16 Nov : Sachin Tendulkar on Sunday completed 20 years in international cricket and became the first Indian and only the 16th in the history of the game to have a career spanning more than two decades.
Tendulkar, who made his debut as a 16-year-old against Pakistan way back in November 15, 1989, will reach the milestone of 20 years and one day in international cricket when he comes out to play against Sri Lanka in the first Test of the three-match series in Ahmedabad on Monday.
In his Test career spanning 19 years 143 days till date, Tendulkar has represented India in a record 159 Tests.
He also played a record 436 50-over matches in his 19 years and 325 days one-day career, thus becoming only the second player after Pakistan’s Javed Miandad to have the longest ODI career.
The Indian batting maestro is also the only active cricketer to feature in the longest Tests career list and at 36 years of age he is still going strong.
In his two decades long career, Tendulkar had written many records which catapulted him to the honour of being the milestone man.
Tendulkar: 20 years of undiminished aura
In an era where 15 minutes of fame is the order of the day and icons often have hidden feet of clay, Sachin Tendulkar remains a glorious exception, his 20 years of undiminished aura showing no signs of waning.
No other cricketer has managed to seamlessly combine both statistics and aesthetics to underline his greatness like Tendulkar did, retaining the innocence and humility of his early days all along.
Since his debut on 15th November 1989, the teen with curly hair and a sing-song voice has grown so much in stature that now men who matter sit up and take note every time Tendulkar says something.
Tendulkar’s wicket would catapult any domestic bowler to national reckoning. He puts in a word and Mahendra Singh Dhoni is anointed India captain. He suggests splitting one day cricket into four innings of 25 overs each not an original idea and ICC agrees, in principle, to put it on trial.
It has been a long journey for the batting great and Tendulkar is not interested in retirement talks yet.
That he was very special evident right from his school days and the first evidence of his precocious talent was the unbeaten 664-run stand he shared with buddy Vinod Kambli in the Lord Harris Shield Inter-School Game in 1988.
Statistical highlights of Sachin Tendulkar’s career as he completes 20 years in International cricket on Sunday.
Sachin’s country-wise Test record for a winning cause:
Opponents M I N.O. Runs H.S. Ave. 100 50 0
Australia 10 19 2 812 155* 47.76 3 4 1
Pakistan 5 8 2 391 194* 65.16 1 3 –
Sri Lanka 8 12 1 590 142 53.63 3 1 –
West Indies 4 7 1 330 117 55.00 1 1 1
Zimbabwe 5 8 1 587 176 83.85 2 2 –
England 8 11 2 819 193 91.00 3 4 –
New Zealand 3 5 2 223 160 74.33 1 – –
South Africa 4 8 1 256 61 36.57 – 1 –
Bangladesh 4 4 2 424 248* 212.00 2 – –
Total: 51 82 14 4432 248* 65.17 16 16 2
Home: 35 58 9 2793 176 57.00 9 13 1
Away: 16 24 5 1639 248* 86.26 7 3 1 .
Sachin’s country-wise Test record for a losing cause:
Opponents M I N.O. Runs H.S. Ave. 100 50 0.
Australia 13 26 1 1144 177 45.76 4 5 2
Pakistan 5 10 – 261 136 26.10 1 – 2
West Indies 4 8 – 281 92 35.12 – 2 1
Zimbabwe 2 4 – 130 69 32.50 – 1 –
England 4 8 – 246 122 30.75 1 – –
New Zealand 4 8 – 284 113 35.50 1 1 1
South Africa 9 18 – 680 169 37.77 2 3 2
Sri Lanka 2 4 – 59 27 14.75 – – –
Total: 43 86 1 3085 177 36.54 9 12 8
Home: 11 22 – 812 177 36.90 2 3 2
Away: 32 64 1 2273 169 36.07 7 9 6.
Sachin Tendulkar’s batting milestones:
Runs Mt. Innings Opponents Venue Season
1000 19 28 South Africa Johannesburg 1992-93
2000 32 44 New Zealand Hamilton 1993-94
3000 45 67 South Africa Kanpur 1996-97
4000 58 86 Sri Lanka Bombay 1997-98
5000 67 103 Pakistan Calcutta 1998-99
6000 76 120 South Africa Bangalore 1999-00
7000 85 136 South Africa Bloemfontein 2001-02
8000 96 154 West Indies Kingston 2001-02
9000 111 179 Australia Sydney 2003-04
10000 122 195 Pakistan Calcutta 2004-05
11000 139 223 England Nottingham 2007
12000 152 247 Australia Mohali 2008-09
After every 25 Tests
M I N.O. Runs H.S. Ave. 100 50 0
25 37 3 1522 165 44.76 5 8 3
50 77 8 3438 179 49.83 11 16 4
75 119 12 5995 217 56.03 22 24 7
100 160 15 8405 217 57.97 30 34 10
125 201 21 10281 248* 57.11 35 41 12
150 244 25 11877 248* 52.23 39 49 14.