HAPPY BIRTHDAY SACHIN RAMESH TENDULKAR

[Kool_SRG]

 

[Kool_SRG]

 

Part One: The Boy Wonder, Who became the world's best 

Few athletes in the world have ever been as synonymous with their sport as Sachin Tendulkar, whose remarkable international career spanned 24 years across four decades, and touched countless fans. On his 48th birthday, we look back on his rise from teen prodigy to cricketing immortality in a two-part series.

In part one of this career retrospective, we track his path from school batting phenom to ICC Cricket World Cup record-breaker.

Part two: Chasing down Sunny, World Cup glory and a century of centuries 

A RECORD BREAKER FROM THE GET-GO

Even in the early years of being a teenager, there was a hype around Tendulkar and that only grew as he dominated the Harris Shield in 1987/88 for Shardashram Vidyamandir school. He scored 1025 runs across five matches in the Under-16 tournament.

Of those, 326 runs came in one famous knock, in which he combined with future India teammate and close friend Vinod Kambli in a record-breaking 664-run stand.

For 18 years it stood as the biggest partnership at any level in cricket history, only eclipsed in 2006 by two 13-year-olds in Hyderabad.

“That partnership was the turning point of our careers. It changed our lives and opened the floodgates for our selection into the Mumbai and Indian team,” Kambli told DNA in 2018. “Once we got into the groove, Tendlya (Tendulkar) and me toyed with the attack. After every boundary and six, we would sing Wham!’s Wake me up before you go.”

It’s a moment in time that Tendulkar still looks back on fondly, tweeting last year: “Doing what we loved the most. Remember that partnership quite vividly my friend.”

 

Tendulkar and Kambli would combine again on the international stage numerous times.

DOMINATING DOMESTIC CRICKET

Having made waves in school cricket, a 14-year-old Tendulkar was added to Mumbai's squad for the 1987/88 domestic season, missing out on sharing a dressing room with his idol, Sunil Gavaskar, by mere months.

Tendulkar would not play a game that campaign but the time spent learning around the group paid dividends when his chance to play came the following season.

Aged 15 years and 232 days, he debuted for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy after impressing captain Dilip Vengsarkar in a net session against the India team, who were preparing for a Test against New Zealand. Walking out to bat in the No.4 position he would become so synonymous with in Test cricket at Wankhede Stadium, Tendulkar eased his way to an unbeaten 100 off 129 balls, hitting 14 boundaries along the way.

He would go on to score 583 runs at 64.77 that Ranji Trophy season, and followed that up with a century for the Rest of India team against Delhi in the Irani Cup. Two years later, after he had already announced himself on the international stage, he notched another debut ton in the Duleep Trophy.

In doing so he became the first player to ever score a century on debut in all three of India’s domestic first-class tournaments.

 

Tendulkar in his first Test series against Pakistan.

DEBUTING AGAINST IRMAN, AKRAM AND YOUNIS

Having excelled on the first-class stage, Tendulkar was called up to play Test cricket for the first time in 1989.

Still four months short of his 17th birthday, the diminutive right-hander was picked to play in Karachi against a Pakistani outfit featuring Imran Khan, Wasim Akram and Abdul Qadir.

Tendulkar would only manage 15 runs for the match, falling to another man making his debut in Waqar Younis.

But the runs would start to flow from the second Test onwards. He notched a half-century at Faisalabad, and followed it up with 41 in Lahore. It was in the fourth Test at Sialkot that he proved age would be no barrier.

With India in deep trouble at 38/4 in their second innings, with a day and a half’s play still remaining, Tendulkar was under pressure from the outset. Just one run into his innings, he misread a short ball from Younis and wore it on the nose via a deflection off his helmet. 

Blood gushed from his nose to stain his shirt red. On the field, Javed Miandad suggested he go to the hospital for a broken nose. In the stands, a banner informed him to go home and drink milk. Instead, the teenager batted on.

He got through to stumps and continued into day five, scoring a brave 57 off 134 before falling to Imran as India held on for the draw.

It was a performance he would look back on at several junctures in his career.

FINALLY A MAIDEN TON

Tendulkar finished his career with an incredible 100 hundreds in international cricket. That’s one every 7.82 innings.

It took him until his 21^st international innings to notch the first of those centuries, having passed 50 four times on his way there.

In his 10^th innings and just his sixth Test, he had missed the chance to become the youngest player to ever score a Test century, perishing for 88 against New Zealand at Napier. He was caught at mid-off by New Zealand captain John Wright off the bowling of Danny Morrison, and was in tears by the time he reached the boundary ropes. He would later joke to Wright, when the Kiwi became India’s men’s coach, that he should have dropped the catch.

