An exalted zone - Tendulkar's own

By G. Viswanath

MUMBAI, MARCH 31. Sachin Tendulkar gave joy to thousands of fans at Indore on Saturday and to millions of watchers on television. The city, once a cricketing hub of the Central Provinces and Berar and the home of giants like Col. C.K. Nayudu and Mushtaq Ali, would have felt let down, if the Indian batting maestro had not made the remaining runs to reach 10,000 runs in One-day internationals. He did not fail them.

He gave an impression that he was sore, having presented his wicket in Pune. He made amends in the third match of the Pepsi Series and even went on to score his 28th century in 266 matches. There is always a special thrill in watching Tendulkar bat. He gave it the Indorites aplenty, making strokes with gusto and bringing in a lot of innovation.

Well, Tendulkar has set many a bench-mark in Indian cricket and quite a handful in international scene. To start with, he became the youngest player - 16 years and 205 days - when he made his first appearance for India against Pakistan in Karachi. In his second innings for India, he made 59 in Faisalabad. Many believed he had arrived then itself because as a midget he showed the wherewithal to face the likes of Imran Khan, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis and leg-spinner Abdul Qadir. Nine months later, he announced to the world that he would travel a long way in international cricket. His first Test century (119) against England in Manchester in August 1990 proved what a quality batsman he was. Well, the Mumbai wonderkid, who batted day in and day out at as a teenager, took the Mumbai maidans by storm, set a world record for school cricket, has indeed, come a long way to being acknowledged as the world's No. 1 batsman, a run-making machine and an entertainer par excellence.

That he would be the first batsman to score 10,000 runs in limited-over internationals was on the cards. He was 101 short of this record before the first match of the Pepsi Series in Bangalore; he made 35 and missed the mark in the Garden City. Pune craved for him to realise this milestone, but his 32 turned out to be a cameo and nothing more. Puneites were utterly disappointed, but he made the cricket `diwane' of Indore happy; his 139 was like akin to the famous `Malwa breeze'. In the process he became the first batsman to notch the five-figure mark in the slam bang world of One-day cricket.

An outstanding career

For Tendulkar, the story of cricket, has been remarkably long and full of episodes. More than a dozen years ago, he appeared as a skinny lad at the Wellington Catholic Gymkhana, Santa Cruz, to receive an award from the Sports Journalists' Association of Bombay. His companion was Vinod Kambli. They were schoolboys who had run up a partnership of 664 in inter-school cricket. A couple of years later there was an occasion for the then chairman of the national selection committee Mr. Raj Singh Dungarpur to announce his selection in the Indian team for Pakistan. ``It (Tendulkar's selection) went like a shot'', was a one liner that straightaway put an end to all questions about Tendulkar's selection. Well, Mumbaikars, including the reporters and photographers, literally held him in awe, then. There was a sense of premonition that the callow youth would do well. He did and his selection in the Indian team was automatic; he became a permanent fixture, unlike Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid, both of whom were dropped and had to prove their mettle again. He prospered in both forms of the game, but it was only after spending five years that he made his first century (110 against Australia in Colombo) in One-day internationals. It was his 79th match. He has added 27 more to it; the 139 in Indore being his 28th in 266 matches.

There was a significant happening in Auckland, New Zealand in 1994, nine matches before he cracked his first century in One-day internationals. He opened the innings and made 82 in a jiffy. Since he has rarely batted in the middle order. Two years later Ganguly became his partner, and in over a period of five years, the two have become the most successful opening pair in the short version of the game.

The record speaks for his success against the established Test playing countries. He has scored over one thousand runs against Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe. This is because India has played more matches against these countries. He has played only 14 matches against England and scored 384 runs against it. He has not scored a century against England. He will be keen to do it next January when England plays five matches in India. The current series in which he has played three matches has taken his tally to 1,552 runs in 31 matches against Australia. His average also climbed over 50 against Australia. That his overall average is over 40 represents, if anything, his consistency in the limited-overs version and against all the countries. He has scored centuries in Colombo (4), Motera (1), Jaipur (1), Cuttack (1), Mumbai (1), Bangalore (1), Kanpur (1), Calcutta (1), New Delhi (1), Hyderabad (1), Baroda (2), Jodhpur (1), Indore (1), Sharjah (6), Singapore (1), Benoni (1), Bulawayo (1), Dhaka (1), Bristol (1).

Fourteen years ago, India's first `Little master' Sunil Gavaskar, crossed the 10,000 run barrier against Pakistan in Motera. He held that record for almost six years, finishing at 10,122 runs, before Australia's Allan Border broke it. And now, another champion batsman, has emulated him, but in matches limited to 100 overs.

Gavaskar was something special to Bombay (now Mumbai). First, Border broke his record and then recently, Venkatsai Laxman went past his highest of 236 not out in Test cricket. He did not regret, but on Saturday, Mumbai was happy to see one of its great cricketing sons accomplish a feat no other batsman has done it in One-day internationals.

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