Sachin Tendulkar      

Sachin Tendulkar has been the most complete batsman of his time, and arguably the biggest cricket icon as well. His batting is based on the purest principles: perfect balance, economy of movement, precision in stroke-making, and that intangible quality given only to geniuses, anticipation. If he doesn't have a signature stroke - the upright, back-foot punch comes close - it is because he is equally proficient in each of the full range of orthodox shots (and plenty of improvised ones as well) and can pull them out at will.

There are no apparent weaknesses in Tendulkar's game. He can score all around the wicket, off both front foot and back, can tune his technique to suit every condition, temper his game to suit every situation, and has made runs in all parts of the world in all conditions.

Some of his finest performances have come against Australia, the overwhelmingly dominant team of his era. His century as a 19-year old on a lightning fast pitch at the WACA is considered one of the best innings ever to have been played in Australia. A few years later he received the ultimate compliment from the ultimate batsman when Don Bradman confided to his wife that Tendulkar reminded him of himself.

Blessed with the keenest of cricket minds, and armed with a loathing for losing, Tendulkar set about doing what it took to become one of the best batsmen in the world. Tendulkar's greatness was established early: he was only 16 when he made his Test debut. He was hit on the mouth by Waqar Younis but continued to bat, in a blood-soaked shirt. His first Test hundred, a match-saving one at Old Trafford, came when he was 17, and he had 16 Test hundreds before he turned 25. In 2000 he became the first batsman to have scored 50 international hundreds, in 2008 he passed Brian Lara as the leading Test run-scorer and in the following years, he crossed 13,000 runs and 30,000 international runs.

He currently holds the record for most hundreds in both Tests and ODIs - remarkable, considering he didn't score his first ODI hundred till his 79th match. Incredibly, he retains a divine enthusiasm for the game, and he seems to be untouched by age: at 36 years and 306 days he broke a 40-year barrier by scoring the first double-century in one-day cricket. It now seems inevitable that he will become the first cricketer to score 100 international hundreds, which like Bradman's batting average, could last for ever.

Tendulkar's considerable achievements seem greater still when looked at in the light of the burden of expectations he has had to bear from his adoring but somewhat unreasonable followers, who have been prone to regard anything less than a hundred as a failure. The aura may have dimmed, if only slightly, as the years on the international circuit have taken their toll on the body, but Tendulkar remains, by a distance, the most worshipped cricketer in the world.
Sambit Bal February 2010

• February 23-25, 1988
  A monster in the making
  • Sachin Tendulkar, 14, and Vinod Kambli, 16 compile a 664-run unbroken partnership for Shardashram Vidyamandir against St Xavier's at Azad Maidan. Kambli makes 349 not out, Tendulkar 326 not out. It remains the highest partnership recorded in any form of cricket, until in November 2006 two schoolboys from Hyderabad - Manoj Kumar and Mohammad Shaibaz - overtake the record with an unbeaten 721-run partnership.
    
• December 11, 1988
  Truly first-class debut
  • At 15, scores an unbeaten century against Gujarat at the Wankhede Stadium to become the youngest Indian to make a hundred on first-class debut. Was picked after Bombay captain Dilip Vengsarkar watched him negotiate Kapil Dev in the nets.
    
• December 14, 1989
  Bloody-minded to start with
  • On the last day of the last Test of his first Test series, in Sialkot, gets hit on the nose by Waqar Younis - also in his first series. Falls down, gets up, and wipes away the gushing blood. Medical assistance is declined. Is eventually out for 57.
    
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• August 14, 1990
  How young is too young?
  • At 17 years and 112 days, becomes the then second-youngest centurion in Test history. His 119 not out against England at Old Trafford is a majestic rearguard action that enables India to hang on for a draw. It still remains among his most valuable Test innings.
    
• February 2-3, 1992
  Crazy diamond
  • Sculpts a counter-attacking gem of 114, after it is 135 for 6, then 159 for 8, at the WACA, the bounciest cricket pitch in the world. It is his favourite Test innings.
    
