Once upon a time, there lived a god (of cricket). He was known to be a hitter and feared the most-on this day, the master blaster scored his first Test century against England on 14 August 1990.
‘Master Blaster’ Sachin Tendulkar made his entrance onto the world scene at Old Trafford against England exactly 30 years ago, right before India’s Independence Day.
When the 17-year-old sensation entered the field at 109-4, the Indian team, captained by Mohammed Azharuddin, was having trouble. He and Manoj Prabhakar batted for 225 minutes, and he helped India win by scoring an undefeated 119 off 189 balls. He received the Man of the Match award. In addition, he passed Pakistan’s Mushtaq Mohammad to become the player with the second-youngest Test century at the time.
The cricketing community was in grief as Sachin Tendulkar played his final game for India, his 200th Test match, in November 2013. He was a once-in-a-generation cricketer. In his final innings, he turned back time and gave everyone a magnificent performance, making his countless supporters wonder why he is going despite his excellent ball striking.
Throughout his incredible 24-year career, Sachin not only accomplished personal milestones but also nearly everything in the game. His accomplishments as a part of Squad India include winning the World Cup, being recognised as the best Test team, and series victories in England and Pakistan. He was capable of things that most people could only imagine.
Here is a look at Sachin’s career chronology as he celebrates his 44th birthday as the “master blaster”:
When he was barely 15 years old, Sachin Tendulkar made his first-class debut for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy. He became the youngest Indian to make a century on his first-class debut when he achieved his first first-class century in his debut match.
November 1989 – Sachin made his Test debut for India against Pakistan in Karachi after a stellar debut season for Mumbai and a century in his Irani Trophy debut.
December 1989 – Sachin was selected for the Pakistan tour’s ODI leg after putting in respectable efforts in the Test series. He made his debut in the second ODI, recording his maiden international cricket duck.
In August 1990, Tendulkar scored his first international cricket century, which enabled India to win the Old Trafford Test. Sachin was the youngest Test centurion in Indian cricket history at the age of 17 years and 107 days.
Sachin became the youngest cricketer to achieve a century on Australian soil in January 1992 when he struck two Test hundreds during India’s tour of Australia.
In the Hero Cup semifinal match against South Africa in November 1993, Sachin bowled India to victory. Sachin secured a historic victory by conceding just 3 runs in the final over while only defending 6 runs.
Tendulkar led India as captain for the first time in October 1996. Sachin did not do well as captain overall, despite starting his first Test with a victory against Australia.
Tendulkar had his finest cricket performance in the Coca-Cola Cup against New Zealand and Australia in April 1998. He played a key role in India’s victory against Australia in the virtual semi-final and championship matches, scoring 143 and 134 respectively.
When Sachin scored his 18th ODI century against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo in September 1998, he surpassed Desmond Haynes’ previous mark for the most ODI hundreds.
May 1999 – Sachin missed India’s World Cup campaign to attend his father’s funeral after he passed away in Mumbai, which he admits was one of the worst periods of his career. He returned to England and showed incredible tenacity by scoring an undefeated 140 in the following game.
February 2000 – Sachin gave up being captain and never got it back after two fruitless tries. He suggested Sourav Ganguly for the position, and the rest is history.
The Little Master became the first batsman to reach 10,000 ODI runs in March 2001. He accomplished this during his 139-ball innings against Australia in Indore.
Tendulkar ignited India’s World Cup campaign in 2003 by breaking his record established seven years prior by amassing 673 runs in the competition. In India’s journey to the finals, when they were crushed by Australia, Sachin’s efforts were crucial.
In Australia in January 2004, Sachin scored his first 200. Sachin stayed undefeated at 241 while batting at his preferred cricket venue in Sydney. The astounding thing about this innings was that it lasted 436 balls and he didn’t play a single cover drive.
March 2005 – Tendulkar became only the fifth player in the history of the game to surpass 10,000 Test runs when scoring a pair of fifties in India’s victory against Pakistan at the Eden Gardens.
In October 2005, Tendulkar suffered a potentially fatal elbow injury and missed six months of action before making a triumphant comeback for the Indian team. He played a brilliant 93-run innings against Sri Lanka in Nagpur to mark his comeback.
Tendulkar surpassed Gavaskar’s record of 34 centuries in Test cricket in December 2005 when he made 109 against Sri Lanka in Delhi.
March 2007 – After India was eliminated from the 2007 World Cup, Tendulkar became the topic of conversation. Many cricket experts wrote him off, and at 35, few believed he could repeat the success he experienced in his youth.
January 2008: Sachin was at the centre of the “Monkey-Gate” controversy during the 2008 New Year’s Day Sydney Test. Given that he was batting alongside Harbhajan Singh at the time, Sachin was adamant that Harbhajan never made racist remarks against Symonds and even threatened to quit the tour. As a result, the three-match suspension imposed on Harbhajan was revoked.
March 2008 saw India upset Australia in the CB series thanks to Sachin’s 117* and 91 in the finals.
October 2008 – Sachin became the top run-scorer in Test cricket history when he scored 88 against Australia in Mohali, surpassing Brian Lara’s previous record of 11,953. He also became the first batsman in Test cricket to reach 12,000 runs.
In February 2010, Sachin became the first player to ever make a double-century in ODI cricket when he broke the 200-run barrier. He faced South Africa at Gwalior and was still undefeated after 147 balls.
In December 2010, Sachin reached his fifty-first Test century against South Africa at Centurion.
In April 2011, Sachin won the ICC World Cup as India defeated Sri Lanka in the championship match. Tendulkar led the Indian batting order, amassing 482 runs with two hundred during the competition.
Mumbaikar eventually struck a century in March 2012 to reach the milestone of 100 international centuries. His performance against Bangladesh at Mirpur, when he scored 114, marked his 49th ODI century and last century in international cricket.
December 2012 – Sachin announced the end of his ODI career after accruing 18,426 runs and 49 ODI hundreds. He ended the match as the best player to ever play in an ODI format.
After considerable rumour about his playing future, Sachin confirmed his retirement from international cricket in November 2013. At his home stadium, Wankhede, he played his farewell Test, the 200th of his career, against the West Indies.
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