SACHIN RAMESH TENDULKAR ..d name says it all - Page 2

Injuries and apparent Decline

Tendulkar continued his good form in Test cricket in 2001 and 2002, with some pivotal performances with both bat and ball. Tendulkar took three wickets on the final day of the famousKolkata Test against Australia in 2001. Tendulkar took the key wickets of Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist, centurions in the previous test.

In the 2002 series in the West Indies, Tendulkar started well, scoring 79 in the first test, and 117 in the first innings of the second. Then, in a hitherto unprecedented sequence, he scored 0, 0, 8 and 0 in the next four innings, getting out to technical "defects" and uncharacteristically poor strokes. He returned to form in the last test scoring 41 and 86. However, India lost the series. This might have been the beginning of the "decline" phase in his career which lasted till 2006.

Tendulkar made 673 runs in 11 matches in the 2003 Cricket World Cup, helping India reach the final. While Australia retained the trophy that they had won in 1999, Tendulkar was given the Man of the Tournament award.

He continued to score heavily in ODI cricket that year, with two hundreds in a tri series involving New Zealand and Australia.

The drawn series as India toured Australia in 2003/04 saw Tendulkar making his mark in the last Test of the series, with 241* in Sydney, putting India in a virtually unbeatable position. He followed up the innings with an unbeaten 60 in the second innings of the test. Prior to this test match, he had had an unusually horrible run of form, failing in all six innings in the preceding three tests. It was no aberration that 2003 was his worst year in test cricket, with an average of 17.25 and just one fifty.

He scored an unbeaten 194 against Pakistan at Multan in the following series. The 194 was controversial in that he was stranded prior to reaching his double century as a result of adeclaration by Rahul Dravid. In meeting with the press that evening, Tendulkar responded to a question on missing 200 against Pakistan by stating that he was disappointed and that the declaration had taken him by surprise.Many former cricketers commented that Dravid's declaration was in bad taste.The media noted at the time that the decision had apparently been made by Sourav Ganguly, and Ganguly himself later admitted that it had been a mistake. The controversy was put to rest when Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and coach John Wright spoke to the media after the team's victory and stated that the matter was spoken internally and put to rest.

Tennis elbow then took its toll on Tendulkar, leaving him out of the side for most of the year, coming back only for the last two tests when Australia toured India in 2004. He played a part in India's victory in Mumbai in that series with a fast 55, though Australia took the series 2–1.

On 10 December 2005 at Feroz Shah Kotla, Tendulkar scored his record-breaking 35th Test century, against the Sri Lankans.

In the test series in Pakistan in 2006, Sachin failed to get going in all three innings despite the pitches being flat tracks. In the third of those three innings, he was bowled comprehensively after making 26, and ended up on all fours. This prompted The Times of India to publish an article entitled "Endulkar" in which TOI opined that Tendulkar's batting prowess had declined and his career had slid permanently.

On 6 February 2006, he scored his 39th ODI hundred, in a match against Pakistan. He followed with a run-a-ball 42 in the second one-day international against Pakistan on 11 February 2006, and then a 95 in hostile, seaming conditions on 13 February 2006 in Lahore, which set up an Indian victory.

On 19 March 2006, after scoring an unconvincing 1 off 21 balls against England in the first innings of the third Test in his home ground, Wankhede, Tendulkar was booed off the ground by a section of the crowd, the first time that he had ever faced such flak. Tendulkar was to end the three-Test series without a single half-century to his credit, and news of a shoulder operation raised more questions about his longevity. Tendulkar was operated upon for his injured shoulder. In July 2006, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced that Tendulkar had overcome his injury problem following a rehabilitation programme and was available for selection, and he was eventually selected for the next series.

Tendulkar's comeback came in the DLF cup in Malaysia and he was the only Indian batsman to shine. In his comeback match, against West Indies on 14 September 2006, Tendulkar responded to his critics who believed that his career was inexorably sliding with his 40th ODI century. Though he scored 141*, West Indies won the rain-affected match by the D/L method.

In the preparation for the 2007 Cricket World Cup, Tendulkar was criticized by Greg Chappell on his attitude.As per the report, Chappell felt that Tendulkar would be more useful down the order, while the latter felt that he would be better off opening the innings, the role he had played for most of his career. Chappell also believed that Tendulkar's repeated failures were hurting the team's chances. In a rare show of emotion, Tendulkar hit out at the comments attributed to Chappell by pointing out that no coach has ever suggested his attitude towards cricket is incorrect. On 7 April 2007, the Board of Control for Cricket in India issued a notice to Tendulkar asking for an explanation for his comments made to the media.

