Greats of the Game #3 Sachin Tendulkar

India

Batsman

D.O.B 24/04/1973

 

“Sachin Tendulkar reminds me of my own batting.” – Sir Donald Bradman

With the most international runs in the history of the game, Sachin Tendulkar is unquestionably one of the finest cricketers of all time. Revered as an icon around the world and as something of a living god for millions in India, Tendulkar embraced a rapidly evolving game and thrived for twenty-four years at the international level.

An incredible record, Tendulkar is unquestionably a great of the game

Renowned for finding a perfect balance between aggression and an aesthetically pleasing traditional technique, Tendulkar managed to make light the expectations of millions of doting fans to bestride the cricketing world for the duration of his career. A precise stroke maker with a full range of shots, the ‘Little Master’ was compact, nimble and, thanks to an enviable economy of movement at the wicket, made it all look effortlessly simple. Whipping anything straight through the leg side, Tendulkar was particularly apt off the back foot; the back punch perhaps his signature stroke. Twinkle-toed against the spinners, he would balance orthodoxy – finding gaps for ones and twos – with brutal power and flamboyance; no ground in the world big enough for the diminutive Indian and his three-pound bat.

Tendulkar's portrait, painted by Dave Thomas, hangs in our museum

Only 16 when he made his Test debut, a young Tendulkar was quick to impress – though not necessarily on the scoreboard. Hit on the mouth by a rampaging Waqar Younis, Tendulkar continued to bat in a blood-stained shirt, commanding respect from his vastly more experienced teammates. Finding his feet at international level thereafter, his first century was a match-saving one against England as a 17-year-old. So prolific was his run-scoring from that point, that he recorded 16 Test centuries before the age of 25 and finished his career with a record 51 Test match centuries. Astonishing in their own right, his numbers in the Test arena are made more so by the fact that he succeeded all around the world. With centuries in nine different countries he boasts a Test average that was higher outside of India than on home soil. A testament to the completeness of his game, Tendulkar’s dominance was restricted by neither time nor place.

Tendulkar’s career ran throughout the game’s most significant period of transition. That he not only embraced but thrived during the advent and proliferation of short form cricket confirms his status as a great of the game. Though his first ODI century didn’t come until his 79^th match, Tendulkar now carries the mantle as his nation’s most successful ODI cricketer with 49 centuries. To that end, he highlighted his versatility, clubbing the male format’s first double-century as a 36-year-old, before reaching the record 100 international hundreds in 2012. A record that, much like Bradman’s average, will likely never be surpassed, Tendulkar’s record on the field commands the reverence it so justly receives in his homeland and around the world

Against red ball or white, Tendulkar was a master

Cricket and country asked more of Tendulkar than of any other player – and he answered in grand style. Dominating an era typified by unparalleled demands on cricketers’ minds, bodies and time, his legacy is writ large on the game today. An icon for colleagues, opponents and spectators in equal measure, Tendulkar’s unparalleled greatness gave his nation the impetus to become cricket’s global superpower. Indeed, Indian cricket – and specifically Indian batting is now imbued with a fearlessness unseen in the pre-Tendulkar era.

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