Record-breaking Tendulkar cherishes journey
Among all of Sachin Tendulkar's achievements over the years - and there are too many to be recounted - going past Steve Waugh's world record of 168 Test caps must rank pretty high
Tendulkar scales another mountain
In a career stretching almost 21 years, Sachin Tendulkar has missed 14 Tests. He missed his first one in his 12th year in international cricket, when he didn't tour Sri Lanka in 2001 - India lost that three-Test series 2-1. Since then he hasn't played the following matches: the first two Tests when Australia toured in 2004-05; the two-Test series in Zimbabwe in 2005-06; four Tests in the West Indies in 2006; a Test against Pakistan and two against South Africa in 2008-09.
Tendulkar's Test career is so far the 11th- longest in international cricket. It's the longest, though, among players who've started their careers after 1971.
Matches missed by batsmen who've played 140 or more Tests: Steve Waugh - 21 out of 168; Allan Border - one out of 156; Ricky Ponting - 23 out of 146; Shane Warne - 32 out of 145; Rahul Dravid - 3 out of 141; Jacques Kallis - 17 out of 140. Among the three other Indians to play 125 or more Tests: Anil Kumble: 27 out of 132; Kapil Dev: one out of 131; Sunil Gavaskar: four out of 125. (Click here for a full list of most consecutive matches played.)
The progression of the record for most Tests played since 1975: Colin Cowdrey - 114 (retd 1975); Sunil Gavaskar - 125 (retd 1987); Allan Border - 156 (retd 1994); Steve Waugh - 168 (retd 2004). (Click here for the complete list.)
Sidharth Monga is a staff writer at Cricinfo