At the Cricket World Cup 2007 in the West Indies, Tendulkar and the Indian cricket team, led by Rahul Dravid had a dismal campaign. Tendulkar, who was pushed to bat lower down the order by the Greg Chappell had scores of 7 (Bangladesh), 57* (Bermuda) and 0 (Sri Lanka). As a result, former Australian captain Ian Chappell, brother of the then Indian coach Greg, called for Tendulkar to retire in his column for Mumbai's Mid Day newspaper.[65]

During this period from about 2002 to 2006–7, Tendulkar's batting often seemed to be a shadow of its former self. He was inconsistent, and his big knocks mostly came in sedate, accumulative, uncharacteristic fashion. He seemed to have either cut out or lost the ability to play many shots, including the hook and pull and many other aerial strokes. He also developed a tendency to go without scoring much for long periods and become overtly defensive. While players such as Ponting and Kallis were at the peak of their careers, Sachin's seemed to be in terminal decline. There were several calls from him to retire too.

However after the 2007 World Cup, his career had a second wind and his consistency and form have returned.

Nervous Nineties

The Nervous Nineties is a commonly used term in CRICKET.

The term refers to a specific form of analysis paralysis, when a batsman feels when he has scored more than 90 runs in a test innings, and is nervous because of the pressure and desire to convert this into a century (100 runs). Therefore this situation is referred to as batsmen being in the nervous nineties. Batsmen tend to bat in a more conservative manner when they are close to their century, in order to avoid missing out on the milestone. Batsmen dismissed on 99 are considered the unluckiest of all the nervous nineties victims. There are many batsman who have been dismissed in the nineties with multiple instances of batsmen being dismissed on 99.

The opposing captain may position his fielding in order to create extra pressure to get the batsman out. As a result of this many batsmen fail to score hundreds from nineties.

Sachin Tendulkar

Indian Sachin Tendulkar holds the record for highest number of dismissals in the 90s (a total of 25 times) across all forms of international cricket. He is also the only player to have been dismissed for 99 three times in international cricket. However, he is also the highest run-scorer in international cricket history, and he has made more centuries than any other player, so the fact that Tendulkar holds the record is caused more by this fact than anything else.

Statistically, one of the worst victims of the nervous nineties was Australian opener (and now commentator)Michael Slater, dismissed in the nineties nine times in his test career, and surviving to make a century only fourteen times. West Indian batsman Alvin Kallicharan's record was similarly poor, dismissed in the nineties seven times for only twelve career centuries.

Legendary batsman Sir Donald Bradman holds the record for most test centuries scored in a career without ever being dismissed in the nervous nineties: a total of 29 centuries. Greg Chappell (24 centuries) and Michael Vaughan (18 centuries) have the next best records.

Return to old form and consistency :

Tendulkar celebrates upon reaching his 38th Test century against Australia in the 2nd Test at the SCG in 2008, where he finished not out on 154

TOUR GUIDE

2007/08 tour of Australia

In the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, 2007–08, Tendulkar showed exceptional form, becoming the leading run scorer with 493 runs in four Tests, despite consistently failing in the second innings. Sachin scored 62 runs in the first innings of the first Test at the MCG in Melbourne, but couldn't prevent a heavy 337-run win for Australia. In the controversial New Years Test at Sydney, Tendulkar scored an unbeaten 154 as India lost the Test. This was his third century at the SCG, earning him an average of 221.33 at the ground. In the third Test at the WACA in Perth, Sachin was instrumental in India's first innings score of 330, scoring a well compiled 71, as India went on to record a historic triumph at the WACA. In the fourth Test at Adelaide, which ended in a draw, he scored 153 in the first innings, involving in a crucial 126 run stand with V.V.S. Laxman for the fifth wicket to lead India to a score of 282 for 5 from 156 for 4. He secured the Player of the Match award.

