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Farewell to Indian maestro

Sachin Tendulkar (top) afterscoring the 100th century ofhis career when he lined upfor India against Bangladeshin a one-day international inDhaka last year. Tendulkar(right) showing his tech-nique as an infant and thebatting star (above) when hefirst broke into Test cricketat the end of the 1980s

SACHIN’S STORY

Full Name: Sachin RameshTendulkar (right-hand batsman,right-arm spinner)Major Teams: India, Mumbai.Height: 5’5’’ (165.1cm)CareerTests:Matches 198, Runs 15,837,Highest 248 not out, Average 53.86,Centuries 51, Half-centuries 67One-dayers:Matches 463, Runs18,426, Highest 200 not out, Average44.83, Centuries 49, Half-centuries 96Twenty20:Match 1, Runs 10,Average 10.00World records—Most Test runs and centuries—Most one-day runs and centuries— Only batsman to score 100international centuries—MostWorld Cup runs (2278)—Most appearances in Tests and one-day internationals— 1000 ormore Test runs in a calendaryear six times: 1997, 1999, 2001,2002, 2008, 2010— 1000 ormore one-day runs in acalendar year seven times: 1994, 1996,1997, 1998, 2000, 2003 and 2007KeyDatesApr 24, 1973: Born in MumbaiDec 11, 1988: First class debut aged15with a centuryNov 15, 1989: Test debut v Pakistan,KarachiDec 18, 1989:One-day debut vPakistan, GujranwalaAug 14, 1990:Maiden Test century vEngland, Old Trafford aged 17Dec 10, 2005:Overtakes SunilGavaskar’s world record of 34 Test tonsOct 17, 2008:Overtakes Brian Lara ashighest run-getter in TestsFeb 24, 2010: First batsman to score200 in one-day cricketApr 2, 2011:World Cupwinnerwith IndiaMar 16, 2012: Becomes only batsmanto score 100 international centuriesOct 10, 2013: Announces hewill retirefrom Test cricket after playing his200thmatch. He has already retiredfrom one-day and Twenty20 cricket

BEST 5 INNINGS

1. 119no v England at Old Trafford(Aug 1990): Tendulkar scored the firstof his world-record haul of 100international centuries as a 17-year-oldin circumstances that would havetested the credentials of a Testveteran. India werewobbling at 5-127after being set 408 towin the secondTest before the teenager defied theEngland attack for nearly four hours tohelp his team salvage a draw.2. 114 vAustralia at Perth (Feb1992): Tendulkar was still in his teenswhen he cracked a gem of a hundred ona bouncy Perth track against a lively all-pace attack comprisingMcDermott,Hughes, Reiffel andWhitney. Amonghis admirers was Don Bradman, whosaid the Indian reminded him of hisyounger days.3. 111 v SouthAfrica atJohannesburg (Nov 1992): Indiawere struggling in unfamiliarconditions on their maiden tour ofSouth Africa, but not teenagerTendulkar who showed his teammatesthewaywith an impressive hundred inthe first innings of the second Test. Hewas the lone batsman to copewith thehostile pace attack, led by Allan Donald,as he batted for more than six hours.4. 155no vAustralia at Chennai(Mar 1998): Tendulkar was involved ina fascinating duel with leg-spin wizardShaneWarne, who came second-bestin the battle of the superstars. TheIndian fell toWarne for four in the firstinnings, but made amends in thesecondwith a strokeful 155no to set uphis team’s victory.5. 103no v England at Chennai (Dec2008): In one of themost emotionalmoments in Indian cricket, Tendulkarmasterminded amemorable winover Englandwith an unbeaten 103 afewweeks after his home city ofMumbai was devastated by a series ofattacks on November 26. Set 387 towin on the penultimate afternoon,India achieved the highest run chase onhome soil and the fifth-highest in thehistory of the game.

FORMER Australia captainRicky Ponting once said thathe would probably be battingin a wheelchair if he survivedin world cricket as long asSachin Tendulkar.

The ‘‘Master Blaster’’ final-ly announced earlier thismonth that he was hangingup his boots after a 24-year in-ternational career which be-gan with his debut in Pakis-tan in November 1989.

Feared and respected by op-ponents, Tendulkar changedthe definition of Indian bat-ting, combining orthodox andunorthodox shots to dominateany attack on any surface athome or abroad.

As one of the game’s great-est players, he has the mostruns (15,837) and centuries(51) in Test cricket and wasalso the highest run-maker(18,426) with a record 49 hun-dreds in the one-day game.

The married father-of-two,40, has scored an unpreced-ented 100 internationalcenturies, holds most covetedbatting records except DonBradman’s career averagehigh of 99.94, and won theWorld Cup with India in 2011.

Legendary India openerSunil Gavaskar, the first bats-man to complete 10,000 Testruns, said he was convincedthe 1.65m batsman would ac-hieve greatness when he firstsaw him bat in the nets morethan two decades ago.

‘‘It is hard to imagine anyplayer in the history of thegame who combines classicaltechnique with raw aggress-ion like the little championdoes. There is not a singleshot he cannot play,’’ he said.

Tendulkar shattered re-cords, earned millions of dol-lars and was revered as ademi-god in India and partic-ularly in Mumbai. But in theeyes of many, humility re-mains his prime virtue.

If there was any arrogance,it was in his batting becausehe loved to dominate bowlersbefore injuries to his elbow,back and ankle forced him toadapt his game in the latteryears of his career.

‘‘The way he conducts him-self and handles fame andeverything that goes with be-ing Sachin is a great examplefor all sportsmen,’’ Austral-ian leg-spin great ShaneWarne wrote in his bookShane Warne’s Century.

‘‘On the field, he has neverput himself before the team.’’

Technically sound, temper-amentally unflappable, quickto adapt to different condit-ions, Tendulkar came close toperfection in his pomp.

He also became an un-rivalled source of pride in acountry with few internat-ional sporting heroes,capitalising on his statuswith commercial deals to ad-vertise cement, watches,sportswear and apartmentsamong others.

While little is shared abouthis private life, he is knownas a fast-car enthusiast oncereported to take his belovedFerrari out in the early hoursof the morning to beat thetraffic in his native Mumbai.

Australia’s Don Bradman,widely considered the great-est Test batsman of all, oncesaid Tendulkar’s style of bat-ting reminded him of his own,which was based on dominat-ing and demoralising.

Under the guidance of hiselder brother, Tendulkarspent hours honing his skillsas a boy along with hundredsof others at the Oval Maidanin central Mumbai.

The past few years havebeen marked by a steady de-cline, with commentatorsopenly questioning his eye-sight and voicing opinionsthat would once have beenheretical — that Sachin wasno longer worth his place.