Batting from memory

Some of Tendulkar's team-mates have recalled the days, during India's tour to Pakistan in 1989, when he sleepwalked.

"One night I was surprised to see a dazed looking Tendulkar walking out of his hotel room and mumbling in Marathi 'maajha bat, maajha bat (my bat, my bat)'. That's when we realised that he was actually sleepwalking,'' said Navjot Sidhu recently.

In this photo, taken during the 2012 IPL, before a match in Visakhapatnam, Tendulkar is shadow-batting with his eyes closed during a practice session. He has often spoken about shutting off the noise and entering a quiet zone when he is batting.

"You can hear the noise at a ground coming down from all directions," he once told India Today magazine, "but while playing the ball you have to block it out… when the bowler is running up at you, that's the time your concentration levels should peak."