In the One-Day International Commonwealth Bank Tri-Series involving Sri Lanka and Australia, Tendulkar became the first and only batsman to complete 16,000 runs in ODIs. He achieved this feat against Sri Lanka on 5 February 2008 at Brisbane. He started the CB series well notching up scores of 10, 35, 44 and 32, but could not convert the starts into bigger scores. His form dipped a bit in the middle of the tournament, but Tendulkar came back strongly in India's must-win game against Sri Lanka at Hobart, scoring 63 off 54 balls. He finished the series with a match winning 117 not out off 120 balls in the first final,and 91 runs in the second final.

Home series against South Africa

South Africa toured in March and April 2008 for a three-Test series. Tendulkar scored a five-ball duck in his only innings of the series; he sustained a groin strain in the match and as a result was forced not only to miss the second and third Tests, but also the tri-series involving Bangladesh, the 2008 Asia Cup, and the first half of the inaugural season of the IPL.

Sri Lanka Series

Before the three-Test series in Sri Lanka in mid-2008, Tendulkar needed just 177 runs to go past Brian Lara's record of 11,953 runs in test cricket. However, he failed in all six innings, scoring a total of just 95 runs. India lost 1–2.

Return to form and breaking the record

In the following ODI series against Sri Lanka, Tendulkar was sidelined due to injury. However, during the following Australia tour of India, he returned to fitness and form, scoring 13 and 49 in the first test before making 88 in the first innings of the second test, thus breaking the record for most number of Test runs held by Brian Lara. He also reached the 12,000 run mark when he was on 61. He made a fifty in the third test and 109 in the fourth, as India won the series 2–0 and regained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

ODI and Test Series against England

Tendulkar was again out due to injury from the first three ODIs of a 7-match ODI series at home against England, but he made 11 in the fourth ODI and 50 in the fifth, before the ODI series was called off due to the Mumbai terror attacks, the scoreline being 5–0 to India.

England returned for a 2-match test series in December 2008, and in the first test in Chennai, chasing 387 for victory, Tendulkar made 103 not out in a 163-run unbroken fifth wicket stand with Yuvraj Singh. This was his third century in a fourth match innings, and the first which resulted in a win. This was redemption for the Chennai Test of 1999 when chasing 271 against Pakistan, Sachin had made 136 with severe back pain and was out 17 runs short of the target, precipitating a collapse and a loss by 12 runs. He dedicated this century to the victims of the Mumbai terror attacks. Tendulkar failed in both innings in the second test, India won the series 1–0.

2009–2010

In early 2009, India revisited Sri Lanka for five ODIs, as the Pakistan series had been cancelled due to the security situation in Pakistan and the attacks in Mumbai. Tendulkar failed to reach double figures in any inning, before becoming injured.

India's next assignment was an away series against New Zealand, consisting of three Tests and five ODIs. In the ODI series, Tendulkar made a 163 not out in the third match, an innings ended by stomach cramps that forced him to retire hurt. India made 392 and won easily and won the series 3-1. Tendulkar made 160 in the first test, his 42nd Test century, and India won. He made 49 and 64 in the second test and 62 and 9 in the third, in which India were prevented from winning by rain on the last day. India won the series 1–0.

Tendulkar rested himself for the ODI tour of West Indies, but was back for the Compaq Cup (Tri Series) between India, SL and New Zealand in early September 2009. He made 46 and 27 in the league matches before notching up 138 in the final, as India made 319 and won by 46 runs. This was Tendulkar's 6th century in ODI finals and his third consecutive score of over 50 in such finals. India has won all six times that Tendulkar has made a hundred in an ODI final.

Tendulkar played just one innings in the ICC Champions trophy in South Africa, scoring 8 againstPakistan as India lost. The next match against Australia was washed out and he was out with food poisoning in the third match against the West Indies, as India were eliminated.

Australia returned for a seven-match ODI series in India in October, and Tendulkar made 14, 4, 32 and 40 in the first four games. In the fifth match, with the series tied at 2–2, Australia amassed 350/4 in 50 overs. Tendulkar made his 45th ODI hundred, a 175 off 141 balls. Just when it seemed that he would steer India to the large victory target, he paddle-scooped debutant bowler Clint McKay straight to short fine leg, with India needing 19 from 18 balls with four wickets left. The Indian tail collapsed, and they lost by 3 runs, being all out for 347. During this match, Tendulkar also became the first player to reach 17,000 ODI runs, and achieved his personal best against Australia, as well as the third highest score in a defeat.

