www.asianexpress.co.uk
October 2013 - 3rd Edition
RECORD-BREAKER: Sachin Tendulkar
By Ashley Grint ashley@asianexpress.co.uk
Sachin Tendulkar, arguably cricket’s greatest ever batsman, is set to retire next month after a record-breaking 24 year career. The Indian sportsman will call an end to his illustrious time at the crease after a two-test home series against West Indies which will take the Little Master’s Test record to 200 games. With every record worth holding already in the sporting icons pocket, he will leave the game knowing that very few people will ever come close to matching his statistics. Not only is he the leading runscorer in the history of Tests, with
15,837 runs in his 198 matches, but he also boasts the most runs in the history of one-day internationals, with 18,426 runs in an amazing 463 ODIs. Blessed with the keenest of cricket minds, Tendulkar made his international debut in 1989, aged just 16, in a Test with Pakistan. Just one year later, in his 14th innings, he registered his first Test century against England at Old Trafford. Some of his finest and most memorable performances came Australia, the against overwhelmingly dominant team of his era. His
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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 the cricket-mad country. A few years later he received the ultimate compliment from the ultimate batsman: Don Bradman (holder of the highest batting average ever at 99.94 runs) who confided to his wife that Tendulkar reminded him of himself. In 2000 he became the first to register 50 batsman
Thank you
Sachin End of an era as Little Master set to bow out
international hundreds and eight years later in 2008 he passed Brian Lara as the leading Test run-score. Most recently, last year, when just one month short of his 39th birthday, Tendulkar became the first player to score 100 international centuries which, like Bradman's batting average, could be a mark that lasts forever. Speaking about his career, the cricketing ace explained that it all seems like a ‘dream’. “It's hard to imagine a life without playing cricket because it's all I've ever done since I was 11,” he said. “All my life, I have had a dream of playing cricket for India. I have been living this dream every day for the last 24 years.” President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, N Srinivasan, added: “He is without doubt the greatest cricketer India has produced. “In fact, one should really say he ranks among the top of alltime great sportspersons in the world. No one has served Indian cricket as Sachin has. “He has truly been an ambassador for India and Indian cricket. He has been an inspiration for generations of sportsmen, not just cricketers. “We respect his decision to retire, although many of us can't imagine an Indian team without Sachin.”
Tendulkar holds just about every batting record worth owning in the game, including those for most runs and hundreds in Tests and ODIs, as well as most international runs. Test Matches Played: 198 Runs: 15,837 Centuries: 51 Half-centuries: 67 Average: 53.86
Top Score: 248 (unbeaten) Vs Bangladesh –2004
One Day Internationals Played: 463 Runs: 18,426 Centuries: 49 Half-Centuries: 96 Average: 44.83
Top Score: 200 Vs South Africa - 2010
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