Sachin Zone{Updated dialy}

Century No: 1 (2nd Test v Eng in Eng 1990 at Manchester)

At 17 years and 112 days Sachin Tendulkar heralded his maiden Test century in his ninth appearance. He was only 30 days older than Mushtaq Mohammed was when he became the youngest player to score a Test century against India in 1960. The context in which it was made was even more remarkable. Chasing a target of 408 in a minimum of 88 overs, India had slipped to 183/6 with two and a half hours left on the fifth day, when Tendulkar - batting with a couple of pads that belonged to Sunil Gavaskar - marshalled a recovery in the company of Manoj Prabhakar. The pair produced an unbroken 160 run stand for the seventh wicket to bail India out of danger. Dropped on 10 by Eddie Hemmings off his own bowling, Tendulkar flourished to strike 17 boundaries.

Century No: 2 (3rd Test v Aus in Aus 1991/92 at Sydney)

Tendulkar became the youngest man to score a Test century in Australia with an unbeaten 148 even as a callow leg spinner by the name Shane Warne, four years his senior, conceded 150 in his debut game. Tendulkar and Shastri added 196 for the fifth wicket as India posted a healthy first innings lead but rain which lopped off 94.1 overs of playing time robbed India of victory

Century No: 3 (5th Test v Aus in Aus 1991/92 at Perth)

An even better effort from Sachin on the daunting WACA wicket against a four pronged pace attack comprising of McDermott, Hughes, Reiffel and Whitney. A series of rasping square cuts were the centrepiece of his 114 which occupied 161 balls.

Century No: 4 (2nd Test v SA in SA 1992/93 at Johannesburg)

The worth of Sachin's 111 can be put in perspective when one considers that no one else crossed 25 in the Indian first innings. He finally fell to the gentle medium pace of Hansie Cronje who would dismiss him five times in Test cricket. When on 33 Sachin became the youngest batsman to reach 1000 runs in Tests at 19 years and 217 days.


Century No: 5 (2nd Test v Eng in Ind 1992/93 at Chennai)

Tendulkar's first Test century on home soil came at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, over the years to become his favourite hunting ground. Reaching his century off 140 balls, Tendulkar advanced to his highest Test score of 165 as India wrapped up an innings victory. It was Tendulkar's first century in an Indian win

Century No: 6 [2nd Test v SL in SL 1993/94 at Colombo (SSC)]

Tendulkar struck an unbeaten 104 in India's first away victory in over seven years and last in almost eight years, discounting the victory over Bangladesh as the tourists escalated the scoring on the penultimate day in advance of a declaration.

Century No: 7 (1st Test v SL in Ind 1993/94 at Lucknow)

Sachin extracted 142 from the same opponents as India won the first Test en route to a 3-0 series drubbing, all by an innings, in the most lopsided contest in history. He was slightly overshadowed by the irrepressible Sidhu who struck 8 sixes in his innings, just two short of the then world record

Century No: 8 (2nd Test v WI in Ind 1994/95 at Nagpur)

Tendulkar's then highest Test score of 179 arrived in the orange city of Nagpur in his home state.

Century No: 9 (1st Test v Eng in Eng 1996 at Birmingham)

Sachin made 122 out of 219 (55.7% of the team total) in India's second innings but could not prevent an eight wicket rout inside three and a half days. He reached his century with a six off debutant left arm spinner Min Patel, also born in Bombay.

Century No: 10 (3rd Test v Eng in Eng 1996 at Nottingham)

Tendulkar and Ganguly added 255 for the third wicket in the first of their many century stands in either version of the game. Atherton at gully failed to latch on to a rasping square cut from Tendulkar before he had scored. Tendulkar was also caught at first slip off a noball on 119. His knock was just a little overshadowed by Saurav Ganguly's second century in successive Test innings.

