2 Number of times Sachin Tendulkar has defended six or fewer runs in the 50th over in ODIs, the only player to do so. He did so against South Africa in the Hero Cup at Eden Gardens in 1993 and versus Australia in the Titan Cup in Mohali in 1996.

3 Number of countries in which Tendulkar is the youngest centurion in Tests, in England, Australia and South Africa. He scored centuries before his 20th birthday in all those countries.

Some of the quirky stats from Sachin Tendulkar's career ESPNcricinfo Ltd

6 Number of times Tendulkar reached a Test century with a six, the most by a batsman.

7 Most sixes hit by Tendulkar in an ODI innings, against Australia in Kanpur in 1998, in an innings of 100 off 89 balls.

8 Number of times Tendulkar dismissed Inzamam-ul-Haq in international matches, the most he got a batsman. He dismissed Steve Waugh, Brian Lara, Andy Flower and Moin Khan four times each.

9 Tendulkar's ODI centuries in 1998, the most by a batsman in a calendar year.

14 Number of times Brett Lee dismissed Tendulkar in international matches, the most by a bowler. Glenn McGrath, Shaun Pollock and Muttiah Muralitharan got him out 13 times each.

19 Consecutive years in which Tendulkar scored at least one ODI century: from 1994 to 2012.

23 Years and 356 days, the gap between Tendulkar's first and last Test fifty, the highest among all batsmen. His first fifty came in his second innings, in 1989, and last fifty in his final innings, in 2013.

24 Number of years that Tendulkar played international cricket - the longest by an Indian, and fifth-longest by any player.

31 Tendulkar's highest score at No. 3 in ten innings in all international matches. He has scored centuries at every other position from opening to No. 6 in his international career. His career aggregate at No. 3 in international cricket is only 92.

38 Number of century partnerships with Sourav Ganguly in all internationals - 26 in ODIs and 12 in Tests. It is the most by a pair. Tendulkar also shared 31 century stands with Rahul Dravid.

40 Tendulkar failed to score a century in his last 40 Test innings, the longest sequence without a hundred in his career. He scored nine fifties in those 40 innings with an average of 31.87 and high score of 94.

45 Number of World Cup matches for Tendulkar, the second-most by a player.

52 The highest identical score for Tendulkar in both innings of a match - versus Pakistan in Kolkata in 2005.

58 The lowest score not achieved by Tendulkar in international matches; 58 and 75 are the only sub-100 scores he hasn't made.

71 Balls taken for his fastest ODI century, against Zimbabwe in Sharjah in 1998.

74 The highest score for Tendulkar in the other innings of a Test in which he also scored a hundred: 177 and 74 against England at Trent Bridge in 1996. In his 200 Tests, he never scored centuries in both innings.

79 Number of matches taken by Tendulkar to score his maiden ODI century. He had scored 17 fifties before scoring his first century, against Australia in Colombo in 1994. After his maiden century, the longest stretch without an ODI century was 36 innings between 2007 and 2008, which included three dismissals of 99.

82 Tendulkar's score when he first opened the batting in ODIs, off 49 balls, against New Zealand in Auckland in 1994. It was the first 50-plus score by an opener at a strike rate of more than 150 in ODI history.

Sachin Tendulkar has played with most players in international cricket ESPNcricinfo Ltd

87 Tendulkar's average in Ranji Trophy - 4281 runs at 87.37 - the best among batsmen with 4000-plus runs in the tournament's history.

98 Number of matches Tendulkar captained for India - 25 Tests and 73 ODIs.

99 Number of century partnerships for him in ODIs, the most for a batsman. In Tests, he was involved in 86 century stands, second after Dravid (88).

142 Centuries across all formats for Tendulkar. He scored 81 hundreds in first-class, 60 in List A and one in T20s.

157 Tendulkar's Test average at the SCG - 785 runs in nine innings - the highest for a batsman with eight or more innings at a venue in Tests.

175 Tendulkar's score against Australia in an ODI in Hyderabad in 2009, the highest in an unsuccessful chase in ODI history.

185 Number of consecutive ODIs played by Tendulkar from 1990 to 1998, a record for any player. His streak ended with his 25th birthday in 1998.

195 Sixes in ODIs by Tendulkar. At the time of his retirement, they were the highest by an Indian batsman and third-highest among all batsmen in ODIs.

201 Wickets for Tendulkar in all internationals - 46 in Tests, 154 in ODIs and one in T20Is.

301 Most runs for Tendulkar in a Test match - 241 not out and 60 not out against Australia at the SCG in 2004. It is only the second instance of a batsman batting twice in a Test, scoring 300-plus runs, and being unbeaten in both innings.

497 Runs between dismissals for Tendulkar in Tests in 2004. He had scores of 241*, 60*, 194* and 2. It was a record in Tests until Adam Voges scored 614 runs between dismissals in 2015-16.

618 Runs scored by Tendulkar in IPL 2010. He became the first India player to win the Orange Cap in the IPL.

664 His partnership with Vinod Kambli in a Harris Shield Tournament match in 1988, at the age of 14. Tendulkar scored an unbeaten 326 in the match. It is also the number of international matches played by Tendulkar - 200 Tests, 463 ODIs and one T20I.

Sachin Tendulkar is the only Asian batsman to score over 50,000 runs in first-class, list-a and t20s combined ESPNcricinfo Ltd

673 Tendulkar's aggregate in the 2003 World Cup, the most by a batsman in a single World Cup.

898 Tendulkar's highest rating points in the ICC rankings in his Test career. He got there in 2002. His highest rating points in ODIs was 887, in 1998.

989 Number of players who played with or against Tendulkar in international matches, which is a record - 848 opponents and 141 team-mates. Among his team-mates, he played the most matches with Dravid (391); among opponents, it was Ricky Ponting (84).

1562 Runs in Tests in 2010, at the age of 37, the most by a batsman in a year after the age of 35.

1723 His aggregate as captain in the IPL, in 51 matches. It was the highest by a captain in the IPL when he quit captaincy at the end of the 2011 season.

1894 Runs in ODIs in 1998, a record for most runs in a calendar year.

2278 Runs in World Cups, the most by a batsman in the tournament's history by a distance.

2334 Tendulkar's aggregate in the IPL. He completed 2000 IPL runs in 63 innings, which is still the fastest among India players and third-fastest among all batsmen.

6225 Number of days between Tendulkar's Test and T20I debuts, the highest among all players who have played both formats.

6707 Runs and 20 centuries for Tendulkar versus Australia across formats, the most for a batsman against any opposition.

8227 Partnership runs with Ganguly in ODIs, the most by a pair. No other pair has more than 6000 runs.

8571 ODI runs in the 1990s, the most by a player in that decade. He scored 24 hundreds and averaged 43.07 at a strike rate of 86.81 from 1990 to 1999.

10,032 Runs under Mohammad Azharuddin's captaincy, in 207 matches - Tendulkar's highest under a captain. He also scored 33 centuries under Azhar.

50,192 Runs across formats (first-class, List A and T20s), the highest by an Asian batsman and 16th highest overall.