• April, 1992
  Yorkshire opens up
  • Becomes the first overseas signing for Yorkshire.
    
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• November 27-28, 1992
  Thousand reasons to cheer
  • At 19 years and 217 days, becomes the youngest player to reach 1000 Test runs, during his 111 out of India's 227 in Johannesburg.
    
• February 11-12, 1993
  Mad in Madras
  • Scores his first Test century at home. Hits 24 fours and a six in his 165 against England, as India win by an innings and 22 runs.
    
• November 24, 1993
  Golden arm is unveiled
  • With South Africa needing six runs to win off the last over of their Hero Cup semi-final against India, bowls a sensational over, giving them just three, and India victory.
    
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• March 27, 1994
  Opens a can of worms
  • Opens in an ODI for the first time - against New Zealand. Goes on to make 82, off 49 balls.
    
• October, 1995
  Commercial worth
  • Signs a five-year contract worth Rs 31.5 crore with WorldTel, which makes him the richest cricketer in the world.
    
• February-March, 1996
  His World Cup
  • With 523 runs at 87.16, is the highest scorer in the World Cup held in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Scores two centuries and three half-centuries.
    
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• August 8, 1996
  Captaincy, part I
  • Is named captain of the Indian team, at age 23.
    
• January 2, 1998
  End of captaincy, part I
  • Is sacked from the captaincy after a 15-month tenure during which India won three out of 17 Tests.
    
• February-March, 1998
  His finest series
  • Gets his maiden first-class double-hundred and two hundreds and a fifty in three Tests against Australia. India win the home-series 2-1.
    
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• April 22-24, 1998
  Desert Storm
  • Scores two blazing, back-to-back hundreds against Australia at Sharjah to help India reach the final and then win it.
    
• January 30-31, 1999
  His greatest innings... almost
  • Makes 136 chasing 271 against Pakistan with an injured back. Gets out with 17 runs to get; India fall short by 12.
    
• July 28, 1999
  Captaincy, part II
  • Is reappointed captain - without his consent - after India, under Mohammad Azharuddin, fail to reach the semifinals of the World Cup in England.
    
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• March 20, 2001
  A thorn in Aussie flesh
  • Scores a century in a famous decider of a famous series, against Australia. India win 2-1, denying Australia the "final frontier".
    
• March 31, 2001
  The road less traveled
  • Becomes the first player to score 10,000 runs in one-day cricket in the course of his 139 against Australia in Indore.
    
• November 19, 2001
  Ball-tampering?
  • Is cautioned and fined by match referee Mike Denness for trying to "change the condition of the ball" during the Port Elizabeth Test. The resulting outcry in India and the impasse between the Indian board and the ICC leads the latter to review the jurisdiction of match referees.
    
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• December 21, 2001
  Caught out of his crease
  • Is tied down by the over-the-stumps tactics of Ashley Giles in Bangalore, and is stumped for the first time in his Test career. It also highlights the start of his discomfort against left-arm spinners.
    
• August 22-23, 2002
  Move over, Sir Don
  • Overtakes Don Bradman's tally of 29 Test centuries, misses double-century by seven at Headingley, but India win by an innings and 46 runs.
    
• February-March, 2003
  His World Cup, part II
  • Scores 673 runs at 61.18 in the World Cup, taking India to within a win of the world crown. His 98 against Pakistan in an exceptionally anticipated match is one of the best knocks played by Indians at World Cups. Even though Australia are the champions, he is named the Man of the Series.
    
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• August, 2003
  Privilege, what privilege?
  • Draws flak for a duty waiver on the Ferrari 360 Modena, which is gifted to him by the Fiat group on his passing Bradman's mark of 29 Test centuries. Finally offers to pay the $245,000 duty, which is covered for by Fiat.
    
• January2-4, 2004
  Economy over style
  • Scores a century without a cover-drive, goes on to get an unbeaten 241 in Sydney, and rates it the best among his centuries. Australia manage to hold on for a draw, and the series ends 1-1.
    
