Tendulkar to miss Test for first time

By Mohandas Menon

Sachin Tendulkar, for the first time in his career, will miss a Test match (the first Test at Galle on August 14) since his debut at Karachi in November 1989 as a 16-year-old.

Since then he has appeared in a record 84 Tests in-a- row until the last against Zimbabwe at Harare in June this year. This a record for the maximum Tests played by any player in Test history since debut without missing a match. The previous record was held by another Indian, Kapil Dev, who appeared in 66 Tests in-a-row since his debut Test in October 1978. He was dropped for the Calcutta Test in December 1984 against David Gower's England, for reasons still not known to anyone, including the player concerned.

Incidentally this was the only occasion in his entire Test career spanning 131 matches (from 1978 to 1994), that Kapil missed a Test match. This also means that Kapil played another 65 Test matches in-a-row from January 1985 to March 1994.

Meanwhile, New Zealand's John Reid and England's Tony Greig hold the record of appearing in maximum Tests (58) without missing even one match during their entire Test career. Zimbabwean Alistair Campbell, who has so far appeared in 54 Tests, has also not missed a single Test since his debut in 1992. Campbell now holds the record of playing in maximum Tests than any player since his country's inaugural Test match.

England all-rounder Frank Woolley was incidentally the first player to appear in 50 or more matches in-a-row since debut between 1909 to 1926.

List of players who have played 50 or more Tests in-a-row since their debut: Sachin Tendulkar (Ind) 84 (1989-90 to 2001-02); Kapil Dev (Ind) 66 (1978-79 to 1984-85); Ian Healy (Aus) 64 (1988-89 to 1994-95); Rohan Kanhai (WI) 61 (1957 to 1968-69); John Reid (NZ) 58+ (1949 to 1965); Tony Greig (Eng) 58+ (1972 to 1977); Alistair Campbell (Zim) 54+ (1992-93 to 2001-02); Gary Kirsten (SA) 53 (1993-94 to 1998-99); Frank Woolley (Eng) 52 (1909 to 1926); Rodney Marsh (Aus) 52 (1970-71 to 1977); Andy Flower (Zim) 52 (1992-93 to 2001-02); Greg Chappell (Aus) 51 (1970-71 to 1977). (+ Indicates players who have played entire career without missing a Test).

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