He is considered the greatest batsman of all time and retired in 2013 after playing in his 200th test match.
On Friday, India's Ministry of Health reported 81,466 new coronavirus cases and 469 deaths.
For several months, infections had receded, baffling experts, then since February, cases have climbed faster than before with a seven-day rolling average of 59,000.
Tendulkar scored a record 15,921 Test runs for India during a 24-year international career.
Since the pandemic began, India has confirmed more than 12.2 million cases and more than 163,000 deaths.
It is the country with the third-highest number of infections after the United States and Brazil.
The country began its push for vaccinations earlier this year and so far 65 million doses have been administered.
In 2012, Tendulkar became the only batsman ever to reach 100 international centuries.
-Additional reporting by AP