• March 28-29, 2004
  Robbed of a double?
  • Scores an unbeaten 194 in Sehwag's Multan Test. Later says he was surprised the Indian team declared with him so close to the double-century.
    
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• August, 2004
  Cost of playing catches up
  • Tennis elbow surfaces, during the Videocon Cup in Holland. Misses the Champions Trophy in England, and then the first two home Tests against Australia.
    
• March 16, 2005
  Ten thousand, twice over
  • Becomes the fifth man to score 10000 Test runs in course of his 52 against Pakistan in Kolkata. India win the match by 192 runs.
    
• May, 2005
  Tennis elbow refuses to go away
  • Goes for the surgery for the tennis elbow, misses a triangular in Sri Lanka, a tour to Zimbabwe, and the Super Series in Australia.
    
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• October 25, 2005
  Back, and how
  • Makes a roaring return to international cricket, with a 93 off 96 balls against Sri Lanka in Nagpur, in India's 350 for 6.
    
• December 10, 2005
  Sunny days
  • In scoring 109 against Sri Lanka in Delhi, becomes the highest centurion in Test cricket, overtaking Sunil Gavaskar's 34.
    
• March 19, 2006
  Home crowd turns hostile
  • Struggles for 1 run in 33 minutes against England in Mumbai, and after he is dismissed, he is booed off the ground by his home crowd.
    
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• March, 2006
  Tryst with the knife
  • Goes to England for surgery on his right shoulder. Misses the one-dayers against England and the tour to West Indies.
    
• September 14, 2006
  Back and how, part II
  • Makes a stunning comeback, with 141 off 148 balls against West Indies in a DLF Cup ODI in Kuala Lumpur. India lose the match by D/L method.
    
• May, 2007
  Unwanted rest
  • Is "rested" for the first time in his career, for the three-ODI series in Bangladesh. Scores two centuries in the two following Tests.
    
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• August, 2007
  Finally, a win outside subcontinent
  • With 228 runs at 38.00, makes a significant contribution to his first Test-series win outside the subcontinent, as India beat England 1-0 to win the Pataudi Trophy.
    
• January 4, 2008
  Sachin Cricket Ground
  • At an SCG full of worshippers, scores a sublime unbeaten 154, his first century in more than two years and 19 Tests, against opposition other than Bangladesh.
    
• March 2, 2008
  Sachin Cricket Ground, Part II
  • Scores his first ODI century in Australia, in first of the CB Series final. The innings is the foundation India build their first tri-series in Australia on.
    
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• October 17, 2008
  Scaling the summit
  • At 2.31pm on a hot Mohali Friday, Tendulkar steers debutant Peter Siddle towards the third-man boundary for three runs to break Brian Lara's record for most Test runs.
    
• November 5, 2009
  Solo again
  • Crosses 17,000 ODI runs during his 175 off 141 balls in a run-chase of 351 against Australia in Hyderabad. It is a chanceless innings that ends 19 runs short of the target, but India choke after his wicket and lose.
    
• February 24, 2010
  The 200 barrier falls
  • A stunning display in Gwalior makes Tendulkar the first male player to score 200 in a single innings in a one-day international. It comes off just 147 deliveries, powering India to 401 and a comfortable 153-run win against South Africa.
    
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• 119 not out v England, Old Trafford, 1990
  • England pile up 519 on a benign pitch, and India reply with 432. England stretch the lead to 407, and though the pitch is still good and the bowling (Malcolm, Fraser, Lewis, Hemmings) not terribly menacing, India find themselves in deep water at 127 for 5 with only one recognised batsman left. And he's only 17 years old. Tendulkar battles for nearly four hours, grimly but never dourly, and ends the day with 119. India lose only one more wicket, ending up with 343. With one more session, they might even have won.
    