Six months later, Tendulkar would not let his next chance at a century go begging.

Coming out to bat with India in trouble on day five at Old Trafford against England, he enjoyed an early life when he was put down on 10 by Eddie Hemmings. He made the most of the chance, going on to raise his century on day five.

“There it is – a Test match hundred for Tendulkar,” Richie Benaud’s iconic voice rung out in commentary. “Aged 17 years and 112 days. One of the youngest ever to get a Test match hundred. An innings of temperament, skill and delightful stroke play.”

 

A moment to remember for Sachin Tendulkar.

THRIVING DOWN UNDER

Tendulkar had missed out on the record for the youngest batter to score a Test century, but he did manage to become the youngest player to score a hundred in the format in England.

He then did the same in Australia in 1992, scoring centuries as an 18-year-old at the Sydney Cricket Ground and the WACA. It was a campaign he later credited for changing his career.

The first ton – in a match where a certain Shane Warne debuted – started a love affair with the SCG that would span 20 years and five Tests, across which he would average 157 and score three centuries, including one double.

But it was the second hundred that really caught the attention of the cricketing world. Against an Australian attack spearheaded by Craig McDermott and Merv Hughes, on a spicy WACA surface that had proved too hot to handle for his seasoned teammates, he scored a 161-ball 114 as India were bowled out for 272.

“One innings that changed my career or gave shape to my career was in Perth, 1992,” Tendulkar was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India in 2014. “Perth, at least at that time, was regarded the fastest wicket, and the hostility of the Australian fast bowlers was something that was difficult to handle.

“I knew that Perth was the kind of wicket which I would not get to play anywhere in the world and If I can bat on Perth and score runs then I am possibly equipped to go on any other track which is fast and bouncy and score runs there.

“My career was just starting. I had done well for a couple of years by then but it really took off after that Perth innings because I felt I was ready to take on the world.”

Or, as Hughes put it more succinctly in 1992 in the dressing rooms at the WACA over a beer with captain Allan Border: “This little pr**k's going to get more runs than you, AB.”

 

Sachin Tendulkar's century at the WACA impressed the world.

THE PATH TO ODI GREATNESS

Tendulkar scored his first Test century in 1990. His first ODI ton did not come until 1994 in his 79th match in the format.

The century, scored against Australia in Colombo, came shortly after his promotion to the top of the order in ODI cricket – a position he and Sanath Jayasuriya would reinvent through the 1990s.

Opening the batting for the first time in March 1994 against New Zealand, Tendulkar had blasted a rapid 82 runs off 49 balls. That is a strike rate that remains impressive today, let alone in the mid-90s.

However, the maiden ODI ton against Australia was a more restrained 110 off 130 in a 31-run victory.

It was the start of greater things for the Indian icon, who averaged 32.70 in ODIs before the century and 47.10 after it.

A GOLDEN PERIOD

Singling out any portion of Tendulkar’s career for special praise is close to impossible. Part of the Little Master’s aura was the infrequency with which he truly endured lean patches. A great performance was seemingly always just around the corner.

Nevertheless, the second half of the ‘90s and early 2000s are worth special mention.

In 1996 he topped the World Cup run-scoring charts for the first time, tallying 523 runs at an average of 87.16. He was the lone batter to make more than 500 runs in the tournament. He notched the first two of his six career World Cup centuries that year, scoring 127 against Kenya and 137 against eventual champions Sri Lanka. There were three fifties outside of that, including a 90 against Australia and 65 in a semi-final loss to Sri Lanka.

In 1997 he scored 1000 Test runs in a calendar year (1000 at 62.50) for the first time, raising four centuries.

In 1998 he put Australia to the sword in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, scoring 446 runs at 111.50 as he dominated a series that had been billed as a battle between himself and Warne. Two centuries and a fifty across the three Tests in India painted a clear picture of who came out on top this time around.

 

Tendulkar dominated Australia in 1998.

He continued his dominance of the Australians at the Coca-Cola Cup the same year, producing two of the most memorable innings of his career. In India’s final match of the group stage against Australia, he blitzed 143 runs in 131 balls in an innings that would be known from then on as Desert Storm after the match was interrupted by a sandstorm. The century wasn’t enough to earn India victory but it did secure them a spot in the final ahead of New Zealand via net run rate. In the final, he scored another ton, making 134 off 131 balls to steer India to a six-wicket win.

Indeed, 1998 was a special year for Tendulkar in which he scored 647 runs at 80.87 in Test cricket and 1894 at 65.31 in ODIs. That remains the record for the most ODI runs in a calendar year, while his 12 international centuries for the year still stands as the benchmark.

