Sachin Tendulkar: A man of miracles

December 23, 2012

sachin

New Delhi, December 23: It did not take much for the cricket pundits to spot a genius in Sachin Tendulkar after he made his international debut in a Test match in Karachi Nov 15, 1989.

He was 16 then. More than two decades later, he has gone on to become one of the greatest batsman the world will ever see.

Twenty-three years, one month, and eight days from his debut, the five-feet-five-inch cricketing genius has called time on a glittering one-day career. With 18,426 runs from 463 matches at an average of 44.83, Tendulkar has most batting records under his belt in the 50-over format as also in Tests.

He holds the record for the maximum number of appearances and is the highest run-getter and century-maker in both versions. He has turned out in six World Cups at a stretch, playing a key role in winning the title in 2011 and finishing runners-up in 2003.

The 'Liitle Master', as he is often called, is the only man to hit 100 centuries - 51 in Tests and 49 in ODIs - and also the first man to score a double-century in the 50-over format.

However, it was not all smooth sailing for the champion batsman in his initial ODIs. It took him all of five years and 78 matches to score his maiden hundred.

But experts never lost faith in him. Another Indian cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar commented that once he gets his first one, there will be no stopping him. Finally the big day came Sep 9, 1994, when Tendulkar struck a blazing 110 against Australia in Colombo.

The jinx broken, Tendulkar celebrated with two more three-figure knocks in the next two months. From then on, there was no looking back.

The memories of Tendulkar tearing into one of the greatest spinners of all-time, Shane Warne, at Sharjah, will forever be etched in the minds of cricket fans. In that tournament, he hit two back-to-back centuries (143; 134) against Australia -- the first helped India qualify for the final based on a better Net Run Rate and the second, in the finals -- which was played on Tendulkar's 25th birthday, helped India beat Australia to win the title.

After the tournament, Warne claimed that he had "nightmares" at the thought of bowling to Tendulkar after being dominated by him.

An abiding image of Tendulkar would be the hundred he scored in the 1999 World Cup match at Bristol. Ramesh Tendulkar, a novelist and professor, who had deeply inculcated in his son the virtues of modesty and humility, died when India were in the midst of the Cup campaign.

Tendulkar flew home to attend his father's last rites, and returned to the tournament, beating the Kenyan bowlers to pulp scoring 140 off 101 balls, and dedicated his innings to his father. On completing the hundred, Tendulkar looked at the sky, praying for his father, and has done likewise after reaching every milestone of his glittering career since then.

With the left-handed Sourav Ganguly, Tendulkar formed the greatest opening partnership in limited overs cricket, and the pair holds the world record for the most number of runs - 6609 in 136 matches that includes 21 century and 23 half-century stands. In 40 other matches, batting together but not as openers, the duo partnered another 1668 runs, taking their total aggregate partnership to 8277.

"These were the moments of my career I always cherish. My batting with Sachin in one-day internationals at the top was a huge learning experience," Ganguly once said.

But the greatest adulation for the Mumbaikar came from the legendary Don Bradman - considered the greatest batsman of all times. Sir Don once asked his wife to take a look at the Indian as he felt Tendulkar played like him.

It was Tendulkar's technique, compactness, and shot production that endeared him most to the Aussie, according to Roland Perry, who authored the book 'Don's Best'.

But in a revelation that even the 'god of cricket' has his human frailties, it took Tendulkar 370 days to get over an agonising century-less period after the 99th international hundred he got March 12, 2011 facing South Africa in Nagpur during the World Cup.

In recognition for the laurels he brought to the country, Tendulkar was nominated to the Rajya Sabha as an eminent personality by then president Pratibha Patil in April this year - the first sports personality to get the honour.

Mentored in his early cricketing days by his elder brother Ajit, Sachin later honed his skills under celebrated coach Ramakant Achrekar.

Tendulkar's talent stood out since his school days, and partnered by his friend Vinod Kambli the duo made the cricketing circles sit up and take notice after an unbroken 664-run stand in a Lord Harris Shield international school game in 1988.

The rest as they say is history.

Related:

Sachin Tendulkar announces retirement from ODIs


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News Network
June 18,2020

Jun 18: Sri Lanka "sold" the 2011 World Cup final to India, the country's former sports minister said on Thursday, reviving one of cricket's most explosive match-fixing controversies. Mahindananda Aluthgamage, who was sports minister at the time, is the second senior figure to allege the final was fixed, after 1996 World Cup-winning skipper Arjuna Ranatunga. "I tell you today that we sold the 2011 World Cup finals," Aluthgamage told Sirasa TV. "Even when I was sports minister I believed this."

Aluthgamage, sports minister from 2010 to 2015 and now state minister for renewable energy and power, said he "did not want to disclose" the plot at the time.

"In 2011, we were to win, but we sold the match. I feel I can talk about it now. I am not connecting players, but some sections were involved," he said.

