From 1989 to 2013 - An unforgettable journey of Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar
Sachin Tendulkar sprinting at Headingly ahead of the England test series in 1990- A very special one for him
Whenever you switched on the television sets and see a 5 ft 5 inch player batting, you always tend to ask-“What is his score?” or “Has he scored a century?” But now this kind of temptation will never be a part of us as Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar will retire from test cricket after his 200th test against the West Indies.
After that test, we will never see that 5 ft 5 inch man, with jersey no. 10,walking out from the pavilion to bat for team India at no.4 in test cricket. We will never see the little master again, fielding with his round hat. We will never see him celebrating with the players after each and every victory.
“All my life, I have had a dream of playing cricket for India . I have been living this dream every day for the last 24 years. It’s hard for me to imagine a life without playing cricket because it’s all I have ever done since I was 11 years old. It’s been a huge honour to have represented my country and played all over the world. I look forward to playing my 200th Test Match on home soil, as I call it a day.”-Sachin Tendulkar, in his recent statement regarding his retirement.
It is indeed a great loss for team India and an end of an era which lasted 24 years. Sachin Tendulkar played with every legends-from Kapil Dev to Mohammad Azharuddin, Sourav Ganguly to Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Richard Hadlee to Glenn Mcgrath.
Let’s now look at some notable moments in his career which stamped his authority in International Cricket.
The debut test: – At 16 years 205 days Sachin Tendulkar made his test debut in Karachi, against the lethal Pakistan bowling attack in the form of Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram. He scored just 15 runs in the 1st test but came back well in the next one by scoring a defiant 59 runs after being hit by a fast bouncer from Waqar.
Sachin’s 1st century saved the test match for India
The Manchester test: – It was this test that became a special one in his career. He scored his first century and became the youngest player to have reached the triple figure mark. He came at the right time as India were 6 wickets down with 183 on the scoreboard.He not only scored his first century but also saved the test match for India.
Great batting against Richard Hadlee: – In his 1st ever ODI series, Sachin showed signs of a special player. His innings of 36 runs in the 4th match of a tri-series included 5 fours, out of which 2 came against the legendary Richard Hadlee. He also praised Sachin by saying-“You could see then, as a youngster, he was a player of immense ability and talent.”