"SOME RECORDS IN THE TEST CAREER OF OUR GOD"
Sachin Tendulkar has scored the highest number of centuries in the history of Test cricket (51).
On Dec 19th, 2010, he brought up his 50th Test century, which he scored
against the South Africans at SuperSport Park, Centurion. In the
process, he became the first, and remains the only cricketer on the
planet to have scored 50 Test hundreds; a phenomenal achievement in the game of cricket.
He is now the leading run scorer in Test cricket, after having surpassed Brian Lara's tally of 11,953 Test runs in 2008.
Prior to Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara (who broke Sachin Tendulkar's
record on Aug 5, 2010), Sachin was the fastest man to reach the
milestone of 8,000 runs in Test cricket (in terms of least number of
innings required. Sachin required 154 innings to cross the mark, whereas
Sangakkara did it in 152 innings).
Sachin is also the joint-fastest
to reach the coveted milestone of 10,000 runs in Test cricket (Sachin
Tendulkar and Brian Lara both achieved this milestone in 195 innings).
First man to reach 12,000 right up to 15,000 runs in Test cricket.
He has scored centuries against all Test-playing nations, a feat achieved only by a handful of international players.
When he recently stepped out onto the field in Sri Lanka to play his
169th Test Match, Sachin Tendulkar created a new record by surpassing
Steve Waugh of Australia, to become the most capped player in the world
in Test Cricket.
When he scored his 49th Test century against
Australia at Bangalore on 11th Oct, 2010, Sachin Tendulkar became the
first Indian batsman to have scored 6 Test hundreds in a calendar year.
The previous Indian record was 5 hundreds in a calendar year, which was
jointly held by Sunil Gavaskar, Rahul Dravid and Sachin himself! A
couple of months later, in Dec 2010, he brought up his 50th Test
century, thereby increasing his tally of Test hundreds in the year 2010
to 7.
Sachin Tendulkar also holds the record for the most number of
150+ scores in Test cricket. (He has 20 scores of 150+ to his credit).
In the process of scoring his 49th Test hundred, Sachin Tendulkar also
brought up his 11th Test century against Australia. The only person to
have scored more Test hundreds against Australia is Jack Hobbs of
England, who scored all of his 12 Test hundreds against the Australians.
During his innings of 214 against the Australians, Sachin Tendulkar
achieved another milestone; that of aggregating 3,000 Test runs against
Australia. He became only the 3rd man in the world (after Englishmen
Jack Hobbs and David Gower) to do so.
Till date, he has won the Man
of the Match award 14 times, which is the highest by an Indian, and the
joint 5th highest in the world. He has also been awarded the Man of the
Series award on 5 occasions.
He has scored 1,000+ Test runs in a
calendar year on 6 occasions (1997, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2008 and 2010).
This particular record also happens to be a world record. Brian Lara of
the West Indies and the Australian pair of Matthew Hayden and Ricky
Ponting are all in joint 2nd place, each having achieved this feat on 5
occasions.
When he scored 217 against New Zealand in the 1999/00
season, Sachin Tendulkar broke, and is still the present holder of the
record for the highest Test score made by an Indian captain. Previously,
the record was held by Sunil Gavaskar, who, when captaining the side,
had scored 205 against the West Indies in Mumbai in 1978/79.
Sachin
Tendulkar was 17 years and 197 days old when he scored his first Test
hundred. He remains the youngest Indian to have scored a Test hundred.
As far as the rest of the world is concerned, Sachin happens to be 3rd
on the list of youngest Test centurions.
Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul
Dravid have put on 19 hundred-plus stands in Test cricket. This is a
world record for the most number of century partnerships by a single
pair in Test cricket.
When he scored his 51st hundred, which was
against South Africa at Cape Town, he became the first overseas batsman
to have scored 5 centuries on South African soil. The previous highest
was 4 Test centuries by Wally Hammond of England and Neil Harvey of
Australia.
Out of his 51 centuries, 22 have been scored at home and
29 have been scored overseas. His record of 29 overseas Test hundreds is
a world record, not to mention an indication of his consistency and his
spectacular performance away from home.
Another interesting
statistic (and of course, another Sachin Tendulkar record!) is that he
has now scored 12 hundreds after the age of 35. Graham Gooch of England
remains the only other player to have done so.
