolate myself in protest. He persuaded me not to do so, but did not give me any guarantee either." Chaudhary is a bachelor and said he has decided to remain single entire life. "I don't want to ruin a girl's life by marrying her because I am always travelling to watch matches. It's because even after Sachin retires, I will continue to follow and encourage the Indian team," he said. Chaudhary used to work in a milk company in Muzaffarpur and later passed an examination to become a teacher. But after the cricket bug bit him, he quit the job. "I now survive on public support," he said unashamedly, without elaborating on his source of income. "
context_page_description: Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar is a former international cricketer from India and a former captain of the Indian national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket. He is the highest run scorer of all time in International cricket. Considered as the world's most prolific batsman of all time, he is the only player to have scored one hundred international centuries, the first batsman to score a double century in a One Day International, the holder of the record for the most runs in both Test and ODI cricket, and the only player to complete more than 30,000 runs in international cricket.
  Tendulkar took up cricket at the age of eleven, made his Test debut on 15 November 1989 against Pakistan in Karachi at the age of sixteen, and went on to represent Mumbai domestically and India internationally for close to twenty-four years. In 2002, halfway through his career, Wisden Cricketers' Almanack ranked him the second greatest Test batsman of all time, behind Don Bradman, and the second greatest ODI batsman of all time, behind Viv Richards.
context_section_description: Tendulkar's consistent performances earned him a fan following across the globe, including amongst Australian crowds, where Tendulkar has consistently scored centuries. One of the most popular sayings by his fans is "Cricket is my religion and Sachin is my God". Cricinfo mentions in his profile that "... Tendulkar remains, by a distance, the most worshipped cricketer in the world."
  During the Australian tour of India in 1998 Matthew Hayden said "I have seen God. He bats at no. 4 in India in Tests." However, on God, Tendulkar himself is reported to have said "I am not God of cricket. I make mistakes, God doesn't." Tendulkar made a special appearance in the Bollywood film Stumped in 2003, appearing as himself.
  On 24 February 2010, Cricinfo site could not handle the heavy traffic experienced after Tendulkar broke the record for the highest individual male score in a One Day International match against South Africa, also becoming the first player to score 200* in the history of ODIs as more than 5 million fans visited the website at a time.
  There have been many instances when Tendulkar's fans have undertaken extreme activities over his dismissal in the game. As reported by many Indian newspapers, a person hanged himself due to distress over Tendulkar's failure to reach his 100th century.
  At home in Mumbai, Tendulkar's fan following has caused him to lead a different lifestyle. Ian Chappell has said that he would be unable to cope with the lifestyle Tendulkar was forced to lead, having to "wear a wig and go out and watch a movie only at night". In an interview with Tim Sheridan, Tendulkar admitted that he sometimes went for quiet drives in the streets of Mumbai late at night when he would be able to enjoy some peace and silence. Tendulkar has a presence in the popular social networking site Twitter with the user name sachin_rt, since May 2010.
caption: Sudhir Kumar Chaudhary, a fan of Tendulkar who earned the privilege of tickets to all of India's home games
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