Cricket Profile

Sachin Tendulkar

India

Player profile

Full name Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar
Born April 24, 1973, Bombay (now Mumbai), Maharashtra
Current age 34 years 275 days
Major teams India, ACC Asian XI, Mumbai, Yorkshire
Nickname Tendlya, Little Master
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm offbreak, Legbreak googly
Height 5 ft 5 in
Education Sharadashram Vidyamandir School

Batting and fielding averages

	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	4s	6s	Ct	St
Tests	145	235	25	11616	248*	55.31			39	49		44	98	0
ODIs	407	397	37	15962	186*	44.33	18669	85.50	41	87	1747	166	120	0
T20Is	1	1	0	10	10	10.00	12	83.33	0	0	2	0	1	0
First-class	245	383	40	20379	248*	59.41			64	95			165	0
List A	494	482	51	19514	186*	45.27			52	105			155	0
Twenty20	5	5	0	198	69	39.60	119	166.38	0	2	30	5	2	0

Bowling averages

	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4w	5w	10
Tests	145	123	3856	2206	42	3/10	3/14	52.52	3.43	91.8	0	0	0
ODIs	407	263	7985	6774	154	5/32	5/32	43.98	5.09	51.8	4	2	0
T20Is	1	1	15	12	1	1/12	1/12	12.00	4.80	15.0	0	0	0
First-class	245		7215	4095	67	3/10		61.11	3.40	107.6		0	0
List A	494		10161	8402	201	5/32	5/32	41.80	4.96	50.5	4	2	0
Twenty20	5	4	57	65	2	1/12	1/12	32.50	6.84	28.5	0	0	0

Career statistics

Test debut	Pakistan v India at Karachi, Nov 15-20, 1989
Last Test	Australia v India at Perth, Jan 16-19, 2008
ODI debut	Pakistan v India at Gujranwala, Dec 18, 1989
Last ODI	India v Pakistan at Jaipur, Nov 18, 2007
Only T20I	South Africa v India at Johannesburg, Dec 1, 2006
First-class debut	1988/89
Last First-class	Australia v India at Perth, Jan 16-19, 2008
List A debut	1989/90
Last List A	India v Pakistan at Jaipur, Nov 18, 2007
Twenty20 debut	South Africa v India at Johannesburg, Dec 1, 2006
Last Twenty20	Bengal v Mumbai at Ahmedabad, Apr 19, 2007

Profile

Sachin Tendulkar has been the most wholesome batsman of his time, and arguably the biggest cricket icon as well. His batting is based on the purest principles: perfect balance, economy of movement, precision in stroke-making, and that intangible quality given only to geniuses, anticipation. If he doesn't have a signature stroke - the upright, back-foot punch comes close - it is because he is equally proficient in each of the full range of orthodox shots (and plenty of improvised ones as well) and can pull them out at will.

Though he has adopted a noticeably conservative approach in the last quarter of his career, there are no apparent weaknesses in Tendulkar's game. He can score all around the wicket, off both front foot and back, and has made runs in all parts of the world in all conditions.

Some of his finest performances have come against Australia, the overwhelmingly dominant team of his era. His century as a 19-year old on a lightning fast pitch at the WACA is considered one of the best innings ever to have been played in Australia. A few years later he received the ultimate compliment from the ultimate batsman when Don Bradman confided to his wife that Tendulkar reminded him of himself.

Blessed with the keenest of cricket minds, and armed with a loathing for losing, Tendulkar set about doing what it took to become one of the best batsmen in the world. This was after he was turned away from a fast-bowling camp in Chennai by Dennis Lillee.

Tendulkar's greatness was established early: he was only 16 when he made his Test debut. He was hit on the mouth by Waqar Younis but continued to bat, in a blood-soaked shirt. His first Test hundred, a match-saving one at Old Trafford, came when he was 17, and he had 16 Test hundreds before he turned 25. In 2000 he became the first batsman to have scored 50 international hundreds, and he currently holds the record for most hundreds in both Tests and ODIs - remarkable, considering he didn't score his first ODI hundred till his 79th match.

Tendulkar's considerable achievements seem greater still when looked at in the light of the burden of expectations he has had to bear from his adoring but somewhat unreasonable followers, who have been prone to regard anything less than a hundred as a failure. The aura may have dimmed, if only slightly, as the years on the international circuit have taken their toll on the body, but Tendulkar remains, by a distance, the most worshipped cricketer in the world.

39th Centauri

Australia v India, 4th Test, Adelaide, 1st day

'I was determined to get a big one here' - Tendulkar

January 24, 2008

	Sachin Tendulkar savours breaking his Adelaide jinx while VVS Laxman looks on

Sachin Tendulkar said he was happy to have notched up his first hundred at the Adelaide Oval, one where he hadn't made much of an impact earlier. Returning to the city where he met Don Bradman in 1998, he brought up his sixth hundred in Australia and second of the series.

"I knew that Adelaide hasn't been a great ground for me," he said after his unbeaten hundred at the end of the first day. "In 1999 I scored 65 runs here and that was my best, so I was determined to get a big one here. It also happens to be Sir Don's home ground. I wasn't thinking about that while batting out there but am very pleased to have got a hundred at this venue."

Tendulkar admitted that this was one of his most complete innings, talking about how certain balls went exactly where he intended. "The first straight drive off [Brett] Lee gave me a lot of confidence," he said. "I middled it and the shot went exactly where I wanted it to go. In the next over I repeated it [against Mitchell Johnson]. So I took it from there.

"There are days when you are moving well, days when you're not. There are also days when you middle the ball and days when you don't. You need to wait for that moment. I've felt those moments off and on in my career. Any hundred is special but when the team really needs one, it means more. Today there were big shots in between and defensive ones too. It was important we [Laxman and him] just stayed there and played according to the merit of the ball. We needed to play out the good spells properly."

Tendulkar has received an overwhelming reception in Australia, entering to standing ovations and being cheered throughout. No other Indian batsman has been accorded such a warm applause. "It's truly special," he said, "and sometimes I need to look at the scoreboard to figure out whether I'm 100-plus or zero. It means a lot to me and would like to thank each and every person for treating me like this. It makes every trip of mine very special."

Like in the first two Tests, Tendulkar was particularly severe on Brad Hogg but denied having "targeted" him for punishment. "Any bowler can get you out, you don't want to take anyone for granted," he said. "It all depends on the flow of my innings. If I pick the ball early enough, I will put it away. There were patches when he bowled well and patches when I felt I could put the ball away. Whenever I got the opportunity I made it count. That was my strategy."

Tendulkar went from 86 to 100 in a sequence that read 4,2,6,2, smashing the part-time spin of Michael Clarke. "I thought the wind was behind me and wanted to use it," he said. "I knew if I middled the ball, it would clear the field. Even if I don't middle it the wind would work.

"I was very positive at that stage and if the ball was there to put away, I was prepared to do that again," he said off the six that took him to 98. "When I played that off-drive [to get to 100], I played inside out, though it was not a half-volley. I had that chance to force the ball. I got the time to force it a little bit."

He was pleased to have weathered the old-ball burst from Lee - "he has been their stand-out bowler" - and thought India would need to bat as long as possible to increase their chances of leveling the series. "I think to put up a big total in the first innings would be the key. Later on I think the wicket might have some big cracks. Ideally we would like to score as many runs tomorrow. The first session will be very important."