• 114 v Australia, Perth, 1991-92
  • The fastest pitch in Australia has been reserved for the last Test. India have been beaten already, only humiliation awaits. Batting first, Australia score 346. Tendulkar enters at a relatively comfortable 100 for 3, but watches the next five wickets go down for 59. Tendulkar is the next man out... at 240. He has scored 118 of the 140 runs added while he is at the crease, and has made them in such an awe-inspiring manner that commentators are asking themselves when they last saw an innings as good.
    
• 169 v South Africa, Cape Town, 1996-97
  • Batting first, South Africa make a matchwinning 529. Playing only for honour, India find themselves groveling before Donald, Pollock, McMillan and Klusener. Tendulkar and Mohammad Azharuddin get together at 58 for 5, and start spanking the bowling as if they were playing a club game in the park. They add 222 for the sixth wicket in less than two sessions, and Tendulkar has 26 boundaries in his score of 169. Even Donald says that he felt like clapping.
    
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• 155 not out v Australia, Chennai, 1997-98
  • Seventy-one runs in arrears, India start the second innings and despite Navjot Singh Sidhu's 64 find themselves only 44 in front when Tendulkar joins Rahul Dravid. The duo has to contend with Shane Warne bowling from round the wicket and into the rough. Tendulkar, who has practised against Laxman Sivaramakrishnan and a few other bowlers on artificially created rough patch before this series, decides to take apart Warne. In a breathtaking assault, with the match hanging in balance, he deploys his unique slog sweeps against the spin to steer India past Australia and snatch a matchwinning 347-run lead.
    
• Twin centuries v Australia, Sharjah, 1997-98
  • India are chasing Australia's 284, but more importantly they need to score 254 to beat New Zealand on net run-rate, and make their way to the final. Single-handedly, Tendulkar takes India close to the cut-off when sandstorms disrupt the play. Just when making it to the final looks difficult, Tendulkar not only takes them beyond that target, but for a brief while even flirts with a win.
    
• Twin centuries v Australia, Sharjah, 1997-98
  • It surely couldn't have got better. It does. Two days later, at the same venue, chasing a similar 273 to win the final, Tendulkar decimates the Australian attack. By the time he is out in the 45th over, he has left India only 25 more to get. Shane Warne is so devastated he confesses Tendulkar hits him for sixes in his nightmares.
    
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• 136 v Pakistan, Chennai, 1998-99
  
  • Few Indian batting performances have been as heroic, or as tragic. Chasing 271 in the fourth innings of a low-scoring match, India experience a familiar top-order collapse, and are sinking fast at 82 for 5. Tendulkar finds an able ally in Nayan Mongia, and rebuilds the innings in a painstaking, un-Tendulkarlike manner. After helping add 136 for the sixth wicket, Mongia departs to an ungainly pull, and Tendulkar's back is also giving way. Tendulkar shifts up a gear or two, and starts dealing only in boundaries. But one error of judgment and it's all over. Saqlain Mushtaq defeats his intended lofted on-drive with a magical ball that drifts the other way, catches the outer part of Tendulkar's bat and balloons up to mid-off. The tail disgrace themselves, and India fall short by a gut-wrenching 13 runs.
    
• 233 not out v Tamil Nadu, Mumbai, 1999-2000
  • It's a Ranji semi-final against a strong Tamil Nadu, and Mumbai are looking down the barrel after their bowlers have given away 485 runs. First-innings lead is crucial in this contest, but Mumbai look down for the count at 127 for 4. This is when old pal Vinod Kambli joins Tendulkar, and they see Mumbai out of trouble. But they are not anywhere near home when Kambli falls with the score at 266. Tendulkar then takes charge, and with the lower order, sees Mumbai just past Tamil Nadu's total and into a final Mumbai would win. This is just the kind of against-the-odds matchwinning knock that has eluded him at international level. Perhaps that's why he later says, "This is one of my best innings. This includes one-day internationals and Test cricket also."
    
