Most days in our lives are unremarkable. They start and they end, without leaving behind any lasting memory. November 15, 1989 was a Wednesday. In Karachi, Pakistan, it was the first time that a curly-haired 16-year-old — looking completely out of place — stepped on a cricket field in a white, India shirt.

It’s been two decades, but for Tendulkar, it’s still the lasting memory of his career, and of his life.

“The moment that I wore my India cap is the most memorable. It was a dream, and the dream had come true. I’m very fortunate to be living that dream for so long,” Sachin Tendulkar said on Friday, two days before his 20-year anniversary in Test cricket. “There have been a lot of highs after that, but whatever has happened has been because of that day, the rest just a reflection of my contribution to the Indian team.”

Over the years, Tendulkar has evolved into a metaphor that has defined a generation. From boy wonder, to superstar, to elder statesman, he has fulfilled every role. But in his first Test, there was a moment when he wondered if he really belonged on the big stage. “I got out on a low score. I was tense, I didn’t really know what was happening, and I kept asking myself, ‘do I belong here’.”

In the next match at Faisalabad, however, he stuck around in tough conditions and got a half century. “That innings was perhaps the turning point of my life,” he said. “I understood that if you hang in there, if you spend a few minutes in the middle, you understand the pace, bounce and spin.”

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