Veteran cricketer Sachin Tendulkar was on Tuesday conferred with the membership of the Order of Australia (AM) for his service to India-Australia relations by promoting goodwill, friendship and sportsmanship through the sport.
The award was conferred on the 39-year-old master batsman by the Australian Arts Minister Simon Crean here. He was presented with a medal and a cricket stump.
Tendulkar became only the second Indian after former Attorney General Soli Sorabjee to get the honour.
Sorabjee was made an Honorary Member of the Order of Australia (AM) "for service to Australia-India bilateral legal relations" in 2006.
Tendulkar is the fourth non-Australian cricketer to be made an Order of Australia AM, the other three being West Indian legends -- Brian Lara, Sir Garfield Sobers and Clive Lloyd.
Lara was made an honorary member in 2009 while Lloyd was conferred with the award way back in 1985. Sir Garfield Sobers got the award in 2003.
Tendulkar is considered as one of the greatest batsman the game has ever produced with more than 30,000 international runs under his belt. He has scored 15,533 runs in 190 Tests besides a mammoth 18,426 runs in 463 ODIs.
