Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar completes 20 years of international cricket on Sunday. Some legends heaped praise on the Little Master II.

Following are what they have said about Tendulkar (alphabetically):

Inzamam-ul Haq: What has impressed me the most about Tendulkar all these years is his humble and simple nature. I never saw him let the fame and adulation he enjoys get to his head.

Javed Miandad: He (Sachin) loves cricket and with his hard work, focus and commitment he has truly become an outstanding ambassador for the sport at a time when commercialism is so rampant.

Abdul Qadir: I was at my best in 1989 and even the best batsmen had second thoughts coming out to hit me. I remember I kept on goading him to hit me and he took the challenge and came down to strike me cleanly. It was amazing. I knew instantly this was someone special.

Vivian Richards: When he is in full flow, the mild-mannered boyish cricketer can look extremely intimidating. If there is a resonance, I find of myself in his batting, it is in that intent he communicates. If I were to make a distinction between Brian (Lara) and Sachin (Tendulkar), it would be to point that Sachin was a more committed individual. He was more consistent in his commitment to the team.

Steve Waugh: I watched Sachin hitting a spectacular 175 the other day and once again I felt that I was watching a player who comes once in a century. He is the Bradman of our times and I do feel privileged to have played a lot of cricket against him. On his day Sachin could take a game away from under your nose very quickly. His uncanny ability to find gaps, his running between the wickets and his sheer presence at the wicket was unsettling for the opposition.

Sachin rarely got into verbal duels and soon we too realised that sledging him only strengthens his concentration and resolve. No wonder then that some of the most talkative Australians went quiet when Sachin was in the middle.

On his day Sachin could take a game away from under your nose very quickly. His uncanny ability to find gaps, his running between the wickets and his sheer presence at the wicket was unsettling for the opposition. (PTI)

SACHIN IN FIGURES

In Tests

• When he made his Test debut, Sachin Tendulkar was the third youngest debutant to play Test cricket at 16 years 205 days. He still remains the youngest Indian to appear in Tests. Mushtaq Mohammed at 15 years 124 days is the youngest debutant.
  
• He holds the record for the most number of Test appearances for India (159). Only Steve Waugh (168) has played more Tests.
  
• He became the second Indian, after Sunil Gavaskar, to cross the 10,000-run mark in Tests. However, along with Brian Lara, he is the fastest to score 10,000, both achieving it in 195 innings.
  
• Sachin has scored the maximum number of runs by any player away from home. In 87 Tests and 146 innings, he has 7,165 runs.
  
• He is now the highest run-getter in Tests — 12,773.
  
• He has scored Test hundreds against all Test playing nations and over 1000 runs against all Test playing nations with the exception of Zimbabwe and Bangladesh.

In ODIs

• Second most capped cricketer in one-day Internationals (436 games). Only Sanath Jayasuriya (441) has played more matches than him.
  
• Appeared in 185 consecutive ODIs between April 1990 to April 1998.
  
• Scored most runs (17,178) in ODIs.
  
• Has most number of hundreds (45) and fifties (91).
  
• Has most scores in 90s (17) in ODIs.
  
• Has most scores of 99 (3) in ODIs.
  
• Is the first player to reach 10,000 to 17,000 runs in ODIs.
  
• Has been involved in most 100-plus stands (91) in ODIs.
  
• Has scored nine ODI centuries against Australia, which is the highest for any batsman against a single team.
  
• Has 3,005 runs against Australia, the most by any batsman against a single team.
  
• Holds the record for the highest individual score by an Indian in ODIs. (186 n.o. vs NZ).
  
• Has scored 1,000 runs in a calendar year most times (7) — 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2003 and 2007.
  

Compiled by Mohandas Menon