NEW DELHI: Iconic batsman Sachin Tendulkar today turned 45 today as countless wishes poured in for the master blaster on social media.
Past and current Indian cricketers took the lead in wishing Tendulkar, who remains as popular as ever after playing his last international match in November 2013.
"Happy Birthday dear @sachin_rt . You are and will always remain an inspiration . It's wonderful to see you contribute towards society with some really good initiatives even after your retirement. Wish you success always," wrote his longtime teammate VVS Laxman.
His opening partner Virender Sehwag wrote: "Many more happy returns of the day to a man who could stop time in India (literally) .Thank you for making the Cricket Bat such a great weapon, which later many like me could also use."
It was not a surprise that #HappyBirthdaySachin was trending on leading social media platform Twitter.
Suresh Raina and Lokesh Rahul too had emotional messages for Tendulkar, the only batsman to score 100 international centuries.
"To the man who united a billion Indians and brought a smile to their faces everytime he walked out to bat. A dream that he turned into reality. Sachin is an emotion.. Sachin is a phenomena!" posted Raina.
Rahul wrote: "The Legend, The God of Cricket - @sachin_rt. You inspire me everyday paaji, Happy Bday to you!"
Yuvraj Singh, Ishant Sharma and Harbhajan Singh were also among the many cricketers who wished Tendulkar.