119* v England, Old Trafford, August 1990
Tendulkar's first Test century was a significant
one, earning India a draw in the second Test against England at Old Trafford.
Having made 68 in the first innings - taking 54 minutes to get off the mark -
he emerged at number six in the second with his side toiling to save a draw
having been set an unlikely 408 to win. Batting in a pair of Sunil Gavaskar's
pads, his style echoed the legendary opener as he put on an unbroken 160 with
Manoj Prabhakar. His only real alarm came when he was dropped by Eddie Hemmings
on 10, after which he displayed astounding maturity and class for a
17-year-old.
India simply had no answer to a lightning-fast
pitch in Perth in the final match of a five-Test series against Australia in
which they were beaten 4-0 - with the honourable exception of the then
19-year-old Tendulkar. Promoted to his now-established No.4 position, his
first-innings 114 featured a string of withering cuts for four and saw him
accelerate through his second 50 runs in just 55 balls, sharing in India's
record ninth-wicket stand against Australia of 81 with wicketkeeper Kiran More.
It was to no avail, though, as India were bowled out for 141 second time around
to lose by 300 runs.
98 v
Pakistan, Centurion, March 2003
Chasing 275 to beat their bitter rivals in the
World Cup group stage, India needed a swift start - and Tendulkar provided the
launch pad with a six and two fours from the final three balls of Shoaib
Akhtar's first over. The 'Rawalpindi Expres's was immediately taken out of the
attack and Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag put on 53 at almost 10-an-over, the
former going on to make 98 from just 75 balls despite cramp before Shoaib
finally got his man thanks to Younus Khan's catch. India would go on to win
with more than four overs in hand and subsequently reach the final, where they
were beaten by Australia.
241* v Australia, SCG, January 2004
Australia have suffered more than most at
Tendulkar's hands, and this relentless knock represented his best Test score -
until he beat it by seven against Bangladesh in 2004 - but more importantly
helped set up a series-clinching draw in what was Steve Waugh's last Test for
Australia. He added a colossal 353 for the fourth wicket with VVS Laxman,
another consistent tormentor of the Australians, and the innings was made all
the more remarkable by Tendulkar's subsequent admission that: "I had got
out a couple of times to balls outside the off stump, so I decided not to play
[the cover-drive]." He added: "I would put this innings right at the
top of my hundreds."
200* v South Africa, Gwalior, February 2010
It took 40 years for any batsman to record a double
hundred in a one-day international - and fittingly the 'Little Master' was the
man to do so. He batted through the 50 overs to see his team to 401 for three
against South Africa, displaying all facets of his game. He made steady
progress to a 90-ball ton before the fireworks began, with nine fours and a six
in an uncharacteristic third half-century from just 28 deliveries. He launched
two more huge maximums on his way past the previous ODI record of 194 and
having reached 198 with three overs remaining, displayed remarkable restraint
to first block a ball from Charl Langeveldt and then reach his historic
landmark with two singles. Ever modest, Tendulkar said afterwards: "I
don't think any record is unbreakable. I hope that if this record is broken,
it's done by an Indian."
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