Century No: 11 (2nd Test v SA in SA 1996/97 at Cape Town)

Tendulkar's first Test century as captain came at Newlands in Cape Town. He made a glorious 169 in the first innings adding 222 for the fifth wicket with Azharuddin to retrieve a perilous situation at 58/5 but India still contrived to lose by 282 runs.

Century No: 12 [1st Test v SL in SL 1997/98 at Colombo (RPS)]

India declared late on the second day at 537/8; Tendulkar's 143 being the highest of three centuries on the Indian side. Sri Lanka reduced the proceedings to a farce by batting through the rest of the game to amass 952/6. Sanath Jayasuriya and Roshan Mahanama added 576 for the second wicket as the Indians were condemned to spending close to 20 hours on the field

Century No: 13 [2nd Test v SL in SL 1997/98 at Colombo (SSC)]

Another batathon in the second and final Test produced six centurions to add to the six in the first Test. Tendulkar's century took his series average to 96.66, excellent in itself but only fifth on either side in the series.

Century No: 14 (3rd Test v SL in Ind 1997/98 at Mumbai)

Four months later Sri Lanka arrived in India for the return series and predictably all three Tests were drawn. In the third Test Tendulkar collected his first ton at his home ground of Mumbai, putting on 256 for the fourth wicket with Ganguly, but Sri Lanka scraped a draw with three wickets standing on the final day

Century No: 15 (1st Test v Aus in Ind 1997/98 at Chennai)

First blood to Warne as Tendulkar stepped out to play an expansive drive and edged to Mark Taylor at slip in the first innings. India conceded a 71 run lead but on the fourth day Tendulkar made amends by pillaging a century in just 127 balls en route to an unbeaten 155. Chasing 348, the same target Australia set India in the Tied Test on the same ground 11 years earlier, the visitors caved in to lose by 179 runs.

Century No: 26 (1st Test v South Africa in South Africa 2001/02 at Bloemfontein)

With the team reeling from a South African pace barrage, Sachin Tendulkar played possibly the finest knock of his life. Lifting India from the depths, Tendulkar mixed caution and aggression to score 155, all the while encouraging and tempering debutant Virender Sehwag, who also made a century. The match was lost, which shows India's dependence on the maestro, but Tendulkar's innings was hailed as a masterpiece.

Century No: 27 (2nd Test v Eng in India 2001/02 at Ahmedabad)

The little master scored his 27th Test hundred at the Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera in Ahmedabad (Gujarat) against the visiting England team on the third day of the second Test. After getting off to a very slow start on the second day, Tendulkar was unbeaten on 37 off 114 balls at lunch. After lunch though it was a transformed Tendulkar who tore into the English attack, notching his 27th 100 off just 183 balls, a feat which put him on level with Steve Waugh. Only the Don and Sunil Gavaskar have scored more Test tons.

Century No: 28 (1st Test v Zimbabwe in India 2001/02 at Nagpur)

After Deep Dagupta and Rahul Dravid had helped India make a strong beginning, it was the turn of Tendulkar to pile on the runs. Playing in an uncharacteristically sedate fashion, Tendulkar went on to register his 28th Test ton, making 176 off 316 balls with 23 fours. It might not have been the masterly exhibition of batting that the crowd had expected but the fact that their hero was now past Steve Waugh and Allan Border in the list of highest century-makers was cause enough for celebration.

Century No: 29 (2nd Test v West Indies in West Indies 2001/02 at Trinidad)

It was a determined Tendulkar who stepped out to bat in the second Test against the West Indies at the Caribbean. His 29th birthday was fast approaching and he was desperate to score his 29th Test hundred to celebrate the occasion. After looking very vulnerable in the early part of the innings, Tendulkar settled in to raise the landmark. His 117 off 260 balls was also his first Test hundred in the West Indies. A relieved Tendulkar dedicated the innings to the memory of his late father.

