Don Bradman’s record Test batting average of 99.94 may be safe, but as Sachin Tendulkar has again shown, few others are while he’s still wielding the willow in international cricket.
The Little Master went where no man had gone before when he reached a One-Day International double century in India’s second ODI against South Africa at Gwalior.
Tendulkar was at the crease from the first over to the last on his way to building the highest innings total by a batsman in ODI cricket, surpassing the previous record of 194 held jointly by Pakistan's Saeed Anwar (made against India in 1997) and Zimbabwe's Charles Coventry (who made an unbeaten 194 against Bangladesh in 2009).
Tendulkar’s unbeaten 200 comprised almost half of his team’s 401-run total. As Tendulkar was stranded up the non-strikers end on 199 not-out while his captain MS Dhoni punished the Proteas bowlers in the closing stages of India’s innings there were some nervous moments as the crowd was kept wondering whether the 36-year-old would run out of time to achieve the historic feat.
But on the second ball of the final over, Dhoni’s sense of occasion shone through and where surely there were two runs available he took only the single. Tendulkar made the run he needed off the next delivery.
Tendulkar faced 147 deliveries on his way to the 200-run milestone, in an innings that comprised an ODI record 25 fours and three sixes.
Tendulkar, of course, is familiar with seeing his name etched in the record books and this is the latest in a swag of world records he already holds for his batting performances. In what is now an international career that has stretched across more than two decades, the right-hander has accumulated more Test and ODI runs than any other man to play the game before him.
He’s also scored more Test centuries than any other player in the history of the game, a feat achieved in 2005 when his 35th Test ton took Tendulkar past Sunil Gavaskar's previous record. India’s favourite cricketing son has now amassed 47 Test centuries and counting.
And it’s the same story in ODIs. Tendulkar’s double century at Gwalior was his 46th ton in the 50-over format, 17 more than Ricky Ponting, who is his nearest rival for the most ODI 100s.
It’s a combined 93 centuries in Test and ODI cricket, and with the batsman showing no sign of slowing down a ton of tons could be the next milestone.
Or maybe it will be to break the record for the most runs in a Test match innings. It’s one list where Tendulkar doesn’t even make it into the top 75. Brian Lara’s unbeaten 400 against England in April 2004 remains the record, while Tendulkar hasn’t yet broken through the 300-run barrier in a Test innings, with an unbeaten 248 his best total to date.
However, until the day Tendulkar calls stumps on his glittering career, it’s difficult to rule out the possibility that he just might put together an innings as flawless as yesterday’s ODI knock at Gwalior that puts him at the top of that list too.
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