Sri Lanka lost the match at Mumbai's Wankhede stadium by six wickets. Indian players have strongly denied any wrongdoing.

Ranatunga, who was at the stadium as a commentator, has previously called for an investigation into the defeat.

"When we lost, I was distressed and I had a doubt," he said in July 2017. "We must investigate what happened to Sri Lanka at the 2011 World Cup final."

"I cannot reveal everything now, but one day I will. There must be an inquiry," added Ranatunga, who said players could not hide the "dirt".

Sri Lanka batted first and scored 274-6 off 50 overs. They appeared in a commanding position when Indian superstar Sachin Tendulkar was out for 18.

But India turned the game dramatically, thanks partly to poor fielding and bowling by Sri Lanka, who were led by Kumar Sangakkara.

Sri Lankan cricket has regularly been involved in corruption controversies, including claims of match-fixing ahead of a 2018 Test against England.

Earlier this month, the Sri Lankan cricket board said the International Cricket Council was investigating three unnamed former players over alleged corruption.

Sri Lanka introduced tough penalties for match-fixing and tightened sports betting restrictions in November in a bid to stamp out graft.

Another former sports minister, Harin Fernando, has said Sri Lankan cricket was riddled with graft "from top to bottom", and that the ICC considered Sri Lanka one of the world's most corrupt nations.

Former Sri Lankan fast bowler Dilhara Lokuhettige was suspended in 2018 for corruption relating to a limited-overs league.

He was the third Sri Lankan charged under the ICC anti-corruption code, following former captain and ex-chief selector Sanath Jayasuriya, and former paceman Nuwan Zoysa.

Jayasuriya was found guilty of failing to cooperate with a match-fixing probe and banned for two years. Zoysa was suspended for match-fixing.

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Agencies
July 28,2020

New Delhi, Jul 28: 'Your character stood out for me than the number of runs you scored," said India skipper Virat Kohli while explaining his decision to give opening Mayank Agarwal a Test debut in the 2018-19 Australia series.

Mayank Agarwal had made his Test debut against Australia in the third Test of the four-match series.

Playing the third Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Agarwal managed to register a half-century in his very first innings in the longest format.

"I had seen you play for RCB, even then you played international bowlers with conviction and you would take them on. You were performing in first-class matches in a dominating way. That is something always stood out with you, I would say your character stood out for me than the number of runs. I knew you would be fearless without having any baggage," Kohli told Mayank Agarwal in a video posted on the official website of BCCI.

In the longest format of the game, Agarwal has managed to score 974 runs from 11 matches at an average of 57.29 with three centuries as an opening batsman.

The Indian skipper also explained as to what makes him notice in a player and added that it is important that guys in the team look to face new challenges and emerge triumphantly.

"For me, the biggest marker is how a person approaches the game, so for example when you opened and we made Vihari open with you. The first opportunity we presented Vihari to open the batting, he said yes to it and that matters me to the most," Kohli said.

"I opened in my first series for India, I said yes to this opportunity and things worked out fine for me. So, a guy who wants to get into tough situations will come out either holding his head high or learning from his mistakes," he added.

Kohli and Mayank would soon be seen in action for Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kings XI Punjab respectively in the Indian Premier League (IPL) starting from September 19 in the UAE.

The comparisons between Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar keep on growing and many have picked the current Indian skipper to break the records set by Tendulkar.

Tendulkar called time on his career after registering 100 international centuries, while Kohli currently has 70 centuries across all formats.

At present, Kohli is ranked at the top spot in the ICC ODI rankings while he is in the second place in Tests rankings. Kohli has so far played 86 Tests, scoring 7,240 runs with 27 centuries at an average of 53.62.

His knock of 254 against South Africa at Pune in 2019 remains his highest Test score to date. When it comes to ODIs, the current Indian skipper has played 248 matches and has 43 centuries.

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News Network
March 7,2020

Melbourne, Mar 7: Ahead of the Women's T20 World Cup against Australia, India spinner Poonam Yadav said that skipper Harmanpreet Kaur has given her a lot of support.

"Harmanpreet has been of immense support. When I got hit for a six in the first over, she came to me and said, 'Poonam, you're one of the most experienced players in the team, and we expect better of you'," Poonam said.

The 28-year-old experienced bowler has played 68 shortest format games for India and taken 94 wickets at an average of 22.66.

She has been in devastating form throughout the tournament and has bagged nine wickets so far.

"So, that kind of stirred something within me. I told myself if my captain has that much faith in me, I should be able to make a comeback," she said.

"I took a wicket in the very next ball, and didn't look back since. Now when I look back at that moment, it means so much in the context of my individual performance and run to the final," she added.

In the opening game against Australia at Sydney Showground, Poonam came within a whisker of the third hat-trick in Women's T20 World Cup history, dismissing Rachael Haynes and Ellyse Perry before Jess Jonassen was dropped.

The final of the tournament will be played at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on March 8 -- International Women's Day.

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