In 1999 he enjoyed his most productive year in Test cricket up to that point (1088 runs at 68, five centuries) and stepped up with one of the bravest performances of his career. Already battling a bad back at the World Cup, Tendulkar was rocked by the news of his father’s passing. After four days back home in India, he returned to London the day after the funeral to score a brilliant and unbeaten 140 off 101 balls against Kenya.

By 2002 he went past Don Bradman’s Test century haul, scoring his 30^th in his 99^th match for India.

Across the six years between 1997 and 2002, he scored 17 Test and 23 ODI centuries, with a lowest calendar year average in Test cricket of 55.68.

The lone sour note in this period for Tendulkar and India were two broadly unsuccessful stints as captain.

 

Desert Storm - An instant classic.

THE 2003 WORLD CUP

The year 2003 was one of two halves for Tendulkar, but they weren’t split chronologically so much as they were by format.

In Test cricket he found himself underperforming for the first time in his career, enduring a lean patch by anyone’s standards, let alone his, averaging 17 across his five matches for the year.

In ODIs however he seemed to be walking on water, and it was at the 2003 World Cup that he was at his very best. Across 11 matches he scored 673 runs at 61.18, setting a new record for the most runs in a single World Cup campaign as he inspired India to just their second final.

His high score for the tournament came against Namibia, but his best performance was undeniably against Pakistan in a match so big it had taken on a life of its own. Such was the hype surrounding the game that Tendulkar struggled to sleep for the three nights leading into it.

With Waqar and Wasim in tow, Pakistan already had one the most formidable pace attacks in the world, but it was speed demon Shoaib Akhtar who loomed as their biggest threat.

Set a target of 274 to win, Tendulkar had told opening partner Virender Sehwag that they should take some time getting themselves in before taking the attack to Pakistan. What transpired was very different.

The pair picked up nine runs off the first over from Akram but it was in the next over from Akhtar that Tendulkar really took it up a gear in an over that brought India 18 runs. On the quick’s fourth ball, Tendulkar produced one of the most iconic shots of the tournament, slashing him over third man for six. The next ball was dispatched behind square for four and the final delivery of the over was met with a simple prod timed so well it raced along the carpet for another boundary. It turned out to be a one-over spell for Akhtar but his removal from the attack did little to quell India, who raced past 50 in the first five overs.

He went on to make 98 off 75 that match, eventually perishing to Akhtar but there could be no mistaking who the winner of this contest was.

India cruised through to the final from there but World Cup glory would evade them as Australia wrapped up their second consecutive tournament win.

Few players in the world have ever been as hard workers in the nets as Tendulkar but incredibly he took a very different tack throughout the 2003 tournament.

“In the 2003 World Cup, Sachin Tendulkar didn’t bat a single ball in the nets, right through the tournament. He only got throw-downs. He just received hundreds of throw-downs through the whole tournament,” Rahul Dravid revealed in 2014.

“All of us were wondering ‘Why is he doing that?’ When I asked him, he said, ‘I’m feeling good. I don’t want to go into the nets and waste the touch. I want to feel good about my batting. If I have that sort of feeling, I will score runs when I go in”.

[Pitta]

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Part two: Chasing down Sunny, World Cup glory and a century of centuries 

CHASING DOWN SUNNY

While he had dominated the World Cup, 2003 was a lean year for Tendulkar in Test cricket. He averaged 17 across his five matches and for the first time in his career was underperforming.

He was back to his best in the format in the early parts of 2004, starting the year with an unbeaten 241 at the SCG. Across his first three innings of the year he scored 495 runs without being dismissed, and had moved within one century of equalling Sunil Gavaskar’s record of 34 Test tons.

However, the tolls of a decade-and-a-half of international cricket had started to show. In August that year, he was diagnosed with tennis elbow in his left arm, ruling him out of the Champions Trophy and sidelining him for the first two Tests of Australia’s tour of India in October.

With the help of painkillers he was able to return for the third and fourth Tests of the series and in December against Bangladesh, he finally drew level with Gavaskar, hitting an unbeaten 248.

As a teenager, he had been gifted a pair of pads by Gavaskar and on the occasion of his 34th Test century, the original ‘Little Master’ sent Tendulkar 34 bottles of champagne.

 

The two Little Masters.

It took almost a year to the day for Tendulkar to raise century No.35. In March 2005 he went close, scoring 94 against Pakistan at Mohali. But by the end of that series, it became clear more drastic action needed to be taken to resolve the elbow injury. In May, Tendulkar had surgery on the troublesome joint and in October he finally returned to international cricket.

