It was the end of a long wait for the 38—year—old veteran, who had gone 33 innings and a year without a century. The right—hander made his 99th international ton in a World Cup match against South Africa in Nagpur on March 12.
Since then it had been an agonising wait for the maestro, whose every inning was watched with anticipation. He came close on quite a few occassions, only to miss the milestone so much so that it became a huge monkey on his back and an unwanted distraction during every series that India played.
He did not click with a big scores during India’s Test and ODI whitewash at the hands of England last year, and though he recovered quite a bit in the later series, the hundred still did not come.
He carried the weight of expectation to what turned out to be a horror tour of Australia. Tendulkar seemed to be in good touch during the Tests, but his form waned after he missed the 100th hundred despite coming close a few times.
Following this, he made himself available for the ODI tri—series against Sri Lanka and Australia, but there too, the milestone proved elusive.
But the wait finally ended in familiar sub—continental environs.
With an over two decade long career, records are fairly routine for Tendulkar, but for the cricketing fraternity, every run he scores just adds to the legend that the diminutive right—hander has become.
Much before his debut on November 15, 1989, Tendulkar’s precocious talent was there to be seen when he shared an unbeaten 664—run stand with friend Vinod Kambli in the Lord Harris Shield Inter—School Game in 1988.
The 1989 international debut was far less spectacular, in fact forgettable. A Waqar Younis bouncer left him with a bleeding nose but Tendulkar did not wince and the next two decades saw him punishing bowlers all over the world on all kinds of surfaces.
His first Test century came in England next year at Old Trafford and the Mumbaikar rose in stature after the 1991—92 tour of Australia, hitting sublime centuries on a Sydney turner and a Perth minefield.
The rest is history. No existing batting record seemed safe. Other than Brian Lara’s Test match highest of 400 not out and first class highest score of 501 not out, every batting record became Tendulkar’s.
A staggering 15470 runs scored in 188 Tests at a robust average of 55.44 confirmed Tendulkar’s greatness in the longer version of the game.
And in the 462 ODIs he played, a whopping 18,260 (before the Asia Cup match against Bangladesh) were added to his mountain of runs at an average of 44.64.
Tendulkar is also the first batsman in the world who has scored a double ton in ODIs, a feat he achieved in Gwalior against South Africa in February. This feat was included in ’Time’ magazine’s top 10 sports moments of the year.
A perfect teamman, Tendulkar has limited his Twenty20 ambition to the Indian Premier League where he leads Mumbai Indians, ruling himself out of national reckoning lest it upsets the existing equilibrium of the side.
The biggest compliment to his batting came from Sir Donald Bradman himself in 1999 when he said that Tendulkar’s style of playing resembled his style. “That touch I used to feel when I batted,” he had said.
Tendulkar’s colossal batting exploits have completely overshadowed his utility as a part—time bowler who reveled in breakthroughs.
He was a complete enigma with the ball, sending down military medium pace, orthodox leg—break and off—spin with the guiles that often caught batsmen off their guard.
His 45 Test wickets and 154 scalps in ODIs underline the fact that Tendulkar could have also staked claim to be that elusive all—rounder that India has been desperately looking for since the legendary Kapil Dev. But shoulder problems have not allowed him to bowl as much as he and the team would have liked.
In the field, he is among the safest pair of hands in the slip and his flat throw releasing strong arm saw him manning the deep with equal aplomb. He has taken 113 catches in Test cricket and 140 in the ODIs.
Following is the sequence of Sachin Tendulkar’s 100 international hundreds since his debut against Pakistan back in December, 1989.
1) 119 no vs England at Old Trafford on Aug 14, ‘90
2) 148 no India vs Australia at SCG on Jan 6,’92
3) 114 vs Australia at WACA, Perth on Feb 3, ‘92
4) 111 vs SA at Wanderers, Johannesburg on Nov 28, ‘92
5) 165 vs England at Chepauk, Chennai on Feb 12, ‘93
6) 104 no vs Sri Lanka at SSC, Colombo on Jul 31,’93
7) 142 vs SL at KDSB Stadium, Lucknow on Jan 19,’94
8) 110 vs Australia, at RPS, Colombo, on Sep 9, ‘94
9) 115 vs New Zealand at IPCL, Vadodara on Oct 28, ‘94
10) 105 vs West Indies at SMS, Jaipur on Nov 11, ‘94
11) 179 vs West Indies at VCA Ground, Nagpur on Dec 2,’94
