During the course of his interview with The Telegraph, Sachin Tendulkar also chose 20 of his top moments. It was wholly an off-the-cuff exercise.

The moments are (chronologically):

1. November 5, 1989: Being picked for India, for the first time... Selected for the tour of Pakistan.

2. November 15, 1989: My Test debut, in Karachi... Much of it is a blur... My first five days as a Test cricketer just whizzed by... I know I’d been very excited, but can’t remember much else about that match against Pakistan.

3. August 1990: Maiden Test hundred (119 not out), against England, in Manchester... We’d been in a spot of bother and my innings helped India draw the match.

4. February 1992: My 114 against Australia, in the Perth Test... That hundred, indeed the tour, went a long way in establishing my credentials and gave me the confidence to face the challenges ahead.

5. November 24, 1993: The sensational Hero Cup semi-final against South Africa, in Calcutta, where I bowled the last over (1-0-3-0) to help India win.

6. November 27, 1993: The Hero Cup final against the West Indies, in Calcutta... We won by over 100 runs.

7. September 9, 1994: My first ODI hundred (110), against Australia, in Colombo.

8. November 6, 1996: Winning the Titan Cup, as captain, in Mumbai. We beat South Africa and the third team had been Australia, arguably the strongest field in a tri-series in India.

9. February-March 1998: The home Test series against Australia, when I took on Shane Warne... I have good memories (getting 446 runs).

10. April 1998: The tri-series in Sharjah... I finished with 434 runs (86.80 average, with 2x100) and truly enjoyed myself... Remains one of my best performances in limited overs cricket.

11. August 27, 1998: Getting to greet Sir Donald Bradman on his 90th birthday.

12. February-March 2001: Test series at home against Australia... A terrific affair with great performances which saw us winning 2-1... It went down to the wire and was decided in the last few minutes.

13. March 31, 2001: Becoming the first to score 10,000 runs in ODIs, against Australia (Indore).

14. March 1, 2003: Scoring 98 in the World Cup against Pakistan (Centurion).

15. March 23, 2003: Receiving the Man of the Tournament award from Sir Garfield Sobers after the World Cup.

16. March-April 2004: We beat Pakistan in Pakistan for the first time... Winning both Tests and ODIs... Will stay special.

17. December 2004: Equalling Sunil Gavaskar’s world record of 34 Test hundreds, with that unbeaten 248 against Bangladesh, in Dhaka.

18. December 2005: Scoring my 35th Test hundred, against Sri Lanka (in New Delhi).

19. October 2008: Breaking Brian Lara’s record for the highest runs in Test cricket and becoming the 12,000 club’s founder-member... Achieved while scoring 88 against Australia.

20. October-November 2008: Being an overjoyed member of the team which convincingly beat Australia 2-0 in the four-Test series.

LPS