At 4:44pm on 10 December 2005, Sachin Tendulkar clipped Chaminda Vaas off his pads through square leg at the Feroz Shah Kotla and scurried through for a history-making single. With it he raised the 35^th Test century of his career, going past hero and mentor Gavaskar.

Known to be an understated celebrator, Tendulkar revelled in the moment when he broke the record. There was a shout of jubilation before he looked to the heavens in honour of his father, before saluting the dressing room. "This was a very important hundred for me, four-and-a-half months after elbow surgery,” he said.

“Mentally it [the break because of injury] was very tough on me but physically I could cope. I got frustrated and impatient, so getting out of it was not a singular effort – my family, physio, trainer ... they all helped.”

Asked what was to come next: "I can't say what heights I am going to achieve. But what you can expect from me, what is in my hands, is 100% commitment and sincerity and playing for the cause of the team."

But first, there would be another visit to the surgeon to remedy a cyst pressing on a nerve in his right shoulder.

 

Sachin eclipses Sunny.

RETURN TO FORM

With the record for the most Test centuries in the bag, Tendulkar’s next aim was to fulfil the lifelong dream of winning the Cricket World Cup at the 2007 edition. Unfortunately for India, the tournament could not have gone much worse as they failed to make the knockout stages.

Having spent much of the past two years fighting injury, an underwhelming World Cup for India left the great man considering retirement. A phone call from the legendary Sir Vivian Richards put those thoughts to bed, and in 2008, the form that had made Tendulkar a world conqueror started to return.

He started the year with an unbeaten 154 against Australia in the New Year’s Test at the SCG, backed it up with an important 71 as India enjoyed a victory to remember at the WACA, and rounded out his series with a 153 in the fourth Test. His series haul of 493 at 70.42 is the most runs he ever managed in a single campaign.

He carried that form into the ODI tri-series, in which he was the star of the best-of-three final, scoring an unbeaten 117 in the first final and 91 in the second as India won the tournament.

 

Sachin's cricket ground.

2008 saw him notch 1000 Test runs in a calendar year for the first time since 2002 and fittingly it was the year in which he became the format’s greatest ever run-scorer. Having overcome a sports hernia in the middle of the year, Tendulkar eclipsed Brian Lara and became the first batter to ever score 12,000 Test runs during a fluent 88 against Australia in Mohali. The moment was met by a fireworks display that lasted close to three minutes.

In a career littered with magical moments, he produced one of his most significant in December 2008. With the nation reeling in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attacks, the city’s favourite son stepped up in India’s next Test, scoring an unbeaten 103 to help chase down a target of 387 against England in Chennai.

Asked whether this century mattered more than any of his others, Tendulkar replied: "Yes, especially after what happened in Mumbai. By no means am I saying this will make everyone forget what happened in Mumbai but I'd like to thank England for coming back and playing Test cricket and we've witnessed a wonderful Test match — people are enjoying cricket the way it's meant to be.

"What happened in Mumbai was extremely unfortunate and I don't think by India winning or me scoring a hundred, people who have lost their loved ones will feel any better. It's a terrible loss for all of them and our hearts are with them, but whatever manner we can contribute to making them feel better we'll make that effort."

 

A special century from Sachin Tendulkar.

THE GOLDEN YEAR

In 2010, in the fourth decade of his career, Tendulkar enjoyed his greatest ever year in Test cricket. In his 21^st year as an international cricketer, the 37-year-old helped himself to 1562 runs at 78.10, scoring seven centuries and five half-centuries across 14 Tests.

In what proved a fruitful year for India, he was their highest run-scorer, notching his 50^th Test century as the team solidified their spot at the top of the Test rankings.

He only played two ODIs in 2010 but he made them count. In the first, against South Africa at Jaipur, he was run out for four. In the second, against the same team at Gwalior, he became the first batter to score a double-century in a men’s ODI.

Against an attack spearheaded by Dale Steyn, he batted the entirety of the innings, making an unbeaten 200 off 147 balls, hitting 25 fours and three sixes, reaching the milestone in the very last over of the match.

Five other batsmen have achieved the feat in men’s ODIs since but there simply could be no one else but Tendulkar to break that barrier in men’s cricket.

"Nobody else does deserve to get there,” Saeed Anwar, who shared the record for the highest men’s ODI score of 194 with Charles Coventry, said in 2010. “It's only Sachin who deserves to scale that peak. Two-hundred is a big score in one-day cricket. It's not easy to get there. It took him 20 long years to get there. He has come a long way. It's Sachin's greatness.”

 

It had to be him.

2011 WORLD CUP

In 2011, Tendulkar’s long quest to get his hands on a World Cup trophy finally came to an end.

