Thursday, May 28, 2009

Journey to the top- Tendulkar becomes the leading Test run-scorer

Sachin Tendulkar, 16, is selected for India's tour of Pakistan

A workmanlike innings in Sydney during the 2003-04 Australia tour helps Tendulkar to his first double-century overseas. His unbeaten scores of 241 and 60 - in Steve Waugh's farewell Test - almost results in a series win

Playing a Test in Pakistan after nearly 15 years, Tendulkar scores an unbeaten 194 - a declaration denies him the double. However, it's Virender Sehwag - who developed with Tendulkar as a role model - who steals the show in Multan, becoming the first Indian triple-centurion

His fights to keep fit become a routine affair, keeping him out of the team from time to time

Tendulkar scores 155 in the first Test in Bloemfontein during the 2001 South African tour, more remembered for the controversial decisions of match referee Mike Denness after the Port Elizabeth Test. Tendulkar is fined for trying to "change the condition of the ball"

He scores only 15 in his first Test in Karachi. However, the teenage prodigy comes to the fore in the final Test in Faisalabad. Tendulkar is hit on the nose by a Waqar Younis delivery, but with his team under threat, he extends his 15 to 57 as India draw the match

He narrowly missed out on becoming the then youngest Test centurion in Napier in February 1990, but Tendulkar finally gets it at 17 years and 112 days. A wonderful rearguard innings at Old Trafford in August 1990 still remains one of his best

A fine Nelson: In November 1992, Tendulkar's 111in the second Test against South Africa in Johannesburg makes him the youngest batsman to reach 1000 Test runs. His century comes in a first-innings total of 227

In 1996, Tendulkar is the leading run-scorer in the World Cup in the subcontinent, and the leading run-getter in the subsequent three-Test series in England. Scores 122 in the first at Edgbaston, with no other batsman going past 20 as India slump to an eight-wicket loss

Booed in his own city: Playing his 132nd Test, the most for an Indian, Tendulkar is jeered off by the Mumbai crowd after he manages one run in 33 minutes against England

A special win: Tendulkar holds the trophy after India beat England 1-0 during their 2007 tour, his first series victory outside the subcontinent

At home in Australia: The crowds are entertained as Tendulkar makes two hundreds in the four-Test series in 2007-08. India lose 2-1, but Tendulkar goes home a happy man, scoring 117 not out and 91 as India beat Australia in the finals to clinch the tri-nation one-day tournament


Captaincy goes, but Tendulkar the run-machine is at its best in 1998. Two of his favourites - opponents Australia and venue Chennai - come together, and the bowlers pale into insignificance as his second-innings 155 turns a deficit into a match-winning total. Later, a certain Mr Shane Warne suffers from nightmares

Struggles on India's tour of Sri Lanka in July-August 2008, averaging only 15.83 in six innings - his worst in a series where he's played more than one Test

Tendulkar's first Test hundred in India also comes against England. He hits 24 fours and one six in his 165 in Madras (Chennai) as India go on to win by an innings and 22 runs

Captaincy comes calling, and Tendulkar leads India to a win in the one-off home Test against Australia to bag the newly instituted Border-Gavaskar Trophy, named after two players he would eventually join in the 10,000-run club

At the same ground in 1999, the first sign his body is suffering. In spite of a back injury, Tendulkar scores a masterful 136. India, though, fall short by 16 runs against Pakistan, and a poor fourth-innings record remains a blot in Tendulkar's CV

He yet tops the batting charts for India. India's hopes fade whenever he departs, and the captain cuts a lone figure as his team loses all three Tests. He steps down from captaincy during South Africa's visit in 2000

Come Chennai and he's back to his best. Makes a hundred in the first innings as India win a memorable series 2-1

The modern Jardine? Tendulkar continued to remain the prime target of opposition captains, and England's Nasser Hussain employed left-arm spinner Ashley Giles to bowl a negative line around leg stump during England's visit to India in 2001-02

He's out stumped for the only time in his career, in Bangalore, but Tendulkar is still the best batsman on show and the Player of the Series as India win 1-0

At the Oval, Tendulkar becomes the youngest to play 100 Tests. The Test is drawn, and so is the series

Another 10,000: During his 52 against Pakistan in the Kolkata Test in 2005, Tendulkar becomes the first to score 10,000 runs in both Tests and ODIs

Little Masters share a big record: His 248 against Bangladesh in December 2004 equals idol Sunil Gavaskar's record of 34 Test hundreds

The countdown started in earnest during the first Test against Australia in Bangalore in October 2008. He scored 13 and 49, ending the match 15 short of the record

He got there on day one in Mohali

Not as easy as it seems: Overtaking Gavakar's record takes nearly a year as Tendulkar scores his 35th century against Sri Lanka at the Feroz Shah Kotla in December 2005

India and Tendulkar have an unsuccessful tour of New Zealand in 2002-03. The team begins the 2003 World Cup in South Africa under pressure; however, they make it to the final with Tendulkar the Player of the Tournament

Tendulkar makes 10 in both innings, but he picks up three wickets in the Australia's second innings as India win the epic Test at Eden Gardens in 2001 to level the series

Journey to the top- Tendulkar becomes the leading Test run-scorer

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