Century No: 30(3rd Test v England in England 2002 at Headingley, Leeds)

At the start of his 99th Test, Sachin Tendulkar was under enormous pressure with the media questioning the little master's ability to propel his team to a win in an away Test. Leeds, then, was where Tendulkar decided to answer them in the most emphatic manner possible. After Rahul Dravid (148) and Sanjay Bangar had laid the platform, Tendulkar (193) in the company of Sourav Ganguly (128) pulverised the England attack as India racked up their highest innings total in an away Test. Tendulkar's 30th Test ton, which saw him overtake the Don in the list of highest century makers in Test, was also his highest score in a Test that India won.

Century No: 31(3rd Test v West Indies in India 2002 at Eden Gardens, Kolkata)

India had comfortably won the first 2 Tests and West Indies were looking to salvage some pride. West Indies had won the first round of the 3rd Test by taking a 139 run lead in the first innings. Now it was India's turn to be on the back foot and play for time and save the Test match. The Caribbean bowlers had their tails up when they had India tottering at 87 for 4 with Sehwag, Dravid & Ganguly back in the hut. But our maestro had other plans and put on a 214 run partnership with VVS Laxman (154) and making 176 in the process which was incidentally his first hundred in Kolkata and India had comfortably saved the Test match and won the three Test series 2-0.

Century No: 32(4th Test v Australia in Australia 2004 at Sydney)

It was the 4th and last Test in Sydney and the build up to the Test match was extraordinary with Steve Waugh already announcing that it would be the last Test of his career. The series was tied at 1-1 with India winning at Brisbane, thanks to Dravid & Agarkar and Australia bouncing back at Melbourne. The world of cricket could not have asked for more - a series deciding Test match and the last Test match to a legend. Amidst all these, Sachin Tendulkar has been written about in the news, mostly by crictics for scoring a paltry 82 runs in the 5 innings from 3 Test matches. Cometh the hour, cometh the man - Tendulkar decided to take centrestage this time and curbed all his loose shots and scored a precious 241 & 60 and remained unbeaten in both the innings. India came very close to winning the Test and the series for the first time in history, but Steve Waugh stood in the way with a valiant 80 and it was again Sachin Tendulkar who took the catch to finish Steve Waugh's Test career

Century No: 33 (1st Test v Pakistan in Pakistan 2004 at Multan)

After 14 years, an Indian team was playing Test cricket in Pakistan. Dravid was forced to step into the captain's seat as Ganguly was injured. India registered their first win on Pakistan soil in this Test match. The master and clone put on 336 for the 3rd wicket with Sehwag smashing lots of records and became the first Indian to score a triple century (309) with his role model Tendulkar for company for most part of his innings and Tendulkar supported him with a masterly unbeaten 194. The total of 675 was mammoth enough for India to inflict an innings defeat on Pakistan and now its all history now with Pakistan bouncing back in the 2nd Test and India winning back the 3rd Test to take the series also.

Century No: 34 (2nd Test v Bangladesh in Bangladesh 2004 at Chittagong)

Amidst various chapters of history being re-written at the Bangabandhu National Stadium at Dhaka, this one occupied the headlines in all forms of media. Tendulkar's glittering hundred, his 34th in Tests, put him alongside Sunil Gavaskar in the century stakes and put India in absolute control of the opening Test. His century wasn't flawless, and had edgy moments interspersed gorgeous drives. When he was let off after being foxed by the Bangladesh bowlers, he made the fielders pay. While he was content to play the percentages in the early stages, with controlled square-drives to wide deliveries, he unfurled his range as the innings progressed. On reaching his hundred he joined an elite club of Gary Kirsten and Steve Waugh as the only men to have scored Test centuries against all countries.

