Rare Australian honours are going the master blaster Sachin Tendulkar's way. It makes one feel that has the little master reached his hudredth hundred in awards too. The greatest accumulator of runs in the history of cricket had claimed many laurels, but this one will be a Kohinoor on his global crown. To his credit he has 15,533 runs in 190 Tests besides a mammoth 18,426 runs in 463 ODIs. The rarest in the history of cricket has earned him the coveted membership of the Order of Australia, an honour "rarely" awarded to non-Australians.

The Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Tuesday, announced about the prestegeous membership which was only given to one Indian, former Attorney General Soli Sorabjee for service to Australia-India bilateral legal relations, in 2006.

Among the cricketers Non-Australians who received this coveted Honorary Member of the Order of Australia (AM)  included West Indies batting prowess Brian Lara in 2009. However much earlier in 1985 another  West Indies stalwart, Clive Lloyd was conferred with Honorary Officer in the Order of Australia.

The priceless recognition will be conferred on him by cabinet Minister Simon Crean when he visits India, said a statement released by the PMO. (With inputs from internet-AW AarKay)