Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar (born April 24, 1973) is an Indian cricketer, widely considered to be one of the greatest batsmen of all time. He currently holds the records for the most cumulative runs in One-Day Internationals, and the most number of centuries scored in both One-day Internationals and Test cricket. He made his international debut against Pakistan in 1989 at the age of sixteen, becoming India's youngest Test player. Although primarily a top-order batsman, Tendulkar has often proved to be a useful and effective slow bowler. He received India's highest sporting honour, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna in the year 1997-1998 and the civilian award Padma Shri in 1999. His cricketing and batting abilities are widely regarded as genius by many stalwarts of the game. For instance, Sir Donald Bradman, the Australian great said of Sachin, "He reminds me of myself". He is affectionately known as The Little Master by his adoring fans.

India's Sachin Tendulkar celebrated becoming cricket's most prolific Test century scorer when he hit his 35th ton against Sri Lanka. Tendulkar brought up the world record with a single off Chaminda Vaas in fading light as play ended on the first day of the second Test in Delhi. He surpasses the record held by compatriot Sunil Gavaskar. India ended the day on 245-3 with VVS Laxman hitting 69 and Sourav Ganguly unbeaten on 39. Tendulkar, who had not been in great batting form since returning from a six-month injury absence, took 177 balls for his century, hitting 13 fours and a six along the way. And he reached the milestone in 125 Tests, the same amount Gavaskar took to score 34 centuries.



By popular vote, the greatest batsman in the world today, Sachin Tendulkar has the cricketing world at his feet. The adulation he commands world over is unsurpassed, perhaps since the days of Don Bradman, to whom of course he has been compared, by no less than the great man himself. While he may not end with a Test career average of 99.94, there is little doubt that based on his vigorous style of batsmanship and his insatiable appetite for runs and big scores, he is the most complete batsman since Vivian Richards. In many ways though he has surpassed even that outstanding West Indian batsman.

When Tendulkar is on song, there is no more majestic sight in the cricketing world. The spectators at the stadium are on their feet cheering while all over the world, TV audiences are glued to the screen. He has scored heavily on all kinds of wickets the world over, in conditions which lesser mortals have not been able to master and against bowlers whom other batsmen have found it difficult to score off. Immensely gifted and blessed with an impeccable technique, Tendulkar's batting is a dream, combining timing, elegance and power. Mentally very strong, Tendulkar is best when confronted by a challenge - as he showed when mowing down Shane Warne in India in 1998. Captain during two short stints, Tendulkar has made it clear that he would prefer to concentrate on his batting and indeed, he seems to be getting better with every passing year. Scoring two double centuries in successive seasons and being the first to cross the 10,000 run barrier in ODIs is clear proof of this. The best thing from the fans' point of view - if not the bowler's - is that the entertainment, courtesy Tendulkar, is still at the intermission stage. Long may
`The King' continue to regale his willing subjects!

While his batting ranks him among the best in the world, he is also a part-time bowler and has played a crucial role as a leg spinner or a medium pace bowler who tends to break partnerships. He has more than a hundred wickets in ODIs and 35 in tests, though his bowling averages are above 40. He continues to perform well under the massive weight of expectation of hundreds of millions of cricket followers, in India and around the world, and most recently was named Player Of The Tournament in the 2003 Cricket World Cup.Incidentally, Sachin is the first batsman to be declared run out by third umpire in 1992 in South Africa.

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar
Career Statistics: 01-09-2006
Batting and fielding averages

class mat inns no runs hs ave bf sr 100 50 4s 6s ct st
Tests 132 211 22 10469 248* 55.39 35 41 41 82 0
ODIs 363 354 34 14148 186* 44.21 16455 85.97 39 72 1508 149 107 0
First-class 228 353 37 18872 248* 59.72 59 87 149 0
List A 447 436 48 17500 186* 45.10 49 89 140 0
Bowling averages
class mat balls runs wkts bbi bbm ave econ sr 4 5 10
Tests 132 3330 1893 37 3/10 3/14 51.16 3.41 90.00 0 0 0
ODIs 363 7349 6194 142 5/32 5/32 43.61 5.05 51.75 4 2 0
First-class 228 6617 3748 61 3/10 61.44 3.39 108.47 0 0
List A 447 9525 7822 189 5/32 5/32 41.38 4.92 50.39 4 2 0
Career statistics

Tests filter Stats One-Day Internationals
Test debut Pakistan v India at Karachi - Nov 15-20, 1989
Last Test India v England at Mumbai - Mar 18-22, 2006
ODI debut Pakistan v India at Gujranwala - Dec 18, 1989
Last ODI Sri Lanka v India at Colombo (SSC) - Aug 18-19, 2006
First-class span 1988/89 - 2005/06
List A span 1989/90 - 2006