Sachin’s five memorable innings across all formats

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New Delhi | Sachin Tendulkar, who scored a record 100 centuries across all formats, is widely known as the ‘God of Cricket’ and is loved by the entire nation. Sachin Tendulkar holds the record for most runs in international cricket with 34,357 runs across all formats. Sachin can make a strong claim for immortality on the basis of his achievements in the game.

In 2011, Tendulkar finally won his first World Cup. His hunger for runs has not diminished even at the age of 37, as he finished as India’s leading run-scorer in the tournament with 482 runs.

Sachin retired from ODIs in 2012, scoring his 100th century in the match before his final match. His final Test came in November 2013 against the West Indies, his 200th in the format. In an international career spanning 24 years, Sachin broke every major batting record. Ahead of Sachin’s 50th birthday (April 24), IANS lists five memorable Sachin innings across all formats.

119* vs England, Old Trafford (1990)

England scored 519 runs in the first innings on a calm pitch, in response to which India scored 432 runs. England declared their second innings at a score of 320/4. India had a target of 408 runs. Chasing such a big target is not easy. The same happened with India. Wickets kept falling at regular intervals. India were struggling at 127 for five in the second innings. Then at the young age of 17, Sachin showed great determination and resilience, batting for nearly four hours and scoring an unbeaten 119 and playing a key role in drawing the match. He could have won the match as well. If only he had one more season to play.

143 vs Australia, Sharjah (1998)

Sachin’s blistering innings, known as the ‘Desert Storm’, displayed all the characteristics of a remarkable performance. Despite facing a formidable attack including Shane Warne, Damian Fleming and Michael Kasprowicz, Sachin batted brilliantly, albeit with little support from his fellow batsmen. Sachin played a stormy inning of 143 runs in 131 balls. Sachin hit nine fours and five sixes in this memorable innings. Although the Indian team lost the match on the basis of Sachin’s strong innings, chasing the target of 285 runs, the Indian team was able to score only 276 runs. But on the basis of net run-rate, he made it to the final ahead of Ugland. The nickname ‘Desert Storm’ came from the fact that sandstorms disrupted the game, but after the storm subsided, a storm named Sachin arrived.

146 vs South Africa, Cape Town (2011)

After South Africa scored 362 in the first innings in the Cape Town Test, India were 2 for 28 in their first innings. India were keen on their first series win in the country, but Dale Steyn was determined to prevent that from happening. Despite facing the aggressive bowling of Steyn, Sachin rose to the challenge with a brilliant 314-ball innings. His determined effort not only helped India grab a narrow two-run lead, but also helped the match end in a draw.

200 vs South Africa, Gwalior (2010)

21 years after his ODI debut, Sachin holds a new record. In 2010 against South Africa he scored an unbeaten double century which he scored off 147 balls, thus becoming the first player to score a double century in ODI cricket. His innings helped India score 401/3, and India defeated South Africa by 153 runs.

100th International century vs Bangladesh, Mirpur (2012)

The Master Blaster scored his 99th international century on 12 March 2011, and after going without a century for over a year, Sachin scored 100 in a 2012 Asia Cup match against Bangladesh at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur. Achieved the feat of scoring an international century, where he scored 114 off 147 balls. The memorable moment came in the 44th over when Tendulkar took a single to left-arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan at square-leg to become the first batsman in the history of the game to score centuries in all formats.

–IANS

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