It’s Sachin Tendulkar’s birthday and we have a look at the best knocks by the Master Blaster.
In his illustrious career of 24 long years, Sachin Tendulkar broke pretty much every major batting record. He managed 15,291 and 18,246 runs in Test and ODI cricket respectively. He scored 51 hundreds in Test match cricket and 49 in ODI. He also scored 68 and 96 fifties in test and ODI cricket respectively. These are all world records that Sachin still holds, after retiring from international cricket on 16th December 2013. On the occasion of the Little Master’s birthday, let’s have a look at the best innings of Sachin Tendulkar’s career.
143 v Australia, Sharjah, 1998
The knock nicknamed “Desert Storm” was one of his best. Against a daunting lineup of bowlers featuring, Shane Warne, Damien Fleming, and Michael Kasprowicz, Sachin Tendulkar played a beautiful inning even when he didn’t have proper support from other batsmen on the team. With 9 fours and 5 sixes, Tendulkar managed to score 143 off just 131 balls. His efforts weren’t enough to chase down a revised target of 276 in 46 overs, but it ensured India got into the final of the tournament ahead of New Zealand. The innings from Sachin got its name because a sandstorm had halted play that day, but once that subsided, Tendulkar took charge.
241 v Australia, Sydney, 2004
Sachin has scored a total of 6 double hundreds in his test career but none of them were as good as this. It was a return to form for the Little Master, who had scored two ducks in three of the previous Tests. With the help of Sachin’s knock, India managed to draw the match even though Australia had declared at a behemoth 705-7. “He got a double hundred at the SCG when he was struggling for form, but he was extremely determined,” said Dravid. “When he wasn’t at his best, he was able to knuckle down and fight for runs.”
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200 v South Africa, Gwalior, 2010
This knock came 21 years after his debut. Sachin showed the world that he does not only maintain the exceptionally high levels that he set for himself but also achieving new feats. 40 years after the inception of ODI cricket someone had managed to score 200 runs in just one inning. Sachin played almost half of all the balls bowled in the inning and hit 25 boundaries and three sixes. Even at retiring age, Tendulkar showed the world what he is capable of. With the help of Sachin’s unbeaten 200 over just 147 balls, India managed to score 401 runs against the South Africa team.
117 V Australia, Sydney, 2008
Sydney was hosting the final of the CB series. Tendulkar at that time was going through a bit of a dry spell. He hadn’t had a century in 37 innings, a chase-winning century since 2001, a century in any chase since March 2004. On top of that, he never had an ODI century in Australia. He checked all of the above boxes with an effortless knock of 117 off 120 deliveries. This helped India easily achieve the 239 run target set by Australia.
114 v Australia, Perth, 1992
Batting on one of the quickest wickets in world cricket, Tendulkar blunted Craig McDermott and Merv Hughes when the rest of the India team were struggling. Sunil Gavaskar, who had held the record for most Test runs scored by an Indian before it was broken by Tendulkar, hailed Sachin’s 114 as one of his finest knocks. “That century at Perth was a terrific inning,” said the former India captain. “He was just 18 years old, playing in Australia for the first time on pitches where there was extra bounce and movement. “Sachin has scored 100 international hundreds but that one was the best,” said Ganguly. “We were hammered in that series – we lost the first four Tests – but in the fifth match he smashed McDermott and Hughes on a quick Waca pitch.”
119 V England, Old Trafford, 1990
This happened when Sachin was only 17. England had piled up a score of 519, and India replied with 432. In England’s second innings, they stretched the lead to 407 and it was now Inida’s turn to score and win. But India found itself in deep waters at 127 for five. At this point, the 17-year-old took charge and fiercely defended for nearly 4 hours at the hands of the best bowlers at that time. He scored 119 with India ending up at 343. What once looked like a grim defeat was turned into a respectable draw. India may even have won if one more session was available. This was his first great inning and the rest has been history.
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