He was a child inspired when India won it for the first time in 1983 and a ball boy when the nation hosted it in 1987. He was a rookie in 1992 and the highest run-scorer in the 1996 and 2003 editions, with quieter performances on either side of a runners up finish in the latter.

In 2011 there would be no denying him. Part of a power-packed Indian batting order, he scored two tons in the pool stage of the tournament, with the 101-ball 111 he made against South Africa the last of his record six World Cup centuries.

He then stepped up in both the quarter-final and semi-final, scoring an important 53 against Australia before a Player of the Match performance against Pakistan to guide India through to the final at his home ground of the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.

He fell for 18 in the decider but had well and truly earned his winner’s medal, finishing as the tournament’s second-highest run-scorer with 482 at 53.55.

Heir apparent Virat Kohli summed up the moment perfectly after Tendulkar was carried around the stadium by teammates who had grown up idolising him.

“Tendulkar has carried the burden of the nation for 21 years,” Kohli said. “It was time we carried him."

THE 100th HUNDRED

Tendulkar finished the 2011 World Cup with 99 international centuries to his name. The march to the 100^th was longer and more arduous than he would have liked, but on 16 March 2012, he got to celebrate the moment against Bangladesh at Dhaka.

In the year since his 99^th, he had come agonisingly close to the 100^th time and time again. At the Oval, in the country where he had scored his first international century, he fell for 91 in August 2011. In November against the West Indies at his home ground, he fell for 94. Against Australia at the SCG, his favourite ground outside of India, he was dismissed for 80.

But it was always a matter of when not if.

More than 20 years separated Tendulkar’s first and last international centuries. They came across 13 different countries, five different continents, three decades and against nine different opponents.

"What stands out in an exceptional career of unbelievable achievements is Sachin Tendulkar's ability to change, adapt and mould his batting according to the conditions around him,” Dravid summated after the milestone. “What makes him a phenomenal player is that he has done so many things, be it scoring the highest number of Test and one-day runs or scoring a century of international centuries.

“What he has done is set a benchmark for future generations which, probably, would be almost impossible for anyone to emulate. He has created a new milestone, which to my mind, is like Don Bradman's average of 99.94, the most memorable feat that any cricketer has achieved."

ICC Hall of Fame: Sachin Tendulkar

 

FAREWELLING INTERNATIONAL CRICKET

On November 16, 2013, Tendulkar played his final day of international cricket, bowing out of the game after his 200^th Test match at Wankhede Stadium.

There were glimpses of the Sachin of yore in his final innings. A drive against the turning ball through mid-off for four, powerful cut shots and delicate clips down the leg side. And, of course, a couple of trademark checked drives to long-off for four – the shot that always meant he was seeing them well.

He went past 50 in 91 balls and it seemed written in the stars he would finish his career with one last century. Don Bradman could not finish his career with a perfect 100 in the record books, maybe Sachin couldn’t either. A hundred hundreds was simply too round a number after all.

Alas, it was not to be. The useful off-spin of Narsingh Deonarine drew an attempted cut shot but there was just a fraction too much bounce. It took the edge and Darren Sammy took a sharp catch at first slip.

An eery silence momentarily descended on the Wankhede before a standing ovation erupted to carry him off the field.

At the end of the Test he spoke from the heart for 20 minutes, thanking those that had been on the journey with him, the fans that had chanted his name, and the game that had been his life.

“I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart, and also say that time has flown by rather quickly, but the memories you have left with me will always be with me forever and ever, especially "Sachin, Sachin" which will reverberate in my ears till I stop breathing,” he said. “Thank you very much. If I have missed out on saying something, I hope you understand. Goodbye.”

 

Sachin Tendulkar and the Wankhede faithful.

HALL OF FAME

In 2019, Tendulkar was inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame alongside Australia’s Cathryn Fitzpatrick and South Africa’s Allan Donald. He was the sixth Indian player to join the exclusive club.

“It is an honour to be inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame, which cherishes the contribution of cricketers over generations,” he said. “They have all contributed to the growth and popularity of the game and I am happy to have done my bit.

 “On this occasion, I would like to thank all of those who were by my side over a long international career. My parents, brother Ajit and wife Anjali have been pillars of strength while I was lucky to have someone like coach Ramakant Achrekar as an early guide and mentor.

 “I am also thankful to all my captains, fellow players and the BCCI and the MCA administrators over the years for their support and for making me enjoy the game so much and for so long. I thank the ICC for this appreciation of my cricket career and I am happy to note that cricket continues to grow with three popular formats.”

With a jaw-dropping 34,357 runs and 664 caps for India, he well and truly earned his spot.