Legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, who made a name for himself as possibly the greatest batter in cricket’s history with his unmatched consistency, longevity, hunger for runs and audacity to take on some of the world’s very best teams and bowlers, turned 52 on Thursday. Tendulkar is a name known in households not only in India, but across all major cricketing nations in this world. It would not be wrong to say that the sport owes a lot to the ‘Master Blaster’ for the sheer popularity, competitiveness and money power it currently enjoys.
Many of the world’s current great batters and leaders, such as Virat Kohli, Steve Smith, Kane Williamson, Joe Root, Virender Sehwag, MS Dhoni, etc, owe their strokeplay, passion for the game and match-winning abilities to the master himself.
The Maharashtra-born player made his Test debut on November 15, 1989, at the age of 16. In the same year, on December 18, he also got his maiden ODI cap. Over the years, with his astonishing range of strokes, which he kept re-inventing, upgrading, and polishing owing to injuries, team situations, age, conditions, etc., Tendulkar accumulated a massive 34,357 runs in 664 international appearances at an average of 48.52.
Sachin is the highest run-scorer in international cricket. He has scored 100 centuries and 164 half-centuries, the most in international cricket. He stands alone at the top with a century of centuries.
The once-child prodigy went on to become the undisputed greatest batter in Tests, amassing 15,921 runs in 200 matches at a batting average of 53.78 that many greats would envy, against bowling attacks and conditions that rattled some highly talented stars. Along the way, Tendulkar scored 51 Test centuries, the most by any player.
With 18,426 runs in ODIs at an average of 44.83 in 463 matches, 49 centuries and 96 half-centuries, Tendulkar evolved from a middle-order batter to being the greatest ODI batter and opener ever. Though he was surpassed by Virat Kohli for the record of most centuries during 2023 Cricket World Cup at his home venue of Wankhede Stadium, the show of respect by the man hailed as ‘King’ proves that Sachin’s 49 tons are more than a statistic and hold a special place in everyone’s hearts and there is surely no one above ‘The God of Cricket’ no matter what the number game is.
The Master Blaster is also the first-ever cricketer to have hit a double hundred in ODIs, against South Africa at Gwalior in February 2010 and to have played a total of 200 Test matches.
Tendulkar is part of the Indian team that won the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2011. After his World Cup debut in 1992, his dream to win the prestigious trophy came true in 2011 after India defeated Sri Lanka in the final by six wickets. The batting legend, committed fully to his dream of holding the cup in his hands, emerged as India’s top run-getter with 482 runs in nine matches, with two centuries and two fifties. It was only fitting that Tendulkar experienced the greatest night of his cricketing career at Wankhede Stadium, a venue that he first stepped inside as a boy wonder.
Overall, Tendulkar is the highest run-getter in the Cricket World Cup history. In 44 innings across 45 matches, he has scored 2,278 runs at an average of 56.95 with six centuries and 15 fifties. His best score in the tournament is 152.
Sachin had a great record in the knockout matches. In seven knockout stage matches in the World Cups, he scored 339 runs at an average of 48.42. He scored four half-centuries in knockout matches for India, with the best score of 85. However, he was not able to hit it big in the two finals he played.
Though Tendulkar failed to win an ICC Champions Trophy with India, he was a part of a total of five CT campaigns with Team India. Tendulkar has a solid record in the Champions Trophy as well, though not as good as his World Cup records.
Throughout his 16 ICC Champions Trophy matches, he scored 441 runs at an average of 36.75. He has managed only one century and fifty in this tournament.
In knockout matches in this tournament, he managed only 169 runs at an average of 42.25, with one half-century.
In all, across both these ICC events, Sachin has scored 2,719 runs in 61 matches at an average of 49.43, with seven centuries and 16 half-centuries.
Though Tendulkar played only 1 T20I for India, scoring just 10 runs, he still got a taste of T20 cricket through the Indian Premier League (IPL) with Mumbai Indians (MI). He scored 2,334 runs in 78 matches at an average of 34.83, with a strike rate of 119.81, a century, and 13 fifties. His best score was 100*.
In the IPL, he won the title with MI in 2013, but also secured the Orange Cap for most runs in 2010, with 618 runs in 15 matches at an average of 47.53, a strike rate of over 132 and five fifties.
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