A young fan offers a cake to a poster of Sachin Tendulkar on his 38th birthday in Bhubaneswar on Sunday. (PTI)

Bhubaneswar, April 24: For a country that considers cricket as its unofficial religion, the birthday of Sachin Tendulkar is a very special occasion.

Although the master blaster decided not to celebrate his birthday following godman Sathya Sai baba’s demise this morning, cricket lovers in the city celebrated the day with full fervour.

School and college students, along with members of Orissa Sports Lover Association (OSLA), got together at the Mausi Maa temple in Gautam Nagar to celebrate the cricketer’s 38th birthday. They lit lamps and offered flowers and prasad to the deities in the temple and prayed for his success and health.

“Tendulkar is a living legend, an inspiration for one billion people. He has been playing for more than 20 years with consistency. Despite occasional criticism, he has always fought back and proved that he has nerves of steel. I hope he plays for many more years and breaks Brian Lara’s record of 400 runs in a Test innings,” said Sunil Kumar Das, a college student.

“As soon as we came to know about the birthday celebrations here, my friends and I decided to join. Last night, we even cut a cake in our hostel to celebrate Sachin’s birthday. He is the greatest batsman ever in the history of cricket. I wish he scores his 100th international century soon,” said Bapun Kumar Sahoo, another youngster.

Members of OSLA put up a huge banner of Sachin on the temple premises that read: “Long live, Sachin Tendulkar – the lion of Indian cricket team”.

“We are here to pray for the world’s best cricketer so that he achieves more milestones in his career and takes the country to heights of glory. Long live Sachin,” exclaimed advisor to the association and politician Suresh Kumar Routray.

On this special occasion, the association has plans to distribute sweets among children, fruits among the homeless and cricket gear to two sports clubs in the city, said Lingaraj Sahoo, convenor of OSLA.

“This is the least we can do to show our gratitude to the little master. He has made the entire country proud with several unbelievable records and he’s still going strong,” he said.