In the ODIs against Sri Lanka in 2009–10, Tendulkar scored 69, 43, 96 not out and 8, as India won 3–1.In the Test Series, he scored a 100 no out in the first test, which was drawn, and 40 in the second and 53 in the third test as India clinched innings victory in both tests. India won the series 2–0.

Sachin rested himself for the ODI tri series in Bangladesh in 2010. In the Tests againstBangladesh, he made 105 not out and 16 in the first test, and 143 in the second. India won 2–0.

In the 2-Test Series against South Africa, Tendulkar made seven and 100 in the first test and 106 in the first innings of the second test. In the course of the second 100 (his 47th Test Hundred) he achieved several landmarks, in that he had scored four hundreds in his last four matches and that the hundred against South Africa in the first Test was the first at home against South Africa.

The century was also his hundredth score over 50 in International Test cricket, moving him to 92 international hundreds (Tests and ODIs combined). In the subsequent ODI series, Tendulkar was run out in the first ODI for four runs, but made a strong comeback in the second match, scoring a brisk hundred off just 90 balls. This also took his tally of hundreds to 46 in ODIs and 93 in tests and ODIs combined. He finished the match on 200*, thus becoming the first batsman in the history of ODI cricket to score a double century, eclipsing Saeed Anwar's 194 against India and Charles Coventry's 194* versus Bangladesh.

2011 World Cup

From February to April, Bangladesh, India, and Sri Lanka hosted the 2011 World Cup. Amassing 482 runs at an average of 53.55 including two centuries, Tendulkar was India's lead run-scorer for the tournament; only Tillakaratne Dilshan of Sri Lanka scored more runs in the 2011 tournament.^[ India defeated Sri Lanka in the final.^[ Shortly after the victory, Tendulkar commented that "Winning the World Cup is the proudest moment of my life. ... I couldn't control my tears of joy.

Sachin Tendulkars List of records

1. Sachin Sachin Tendulkar (Little Master) is the Highest Run scorer in the One day Internationals

2. Sachin Tendulkar is the Highest Run scorer in the Test Cricket

Sachin Tendulkar, Kapil, Azharuddin

3. Most number of hundreds in the ODI 46

4. Most number of hundreds in the Tests 47

5. Most number of nineties in the ODI

6. Most number of man of the matches in the ODI's -61

7. Most number of man of the series(15) in ODI's

8. Best average for man of the matches in ODI's

9. First Cricketer to pass 10000 run in the ODI

10. First Cricketer to pass 15000, 16000, 17000 run in the ODI

11. He is the highest run scorer in the world cup (1,796 at an average of 59.87 as on 20 March 2007)

12. Most number of the man of the matches in the world cup

13. Most number of runs 1996 world cup 523 runs in the 1996 Cricket World Cup at an average of 87.16

14. Most number of runs in the 2003 world cup 673 runs in 2003 Cricket World Cup, highest by any player in a single Cricket World Cup

15. Man of the Tournament in the 2003 Cricket World Cup.

16. Most number of Fifties in ODI's

17. He is the only player to be in top 10 ICC ranking for 10 years. 18. He is one of the three batsmen to surpass 11,000 runs in Test cricket, and the first Indian to do so.

19. First and only cricketer to get Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna. India's highest sporting honor

20. In 2003, Wisden rated Sachin Tendulkar (Little Master) as d No. 1 and Richards at No. 2 in all time Greatest ODI player

21. In 2002, Wisden rated him as the second greatest Test batsman after Sir Donald Bradman.

22. he was involved in unbroken 664-run partnership in a Harris Shield game in 1988 with friend and team mate Vinod Kambli.

23. Sachin Tendulkar (Little Master) is the only player to score a century in all three of his Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy and Irani Trophy debuts

24. In 1992, at the age of 19, Sachin Tendulkar (Little Master) became the first overseas born player to represent Yorkshire

25. Sachin Tendulkar has been granted the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Arjuna Award and Padma vibhushan by Indian government. He is the only Indian cricketer to get all of them. And the only cricketer to receive Padma vibhushan.

26. Sachin Tendulkar has scored over 1000 runs in a calendar year in ODI's 8 times

27. Sachin Tendulkar has scored 1894 runs in calendar year in ODI's most by any batsman

28.First batsman in the history who was given out through third umpire.

29. He has the least percentage of the man of the matches awards won when team looses a match. Out of his 61 man of the match awards only 7 times India has lost.