Century No: 35 (2nd Test v Sri Lanka in India, Delhi)

At exactly 16:44:19, in fading light on the first day of the second Test against Sri Lanka, at the Feroz Shah Kotla Sachin Tendulkar became Test cricket's most prolific century scorer. With a flick through square-leg off Chaminda Vaas he reached his 35th Test century, going past Sunil Gavaskar's record of 34 Test centuries. Gavaskar's record had stood for 22 years. As soon as Tendulkar reached his century, which included 13 fours and one straight six, and came off 177 balls, play was stopped for bad light with the score on 245 for 3 off 75.4 overs. Tendulkar was not out on an even 100, and had spent 279 minutes at the crease. Sourav Ganguly was the non-striker, on 39, and the partnership was worth 112 runs

Century No: 36 (1st Test v Bangladesh in Chittagong, 2007)

After a disastrous World Cup and calls for his retirement, and with India - playing only five batsmen - at a precarious 132 for 3, Tendulkar delivered, forging a 189-run partnership with Sourav Ganguly and ending a 17-month wait for a Test century. He avoided risky shots and patiently accumulated runs, milking the relentless Bangladeshi left-arm spinners. The perfectly paced knock was dedicated to his father as it came on his eighth death anniversary. Uncharacteristically, Tendulkar seemed to be addressing his critics after the knock when he declared, "After 17 years, I don't think I have a point to prove."

Century No: 37 (2nd Test v Bangladesh in Dhaka, 2007)

The Indians helped themselves to a torrent of runs against the hapless Bangladeshis as, for the first time in Test cricket, the top four batsmen scored centuries in the same innings. Tendulkar was unbeaten on a somewhat sedate 122, his second successive century which helped fetch him the Man-of-the-Series award. He opened out after his century to enable an early declaration. As if he hadn't tormented Bangladesh enough with the bat, he took the last two wickets of their second innings to seal India's largest Test victory.

age 34: The form returns
The summer tour to Ireland and England saw Tendulkar come back into form, consistently averaging above 50 in one-day cricket since. 200 runs against South Africa in Ireland were followed by 374 runs in the Natwest Series in England. The only blemish was they he didn.t get to a hundred all tour, falling four times in the nineties. Tendulkar opted out of the inaugural ICC World Twenty in South Africa, and against the visiting Australians at home he scored two more fifties as India went down 4-2.

Age 33: Injury worries
It was a year where he missed a lot of action due to a shoulder injury. He sat out the West Indies series, where India registered a historic series win, and came back for the ODI tournament (DLF Cup) in Malaysia. He hit 141 against West Indies and continued to have a good time in the ODIs, averaging 41.23 with two tons and five half-centuries. But he fuelled his critics by failing in the World Cup. He played in three Tests in South Africa and went past 60 on two occasions but didn’t carry on to a big score.

Age 32: Undone by poor form
It was a lean year; he averaged under 28 in nine Tests. Considering six of them were at home – three each against Sri Lanka and England – the result was even more disappointing. He started off brightly, top scoring with a century against Sri Lanka in Delhi to help India win the Test but started to slip into a bad patch. The away series against Pakistan provided no joy but the nadir came against England when his home crowd in Mumbai booed him. He had a better time in the ODIs, averaging 38.76 in 14 games. There was two scores over 90 and one hundred, against Pakistan , but his poor performance in Tests had his critics jumping at his throat.

Age 31: Few flourishes in a quiet year
Sachin Tendulkar's 31st year in international cricket was relatively quiet, except for a few bright spots. He scored 508 runs in 15 ODIs at an average of 36.28, and 664 runs in 9 Tests at an average of 55.33 with four fifties and a double-hundred. His ODI highlights were a battling 74 in vain against Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup final and 123 against Pakistan at Ahmedabad. Tendulkar left his imprint on the low-scoring fourth Test against Australia at Mumbai, scoring 55 in the second innings, on the back of which India managed a thrilling 13-run win. He did not miss out in the two-match away series against Bangladesh scoring a career-best 248 not out in Dhaka. Tendulkar scored 94 in Mohali, in the first Test against Pakistan at home. He followed that with 52 in both innings of the second Test in Kolkata, helping India to a 195-run victory.

