LONDON (TIP): Batting legend Sachin Tendulkar, who quit international cricket last year after an illustrious 24-year long career, adorned the covers of the 151st edition of the Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack. The 40-year-old cricketer is the first Indian to feature on the cover of the Almanack. He was earlier chosen to feature on the cover of the second edition of the Wisden India Almanack. The yellow page shows Tendulkar walking out of the Wankhede stadium after playing his last innings against the West Indies in November last year. The photograph captured Tendulkar acknowledging the crowd with his bat raised.

“Sachin simply picks himself,” said Lawrence Booth, the Wisden editor. “His status and influence on the game are beyond question.Wisden is delighted to add its own tribute to an exceptional career in this year’s Almanack.” The 2014 edition of Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack will be published in London on Thursday.

The Wisden said: “Tendulkar played Test matches in front of the most demanding fans in the world for 24 years.” Wisden also compared Tendulkar’s record with England skipper Alastair Cook and Australia captain Michael Clarke. “If further proof was required of just how astonishing that was, it came at Perth in December, when for a few moments one Cook and one Clarke added up to exactly one Tendulkar: 200 Test caps, 15,921 runs and 51 hundreds.”