8 test innings where Sachin Tendulkar was the Lone Warrior for India
Sachin Tendulkar is widely considered to be the greatest batsman of his generation, and among the greatest ever to have played the game. The Indian Cricket Team was often referred to as a one-man army - the one man being Sachin Tendulkar of course. Teams facing India firmly believed that if they got Sachin Tendulkar out early, then they had already won the game. It was a sentiment that seemed to be shared by the Indian fans as well, because whenever Sachin Tendulkar got out, the fans used to turn off the TV sets, and it was assumed that India could not win.Sachin Tendulkar scored a record 51 test centuries in his career and it’s a record that is unlikely to ever be surpassed. Many of these 51 centuries were scored by Tendulkar in very adverse circumstances. The aim of this article is to look at those innings where Sachin Tendulkar was the lone warrior for India. In other words, we are looking at those innings in which Sachin Tendulkar was the only batsman to stand and face the challenge of the opposition bowlers and conditions and score runs while all other batsmen fell cheaply.The criteria for what constitutes a lone warrior innings are -1) Sachin Tendulkar must have scored a 100.2a) In the innings in which Sachin Tendulkar scored a 100, only one other batsman should have scored more than 50 runs (but less than 100). If two or more batsmen, besides Sachin, scored 50 or more runs, then those innings will not be considered.2b) In instances where only one other batsman scored more than 50 runs, Sachin Tendulkar's score must be more than twice that of the one other batsman who scored 50. For example, if Sachin Tendulkar scored 102, and the one other batsman 53, then this knock of Sachin will not qualify as a lone warrior knock, because 2x53 = 106 which is more than Sachin Tendulkar's score of 102. If however Sachin had scored 107 and the only other 50 plus scored was 53, then Sachin's innings would qualify.These criteria are no doubt, very stringent, but when we talking about the greatest batsman of his generation, nothing less than the strictest criteria will do. It’s also important to keep in mind that these 8 innings are not the only instances of Sachin Tendulkar’s lone warrior innings, there could be more, but we feel these are ones most worth highlighting. It is also important to note that the innings are not ranked in any order.
#1 vs Australia (Perth - 1 Feb, 1992)
Perth has never been the easiest of grounds for any visiting teams to play at, and it showed when India faced Australia in the final test of the 1992 tour. No Indian batsman could score any runs of note in the test, and the only exception was Sachin Tendulkar who scored a fine 114 against the fiery Australian pace attack which was led by the irrepressible Merv Hughes.
Sachin Tendulkar (1st Innings) - 114
Next Highest Score that innings - 43 (K. More)
Note - No Indian batsman apart from Sachin Tendulkar scored a 50 in either innings of the test match. More's 43 was the second highest individual score in both innings combined.