Age 30: Emphatic good-bye to Steve and the 'olive-branch' tour
After having a quiet 2 Tests at home against New Zealand, everyone expected Tendulkar to scores runs heaving when he went to Australia in December. But, all his fans were kept disappointed for the first 3 Test matches after which the floods broke out - a brilliant 241* & 60* from this maestro denied Steve Waugh a win in his last Test match and infact, Tendulkar took the catch to dismiss Steve Waugh in his last Test innings. After 14 years there was Test cricket between India & pakistan in Pakistan when Tendulkar came up with a brilliant 194* at Multan in addition to guiding Sehwag to score the first ever triple ton by an Indian. Later, he took his tally of ODI hundreds to 37 with a maginificent 141 in a losing cause at Rawalpindi

Age 29: Enjoys his own World Cup but for the final hurdle

Didn't start very well with 2 ducks in 3 innings in West Indies, but got his rhythm in England and his 193 was instrumental in winning the Leeds test. Tendulkar put all his patience in place and scored a match saving 176 in the partnership of VVS Laxman against West Indies at Kolkata.

Sachin Tendulkar got 2 centuries in the NatWest Series which India won and became a real force to reckon with as a team in world cricket. After a poor New Zealand tour, Tendulkar decided to sparkle at the big stage - the World Cup in South Africa. He was the leading run scorer in the World Cup with 673 runs from 11 innings with a murderous 152 against the minnows Namibia. The whole of India enjoyed 98 of those 673 runs more than anything else as it came in the crucial encounter against Pakistan and Tendulkar almost single-handedly took the game away from Pakistan. He, once again, allowed the critics to have a ball by failing in the final run chase at Johannesburg against Australia

Age 28: The lion is trapped in the 'Den'ness

In the shorter version of the game, Tendulkar's genius kept flowing with a flurry of big scores as he took India to the final in both the triangular tournaments they played, only to lose in the final. Tendulkar averaged a whopping 68.46 during this time.

India started to win abroad Test matches at this time and Sachin Tendulkar contributed in both the abroad wins at Bulawayo and Port of Spain . Probably the worst phase of his cricketing life came during this time when he was handed a one match suspended ban from Test cricket, for trying to alter the condition of the ball, by the match referee Mike Denness. The issue created a stir amongst cricket fans and administrators and it forced the 3rd Test against South Africa to become an unofficial Test.

Age 27: A successful hand at spoiling Australia's Final Frontier

On the Test front, his second double hundred arrived against Zimbabwe at Nagpur but the biggest challenge came soon after when Steve Waugh's men landed in India on their mission to conquer the Final Frontier. Tendulkar was only third in the batting averages but his fourth century in five Tests at Chepauk helped India deliver the killer punch in the decider. In ODIs, he never got a duck during this year and blasted just (by his standards) three hundreds and also India lost 2 of those matches winning only at Indore against Australia. But, his greatest disappointment would be losing to New Zealand at Kenya in the ICC Knock Out Tournament.

Age 26: Roller-coaster year for Sachin.


Tendulkar flew back home during the World Cup in England after hearing of the death of his father. He missed the game against Zimbabwe which India contrived to lose but on his return, put his grief behind to smash an unbeaten 140 against Kenya. Although he otherwise had a patchy tournament, Tendulkar went on to become only the third batsman to cross 1000 runs in World Cup cricket.

In July, he was reappointed captain of the Indian team replacing Mohd. Azharuddin. The news came as a bolt from the blue to Tendulkar. He admitted that he was not mentally prepared for the job since it was the usual practise for the vice-captain (then Ajay Jadeja) to step into the skipper's shoes.

Later in the season in October Tendulkar overcame a psychological barrier by scoring his first Test double hundred (217) against New Zealand at Ahmedabad. It was a long time due, coming as it did in his 71st match, and after 20 previous centuries. After the innings his Test average rocketed above 57 for the first time in his career. In the one-day series that followed he pillaged an unbeaten 186 off 150 balls at Hyderabad, an Indian record and only eight runs adrift of the world record held by Saeed Anwar.