30. Sachin Tendulkar most number man of match awards against Australia

31. Sachin Tendulkar was the first batsman in history to score over 50 centuries in international cricket

32. Sachin Tendulkar was the first batsman in history to score over 75 centuries in international cricket: 93 centuries

33. Has the most overall runs in cricket, (ODIs+Tests+Twenty20s), as of 30 June 2007 he had accumulated almost 26,000 runs overall.

34. Sachin Tendulkar with Sourav Ganguly hold the world record for the maximum number of runs scored by the opening partnership. They have put together 6,271 runs in 128 matches

35. The 20 century partnerships for opening pair with Sourav Ganguly is a world record

36. Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid hold the world record for the highest partnership in ODI matches when they scored 331 runs against New Zealand in 1999 (Sachin 186*, Dravid 153)

37. Sachin Tendulkar has been involved in six 200 run partnerships in ODI matches ' a record that he shares with Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid

38. Most Centuries in a calendar year: 9 ODI centuries in 1998

39. Only player to have over 100 innings of 50+ runs (41 Centuries and 87 Fifties)(as of 18th Nov, 2007)

40. the only player ever to cross the 13,000-14,000 ' 15, 000and 16,000 run marks IN ODI.

41. He hit the fastest double century in any international match

42. Maximum number of 150 plus scores in ODIs

43. Sachin Tendulkar has scored over 1000 ODI runs against all major Cricketing nations.

44. Sachin was the fastest to reach 10,000 runs taking 259 innings and has the highest batting average among batsmen with over 10,000 ODI runs

45. Most number of Stadium Appearances: 90 different Grounds

46. Consecutive ODI Appearances: 185

47. On his debut, Sachin Tendulkar was the second youngest debutant in the world

48. When Sachin Tendulkar scored his maiden century in 1990, he was the second youngest to score a century.

Sachin Dhoni

49. Sachin Tendulkar 's record of five test centuries before he turned 20 is a current world record

50. Sachin Tendulkar (Little Master) holds the current record (217 against NZ in 1999/00 Season) for the highest score in Test cricket by an Indian when captaining the side

51. Sachin Tendulkar (Little Master) has scored centuries against all test playing nations. He was the third batman to achieve the distinction after Steve Waugh and Gary Kirsten

52. Sachin Tendulkar (Little Master) has 4 seasons in test cricket with 1000 or more runs ' 2002 (1392 runs), 1999 (1088 runs), 2001 (1003 runs) and 1997 (1000 runs).[6] Gavaskar is the only other Indian with four seasons of 1000+ runs

53. He is second most number of seasons with over 1000 runs in world.

54. On 3 January 2007 Sachin Tendulkar (5751) edged past Brian Lara's (5736) world record of runs scored in Tests away from home

55. Tendulkar and Brian Lara are the fastest to score 10,000 runs in Test cricket history. Both of them achieved this in 195 innings

56. Second Indian after Sunil Gavaskar to make over 10,000 runs in Test matches

57. Became the first Indian to surpass the 11,000 Test run mark and the third International player behind Allan Border and Brian Lara.

58. Sachin Tendulkar (Little Master) is fourth on the list of players with most Test caps. Steve Waugh (168 Tests), Allan Border (158 Tests), have appeared in more games than Sachin Tendulkar (Little Master).

Sachin Tendulkar World Cup 2011

59. Sachin Tendulkar (Little Master) has played the most number of Test Matches for India (Kapil Dev is second with 131 Test appearances).

60. First to 25,000 international runs

61. Sachin Tendulkar (Little Master)'s 25,000+ runs in international cricket include 17000+ runs in ODI's, 13,000+ Tests runs and 10 runs in the lone Twenty20 that India has played.

62. On December 10, 2005, Sachin Tendulkar (Little Master) made his 35th century in Tests at Delhi against Sri Lanka. He surpassed Sunil Gavaskar's record of 34 centuries to become the man with the most number of hundreds in Test cricket.

63. Sachin Tendulkar (Little Master) is the only player who has 150 wkts and more than 15000 runs in ODI

64. Sachin Tendulkar (Little Master) is the only player who has 40 wkts and more than 11000 runs in Tests

65. Sachin hit the first double century in the 40 year history of one day internationals

66. Maximum number of boundaries in a single innings

67. Sachin Tendulkar make Highest individual score by a single player ' 200*

68. Record number of matches played ' 442 matches

69. Sachin Tendulkar First player to play a record 400 innings.