Tendulkar's 39th birthday to be low-key

Chandigarh: Sachin Tendulkar turns 39 on Tuesday but no big celebrations have been planned so far by the batting icon or his Mumbai Indians' team-mates, though his die-hard fans have made elaborate plans to observe the day in a big way. Tendulkar and his wife Anjali arrived here by an afternoon flight from Mumbai without their two children. The batting maestro's IPL team Mumbai Indians' team-mates also arrived here with him. Mumbai are set to clash with Kings XI Punjab in Mohali on Wednesday.
While the five star hotel, where Tendulkar and the rest of the Mumbai team are staying, has made arrangements on their own to throw a party to celebrate his birthday, the first after he scored his 100th international ton, MI sources said the event is likely to be a low-key affair.


A small private function may be kept and his team-mates will wish him on his birthday and cut the cake. MI team owner Nita Ambani is also likely to be present, the source said. "There may be a small function but nothing grand. Tendulkar is a very private person and we are not expecting the event to be a bash. It will be a small function," a team source said.
This will not, however, dampen the spirit of his die-hard fans. As the team arrived at the hotel, his fans had already lined up. "We are a group of friends studying in a college. All of us have placed [an] order for a 10-kg cake to celebrate Tendulkar's birthday. All our friends will be joining us and a big party will be thrown as it is his first birthday after he scored his 100th century recently," said one of his fans.
Last year, Tendulkar did not celebrate his birthday following the demise of his spiritual guru Satya Sai Baba.
Tendulkar has scored 51 centuries in Test cricket and 49 in the ODIs so far in his international career spanning nearly 23 years.