After the disastrous tour of Australia, Tendulkar announced on February 20 that he was owning moral responsibility for the debacle and resigning as captain after the two Test series against South Africa. He turned down the captaincy of Mumbai as well, preferring to play under the captaincy of Sameer Dighe in the Ranji Trophy. An unbeaten 233 in the semifinals against Tamil Nadu singlehandedly led Mumbai into the Ranji Trophy final which they won after a gap of three years.
Age 25: Sachin Tendulkar takes the world by storm.

Starts the series with an important personal milestone, scoring a double hundred for Mumbai against the touring Australians. Decimates the Australians in the test series in India. Loses the initiative to Shane Warne in the first innings of the first test at Chennai and is dismissed for 4.


As if to wipe out that blemish, Sachin rips into Warne in the second innings right from the first ball. Thrashing him to all parts of the ground, Sachin notched up a chanceless 155. In the second test an allround Indian batting performance bolstered by 79 Tendulkar runs set up a comfortable victory for India. The third test saw Sachin get close to scoring a double hundred with an effort of 177. Missing the landmark by a mere 23 runs, Sachin looked good for a double hundred and more, when he was dismissed. His domination of the Aussie bowlers was so complete, being especially severe on their trump card Shane Warne. This was Tendulkar's series. Man of the series, without much doubt!

Continues to bludgeon the Australian bowling in Sharjah, making 80 off 72 balls. The next time he faced Australia, Sachin smashed 143 off 131 balls including 9 fours and 5 sixes. But the best was reserved for the finals. Scoring 134 off 131 balls including 12 fours and 3 sixes. Notching up back to back hundreds when it mattered the most Sachin was once again the unanimous choice for player of the series.



On to Dhaka for the Wills International Cup. And the Tendulkar run machine rolls on. Again going at the Australians with aggression, Sachin puts them out of the Quarter Finals with a blistering 144, and captures four Australian wickets as well! Makes all the bowling look mediocre. Passes Desmond Haynes record of most centuries in one day internationals. Breaks his own record of scoring the maximum number of runs in a single season.
Scores a fighting, even restrained, hundred against the pumped up Pakistanis. Playing well within himself, despite a bad back, Sachin was the lone strength in an otherwise crumbling Indian batting line up. Unfortunately a lost cause where Sachin played an innings of character and still ended up on the losing side. With his back injury aggravated he missed out on the triangular one day series at home and in Sharjah.

Age 23: Sachin dominates the 1996 World Cup.

Had a phenomenal run in the World Cup scoring two hundreds and amassing the highest runs in the tournament. His valiant efforts in Mumbai (v Australia) , Delhi (v Sri Lanka) and in the semi final at (Calcutta) again v Sri Lanka were all in vain as India lost. Took over the captaincy from Mohammad Azharuddin and led the team to South Africa. Completely outclassed by the South Africans india had but a few highlights in an otherwise dismal tour. Even the blistering 222 run partnership between Tendulkar and Azharuddin at Capetown, rescuing India from the depths of 58/5 didn't go very far in saving face.. He also played a key role in the Standard Bank triangular ODI series where India lost in a closely fought final to South Africa. Sachin led the Indian team to the West Indies. The Indian team however continued to have mixed results and Azhar was reinstated in 1998.

Awards



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In December 2006, Tendulkar was felicitated at the Castrol Cricketing Awards ceremony held in Johannesburg for going past Sunil Gavaskar’s record of 34 centuries. The man who presented the award to Tendulkar was Gavaskar himself. Gavaskar, a childhood icon for Tendulkar, asked the ‘Bombay Bomber’ to score more centuries as Brian Lara and Ricky Ponting were ‘snapping at his heels’.


