Well done Tendulkar

To start with it is great to see that Tendulkar has now become the highest run getter in tests after surpassing Lara's previous record of 11953 runs. Tendulkar is no doubt one of the legends of the game, someone who has been consistent for over 18 years which in itself is a amazing feat. SO let us have a look at all those glorious moments of Tendulkar's long, and distinguished career.

Tendulkar made his debut against Pakistan in 1989 at the age of just 16 and he was up against the likes of Younis, Akram, Imran, and Qadir, a daunting task for any player let alone a 16 year old, yet for his age Sachin did a creditable job with one or two gutsy half centuries and in a exhibition game in that series he showed that here was someone who in the years to come can become a great player as he smashed Qadir for four sixes in a over which was simply amazing as he was taking on one of the best spinners of that time. He continued to show his class in New Zealand in early 90's when he scored 88 at Christchurch and finally got his first hundred at Old Trafford at the tender age of 17 , it was an innings which helped India to save the test as Tendulkar along with Prabhakar took India to safety and he showed a level of maturity which was beyond his age. In 91/92 in Australia he further showed why so many of them rate him so highly by scoring hundreds at Sydney, and Perth, especially his knock at Perth was special and I was lucky enough to watch it and one has to say that I was spellbound by his ability to pick the length so early as he repeatedly pulled, and hooked experienced quicks like McDermott, Hughes, Whitney all over the park, he even had the courage to guide short pitched deliveries over the slips and hit McDermott over mid off which for a player of his age was incredible.

In 93 against England along with his friend Kambli he destroyed England at home and at that time there were some critics who used to say that Tendulkar throws away his wicket too easily in the one day format and Tendulkar's response to that was to open the batting and score century after century in the shorter format of the game as he became an icon in India for his ability to dominate the opposition attacks at will. In the 96 WC he was in sublime form, especially his knock of 90 against Aussies was superb to watch as he smashed McGrath all over the park and for once McGrath looked like he did not know where to bowl as Sachin would come down the wicket and hit him straight down the ground or he would make room and play cut shots. Actually it was after seeing this particular innings did Bradman say that Tendulkar seemed to play like him which just shows how well he had played. After the 96 WC India toured England and Tendulkar was now at his peak of prowess,and one has to say that during that time India depended a lot on Tendulkar but to his credit Tendulkar took up the responsibility and was in amazing form in England, especially his knock at Edgebaston was a connoisseur's delight for the correctness of his technique and his eye catching stroke play. In 96/97 again he showed his greatness with a superb knock at Cape town, it was a series in which South Africa had really dominated but at Cape town Tendulkar along with Azhar decided enough is enough and took up the challenge of facing up to the fearsome Donald and the ever consistent Pollock as they came up with a breathtaking partnership what with Tendulkar pulling and at times even hooking as well as driving on the up and Azhar was as usual playing all those wristy flicks and for sometime it looked like Cronje the then South African captain had no clue as to what to do next but those were the days when the Indian team depended too much on Tendulkar which eventually meant that India lost the test but it does not take anything away from what was a magical knock. In 98 he was up against the leg spinning genius Warne who was at the peak of his prowess but Tendulkar was up for the challenge which can be seen by the fact that he even asked Sivaramkrishnan the leg spinner who had played for India to bowl constantly in the rough as Tendulkar practiced a lot in the nets against such type of tactics which Warne was going to employ in the tests to come and the results were there for everyone to see as he made mincemeat of Warne and who can forget his knock at Madras in that series where he was too good to be true as to come down the wicket and hit warne over the top though he was bowling in the rough and that too in the second innings was no doubt an incredible feat.

Yes as the time went by he became more of an accumulator or a run gatherer yet he was in great form in 03 WC where he dominated most of the attacks and in 04 in Australia though he was not in the greatest of form yet he scored a double hundred at Sydney where he totally cut off cover drives as he had problems with that particular shot. It again shows his determination to succeed as to not play a single cover drive in the entire innings which has been a bread and butter shot for Tendulkar and yet play a flawless knock is something only a great player like him can do, even at the age of 35 he showed his class in Australia as he again tormented Aussies by scoring 493 runs this year.

I would say that he has been a great ambassador for the game, someone who is expected to deliver the goods everytime he bats by billion fans in India yet he has been able to maintain a high level of consistency. To end it in my view great is a word which is used too often these days but with Sachin there is no doubt that he is a great player who has brought joy to millions of cricket fans.