• 155 v South Africa, Bloemfontein, 2001-02
  • On the first day on an overseas series, India's plight is a familiar one - four down for 68, with all the wickets going just the way the South Africans expected - to rising balls. Tendulkar has a debutant for company, with another to follow. He takes 17 balls to score his first run, but 101 come off the next 97 deliveries. It isn't the prettiest of Tendulkar's Test tons, but it is one of the most savage, characterised by pulls and vicious upper-cuts. The South Africans have a plan for India, and Tendulkar makes a mockery of it. By the time Tendulkar's innings ends, India are reasonably well placed, though they go on to lose the Test.
    
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• 98 v Pakistan, Centurion, 2003
  • Tendulkar has been compelled to live this World Cup match against Pakistan for a year in advance. He has not slept properly for 12 nights going into the match. A target of 274 set for India, bat in hand, Tendulkar shows no anxiety whatsoever. Or is it that nervous energy? He just finishes his hyped battle against Shoaib Akhtar in the latter's first over with an uppercut for six, and then a flick and a straight block for two boundaries. Every bowler is dealt with similar disdain. He has not looked more pumped up before. And although he misses a special century, he leaves the match sealed in the 28th over.
    
• 117 not out v Australia, Sydney, 2007-08
  • Going into the first final of the CB Series, Tendulkar has not achieved many things: an ODI century in Australia, a century in 37 innings, a chase-winning century since 2001, a century in any chase since March 2004. In a 235-minute masterclass, he washes it all away, scoring 117 off 120 balls and leading India to the 240-run target on a difficult wicket just about solo. He dominates in the initial overs, shepherds the tentative middle order, and stays unbeaten to see the side home.
    
• 37 and 103 not out v England, Chennai, 2008-09
  • Tendulkar has to his name every batting record worth having, except one perhaps: a fourth-innings century in an Indian win. Having struggled against the spin of Swann and Panesar in the first innings of the Chennai Test, India are left to chase 387 on a deteriorating pitch. The explosive start, which puts England off track, is provided by Virender Sehwag, the final touches by Yuvraj Singh, but in the middle Tendulkar nurtures the chase, hardly ever looking under pressure, scampering through for singles like a teenager, breaking shackles every now and then with odd boundaries. The final one of those boundaries finishes the chase, and also brings up that elusive century. Works a treat that it comes at the same venue that was the scene of a supreme heartbreak nine years ago against Pakistan, and weeks after India faced one of its worst terror attacks. With Tendulkar, India smiles again.
    
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• 175 v Australia, Hyderabad, 2009-10
  • Australia have amassed a massive 350 on a flat pitch in Hyderabad, and Tendulkar almost chases it, single-handedly, with no support to speak of. Displays through the innings how he has mastered the art of scoring quick runs without taking any risks. The only support comes from Virender Sehwag (38) and Suresh Raina (59), but they both look like getting out any time. Tendulkar, who scores 175 off 141 balls, gives hardly a chance through the classic. When he does take risk, it's worth preserving those shots in an album: the stepping out to spinners and lofts straight down the ground, and the unbelievably late flicks, even later late cuts. It all ends in heartbreak, though: in Chennai in 1998-99, Tendulkar, having played an innings as incredible as this, left the last three wickets 17 to get; on this night he leaves them 19 off 17. The rest choke like they did in Chennai.
    
• 200* v South Africa, Gwalior, 2009-10
  It took nearly 40 years of waiting, but the accolade fittingly went to the best ODI batsman in history. Tendulkar overcame cramps, heat and humidity to play his most breathtaking innings to send the cricket world into frenzy. On a road of a pitch in Gwalior, Tendulkar began his innings with crisply timed shots past the packed infield, which didn't succeed in choking his scoring. His placement was impeccable and not once did he drop anchor. Yusuf Pathan, MS Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik frolicked as well, but they were mere bystanders as Tendulkar continued with his act of savagery. He fetched 100 runs off fours alone and also ran swiftly between the wickets. He went past his personal best of 186, and broke Anwar and Coventry's record with a glance to fine leg. A squirt to backward point got him to 200 and he scored almost exactly half of India's total.
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