Sachin Tendulkar played his 100th Test at The Oval in September 2002, but that didn’t deter the BCCI from organising a felicitation in his honour the next month when India played a Test at home against West Indies. In fact, the BCCI also shifted the venue of the Test from Kanpur to Mumbai, so that Tendulkar could be feted on his home ground – the Wankhede Stadium.


The Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA), headed by NCP leader Sharad Pawar presented Tendulkar with a 10 kg silver bat and a cheque of Rs 2.51 lakh to honour him after he was conferred with 'Maharashtra Bhushan' award by the state government and also for completing a record 10,000 runs in one-day internationals. [MCA felicitates Tendulkar with silver bat]

There's never a shortage of awards when you're as big a star as Sachin Tendulkar. Having already bagged many prestigious awards in an international career that has seen the little master from Mumbai stamp his authority on world cricket, Tendulkar recently added another feather to his cap. Mumbai's favourite son was awarded the 'Maharashtra Bhushan' for the year 2000-01. The award was announced on Tendulkar's birthday by Cultural Affairs Minister Ramkrishna More. The award comprises a citation and a cash element of Rupees Five lakhs.


Sachin Tendulkar has been the Man of the Match on ten occasions in Tests, while he’s bagged the award 54 times in ODIs – the highest for any player. He also won the Player-of-the-Tournament award after a stupendous performance in the 2003 World Cup.
Sachin's Man of the Match awards in Tests ! in ODIs

The Arjuna awardcarries a cash prize of Rs. 50,000, a bronze statuette of Arjuna and a scroll. Instituted in the year 1961, the awards are given annually to honour outstanding sportsmen. Sachin Tendulkar received the honour in 1994.

In 1997 Sachin Tendulkar became the 11th Indian to be named Cricketer of the Year by the Wisden Almanack

The 'Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award' is India's highest sporting award. An exclusive award, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award is awarded only to those individuals who have done India proud on the world stage. The award was instituted in 1991 and Tendulkar is the seventh recepient of the award. Sachin Tendulkar has done enough to deserve this award and more.
"India's Highest sports award for Tendulkar" (12 Aug 1998)

The Padma Shri is awarded to people doing exceptional work in their respective fields. It is given away by the President of India in a very special function at the Rashtrapathi Bhavan. Sachin Tendulkar featured in this list in 1999 for his outstanding contribution to Indian cricket.
Tendulkar awarded Padma Shri

What is the highest average Sachin Tendulkar ever sported during his Test career?[July 20, 2007]


After 137 Tests, Sachin Tendulkar's average lies at 55.44. It is not, however, the highest average he has ever sported during his career. That figure is 59.16, immediately after the first innings of the second Test against West Indies at Port of Spain in 2002, when he made 117. Tendulkar took a while to get his Test average above 50. It was only after his 29th Test against Sri Lanka at Lucknow in 1993-94 that his average crossed that mark for the first time. His average has dipped into the late forties a few times since then, but after his 53rd Test against West Indies at Georgetown in 1996-97, it has remained permanently above 50.

Tendulkar's steady rise up the ladder is unlike the meteoric ascent - and equally swift descent - of Sunil Gavaskar's average which rocketed into three figures (132) after his debut Test at Port-of-Spain in 1970-71 and advanced to a high of 156 after his second Test. After his seventh Test match, against England at the Oval in 1971, his average dropped below 100 for the first time and continued to fall steadily. It came down to a low of 47.74 after his 31st Test against England at Bangalore in 1976-77 and finally settled at 51.12 when he retired from the game.


At which ground has Tendulkar scored the highest number of Test runs? Sachin Tendulkar’s favourite hunting ground has been the MA Chidambaram Stadium at Chennai, having scored 736 runs in 7 Tests at an average of 92. Tendulkar has made 734 runs at his home ground - the Wankhede Stadium – but that has taken him 14 innings, compared to 11 innings at Chepauk. Tendulkar has made four hundreds at Chennai, including an unbeaten 155 against Australia in 1998, perhaps one of the best knocks he’s ever played.