Sachin Tendulkar

Yesterday Sachin Tendulkar scored his 50th Test century. An astonishing achievement having scored 20% more centuries than anyone else. Sachin also has 46 ODI centuries and so it only seems a matter of time before he hits a century of centuries in International cricket. It seems likely that his records will stand for a long time (Kallis has 38 Test and 17 ODI centuries, Ponting has 39 Test and 29 ODI centuries). In addition to being a one-man run machine his humility and general demeanour make him a genuinely nice guy. Congratulations Sachin Tendulkar.

Sachin has scored centuries in his last three Test matches against South Africa - maybe that is why Graeme 'Sour Puss' Smith doesn't like him. We have news for you Graeme...

200 at last

It had to happen; someone had to make 200 in an ODI. Thank heavens it was Sachin Tendulkar, a man who deserves all the records and plaudits he receives who did it first. I was worried it might be done by a flash-in-the-pan player, someone who turns up, slogs for a bit and gets 200. It could have happened but happily it didn’t. The score was made by someone who is more than worthy. It was also made against South Africa – no six sixes against Bermuda type falsies here. A proper innings by a proper batsman against a proper bowling attack. Nice one Sachin.

And the winner is...

What a fantastic Test match. Both sides had their chances – England bowled well in India’s first innings and poorly in India’s second. India batted poorly in their first innings and two high classing players made their mark in the second. Test cricket is the winner here as are the people who watched the match. There was a real chance this match was not going to be played, thankfully some planning and quite a bit of courage made it so. India are ecstatic that their favourite sons Sehwag and Tendulkar played such a pivotal role in making the largest run chase in Tests in India. It was somehow fitting that the lad from Mumbai should score the winning runs and complete his 41st Test century. England will, rightly, be disappointed in the result but they should also be proud that they competed in difficult circumstances.

Roll on the second test…

Sachin Tendulkar

Sanchin Tendulkar today became the leading run-scorer in Test Match cricket, overtaking Brian Lara's figure. His innings of 88 also saw him be the first player to reach 12,000 Test runs. The innings was also his 50th Test fifty (which is not a record), falling twelve short of what would have been his 40th Test century. The graph below charts Sachin’s remarkable Test career, the centuries are shown in orange; the 150 and above scores are shown in gold with the double centuries in red. His career average has been above fifty for almost a hundred Test matches since April 1997. Remarkable.

What is not shown on the graph is the way that Sachin Tendulkar has made his runs. His technical excellence, strength of shot combined with sublime timing makes it always a joy to watch ‘The Little Master’ bat. In addition he has managed to do all this whilst being constantly under an intense media spotlight and to act, almost without exception, with decorum and humility. Without doubt Sachin Tendulkar is by any measure of the game of cricket a true great.

There will always be arguments amongst cricket fans about the best batsman. Is it Lara or Tendulkar? Where do Ponting or Kallis measure up. In a few years all these batsmen will have retired, let us enjoy them while we can.