12) 112 no vs Sri Lanka at Sharjah on Apr 9, ‘95
13) 127 no vs Kenya at Barabati, Cuttack on Feb 18, ‘96
14) 137 vs Sri Lanka at Kotla, New Delhi on Mar 2, ‘96
15) 100 vs Pakistan at Padang, Singapore, on Apr 5, ‘96
16) 118 vs Pakistan at Sharjah on Apr 15, ‘96
17) 122 vs England at Edgbaston, Birmingham, on Jun 8, ‘96
18) 177 vs England at Nottingham on Jul 5, ‘96
19) 110 vs Sri Lanka at RPS Colombo, on August 28, ‘96
20) 114 vs SA at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Dec 14, ‘96
21) 169 vs SA at Newlands, Cape Town on Jan 4, ‘97
22) 104 vs Zimbabwe at Benoni on Feb 9, ‘97
23) 117 vs NZ at Chinnaswamy, Bangalore, on May 14, ‘97
24) 143 vs Sri Lanka at RPS, Colombo, on Aug 3, ‘97
25) 139 vs Sri Lanka at SSC, Colombo, on Aug 11, ‘97
26) 148 vs SL at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Dec 4, ‘97
27) 155 No vs Australia at Chepauk, Chennai, on Mar 9, ‘98
28) 177 vs Aus at Chinnaswamy, Bangalore on March 26, ‘98
29) 100 vs Australia at Green Park, Kanpur, on Apr 7, ‘98
30) 143 vs Australia at Sharjah on Apr 22, ‘98
31) 134 vs Australia, Sharjah, on April 24, ‘98
32) 100 no vs Kenya, Eden Gardens, May 31, ‘98
33) 128 vs Sri Lanka at RPS, Colombo, on Jul 7, ‘98
34) 127 vs Zimbabwe at Bulawayo on Sep 26, ‘98
35) 141 vs Australia in Bangladesh on Oct 28, ‘98
36) 118 no vs Zimbabwe at Sharjah, on Nov 8, ‘98
37) 124 vs Zimbabwe at Sharjah on Nov 13, ‘98
38) 113 vs New Zealand at Wellington, on Dec 29, ‘98
39) 136 vs Pakistan at Chepauk, Chennai on Jan 31, ‘99
40) 124 no vs Sri Lanka at SSC, Colombo, on Feb 28, ‘99
41) 140 vs Kenya at Bristol, on May 23, ‘99
42) 120 vs Sri Lanka in Colombo, on Aug 29, ‘99
43) 126 no vs New Zealand at PCA, Mohali, on Oct 13, ‘99
44) 217 vs NZ at Motera, Ahmedabad, on Oct 30, ‘99
45) 186 vs New Zealand at Hyderabad on Nov 8, ‘99
46) 116 vs Australia at MCG on Dec 28, ‘99
47) 122 vs South Africa at Vadodara on Mar 17, ‘00
48) 101 vs Sri Lanka, Sharjah, Oct 20,’00
49) 122 vs Zimbabwe at Kotla, New Delhi, on Nov 21, ‘00
50) 201 no vs Zimbabwe at VCA, Nagpur, on Nov 26, ‘00
51) 146 vs Zimbabwe at Jodhpur, on Dec 8, ‘00
52) 126 vs Australia at Chepauk, Chennai on Mar 20, ‘01
53) 139 vs Australia at Indore on Mar 31, ‘01
54) 122 vs West Indies at Harare on Jul 4, ‘01
55) 101 vs SA at Wanderers, Johannesburg on Oct 5, ‘01
56) 146 vs Kenya at Paarl, South Africa, on Oct 24, ‘01
57) 155 vs SA at Goodyear Park, Bloemfontein, Nov 3, ‘01
58) 103 vs England at Motera, Ahmedabad, on Dec 13, ‘01
59) 176 vs Zimbabwe at VCA, Nagpur, on Feb 24, ‘02
60) 117 vs WI at QP Oval, Port of Spain, on Apr 20, ‘02
61) 105 vs England at Chester—Le—Street on Jul 4, ‘02
62) 113 vs Sri Lanka, Bristol, England, on Jul 11, ‘02
63) 193 vs England at Headingley, Leeds, on Aug 23, ‘02
64) 176 vs WI at Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Nov 3, ‘02
65) 152 vs Namibia, Pietermaritzburg, SA, on Feb 23, ‘03
66) 100 vs Australia, Gwalior, on Oct 26,’03
67) 102 vs New Zealand in Hyderabad on Nov 15, ‘03
68) 241 no vs Australia at SCG on Jan 4, ‘04
69) 141 vs Pakistan in Rawalpindi, on Mar 16, ‘04
70) 194 no vs Pakistan at Multan, on Mar 29, ‘04
71) 248 no vs Bangladesh in Dhaka, on Dec 12, ‘04
72) 123 vs Pakistan at Ahmedabad on Apr 12, ‘05
73) 109 vs Sri Lanka at Kotla, New Delhi, on Dec 22, ‘05
74) 100 vs Pakistan at Peshawar, on February 6, ‘06
75) 141 no vs WI at Kuala Lumpur, on Sept 14, ‘06
76) 100 no vs WI at Vadodara, on Jan 31, ‘07
77) 101 vs Bangladesh in Chittagong on May 19, ‘07
78) 122 no vs Bangladesh in Mirpur on May 26, ‘07
79) 154 no vs Australia at SCG, on Jan 4, ‘08
80) 153 vs Australia at Adelaide Oval, on Jan 25, ‘08
81) 117 no vs Australia at SCG on Mar 2, ‘08
82) 109 vs Australia at Nagpur, on Nov 6, ‘08
83) 103 no vs England at Chepauk, Chennai, on Dec 15, ‘08
84) 163 vs New Zealand at Christchurch, on Mar 8, ‘09
85) 160 vs New Zealand at Seddon Park, on March 20, ‘09
86) 138 vs Sri Lanka at RPS, Colombo, on Sep 14, ‘09
87) 175 vs Australia at Hyderabad on Nov 5, ‘09
88) 100 no vs Sri Lanka at Ahmedabad, on Nov 20, ‘09
89) 105 no vs Bangladesh at Chittagong, on Jan 18, ‘10
90) 143 vs Bangladesh at Mirpur, on Jan 25, ‘10
91) 100 vs South Africa at Nagpur, on Feb 9, ‘10
92) 106 vs South Africa at Kolkata, on Feb 15, ‘10
93) 200 no vs South Africa at Gwalior, on Feb 24, ‘10
94) 203 vs Sri Lanka at Colombo, on Jul 28, ‘10
95) 214 vs Australia at Bangalore, on Oct 11, ‘10
96) 111 no vs South Africa at Cape Town, on Dec 19, ‘10
97) 146 vs South Africa at Cape Town, on Jan 4, ‘11
98) 120 vs England at Bangalore, on Feb 27, ‘11
99) 111 vs South Africa at Nagpur, on March 12, ‘11
100) 114 vs Bangaldesh at Mirpur, On March 16, ‘12
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