Career Graph

Age 29: Tendulkar is king of all the surveys.

During the ICC KnockOut in Nairobi he overcame Mohd. Azharuddin's record aggregate of 9372 in ODIs. Before the season was out, he had broken through the 10,000 run barrier; a delicate push to long off from the bowling of Shane Warne at Indore heralding the stunning achievement.


On the Test front, his second double hundred arrived against Zimbabwae at Nagpur but the biggest challenge came soon after when Steve Waugh's men landed in India on their mission to conquer the Final Frontier. Tendulkar was only third in the batting averages but his fourth century in five Tests at Chepauk helped India deliver the killer punch in the decider.

Age 26: Roller-coaster year for Sachin.

Tendulkar flew back home during the World Cup in England after hearing of the death of his father. He missed the game against Zimbabwe which India contrived to lose but on his return, put his grief behind to smash an unbeaten 140 against Kenya. Although he otherwise had a patchy tournament, Tendulkar went on to become only the third batsman to cross 1000 runs in World Cup cricket.

In July, he was reappointed captain of the Indian team replacing Mohd. Azharuddin. The news came as a bolt from the blue to Tendulkar. He admitted that he was not mentally prepared for the job since it was the usual practise for the vice-captain (then Ajay Jadeja) to step into the skipper's shoes.

Later in the season in October Tendulkar overcame a psychological barrier by scoring his first Test double hundred (217) against New Zealand at Ahmedabad. It was a long time due, coming as it did in his 71st match, and after 20 previous centuries. After the innings his Test average rocketed above 57 for the first time in his career. In the one-day series that followed he pillaged an unbeaten 186 off 150 balls at Hyderabad, an Indian record and only eight runs adrift of the world record held by Saeed Anwar.

After the disastrous tour of Australia, Tendulkar announced on February 20 that he was owning moral responsibility for the debacle and resigning as captain after the two Test series against South Africa. He turned down the captaincy of Mumbai as well, preferring to play under the captaincy of Sameer Dighe in the Ranji Trophy. An unbeaten 233 in the semifinals against Tamil Nadu singlehandedly led Mumbai into the Ranji Trophy final which they won after a gap of three years.

Age 25: Sachin Tendulkar takes the world by storm.

Starts the series with an important personal milestone, scoring a double hundred for Mumbai against the touring Australians. Decimates the Australians in the test series in India. Loses the initiative to Shane Warne in the first innings of the first test at Chennai and is dismissed for 4.

As if to wipe out that blemish, Sachin rips into Warne in the second innings right from the first ball. Thrashing him to all parts of the ground, Sachin notched up a chanceless 155. In the second test an allround Indian batting performance bolstered by 79 Tendulkar runs set up a comfortable victory for India. The third test saw Sachin get close to scoring a double hundred with an effort of 177. Missing the landmark by a mere 23 runs, Sachin looked good for a double hundred and more, when he was dismissed. His domination of the Aussie bowlers was so complete, being especially severe on their trump card Shane Warne. This was Tendulkar's series. Man of the series, without much doubt!

Continues to bludgeon the Australian bowling in Sharjah, making 80 off 72 balls. The next time he faced Australia, Sachin smashed 143 off 131 balls including 9 fours and 5 sixes. But the best was reserved for the finals. Scoring 134 off 131 balls including 12 fours and 3 sixes. Notching up back to back hundreds when it mattered the most Sachin was once again the unanimous choice for player of the series.

On to Dhaka for the Wills International Cup. And the Tendulkar run machine rolls on. Again going at the Australians with aggression, Sachin puts them out of the Quarter Finals with a blistering 144, and captures four Australian wickets as well! Makes all the bowling look mediocre. Passes Desmond Haynes record of most centuries in one day internationals. Breaks his own record of scoring the maximum number of runs in a single season.

Scores a fighting, even restrained, hundred against the pumped up Pakistanis. Playing well within himself, despite a bad back, Sachin was the lone strength in an otherwise crumbling Indian batting line up. Unfortunately a lost cause where Sachin played an innings of character and still ended up on the losing side. With his back injury aggravated he missed out on the triangular one day series at home and in Sharjah.

Age 23: Sachin dominates the 1996 World Cup.

Had a phenomenal run in the World Cup scoring two hundreds and amassing the highest runs in the tournament. His valiant efforts in Mumbai (v Australia) , Delhi (v Sri Lanka) and in the semi final at (Calcutta) again v Sri Lanka were all in vain as India lost. Took over the captaincy from Mohammad Azharuddin and led the team to South Africa. Completely outclassed by the South Africans india had but a few highlights in an otherwise dismal tour. Even the blistering 222 run partnership between Tendulkar and Azharuddin at Capetown, rescuing India from the depths of 58/5 didn't go very far in saving face.. He also played a key role in the Standard Bank triangular ODI series where India lost in a closely fought final to South Africa. Sachin led the Indian team to the West Indies. The Indian team however continued to have mixed results and Azhar was reinstated in 1998.

Age 21: Sachin Tendulkar, opening batsman is discovered.

Pushed up the order to open the innings in One Dayers Sachin decimates the Kiwis at Eden Park with a blistering 82 off 49 deliveries. This opened a new era in Indian Cricket with Sachin established as a power opener.

Age 19: Stood tall among the ruins in India's tour of Australia in 1992.

He became the youngest player to score a century on Australian soil with a mammoth 148 at Sydney. He followed up his Sydney performance with a century in Perth, that he rates as his best. He became the first overseas player to represent Yorkshire. Expectations were high and he scored 1000 runs at an average of 46.00 but was not satisfied. " I never got going. Perhaps there was more pressure than I'd first thought. I received a fabulous reception each time I came out to bat and I respect the people of Yorkshire for that. The guys in the dressing room were fantastic, the whole thing was good for my learning curve and I would play county cricket again if asked, but only if it did not encroach on the Indian itinerary."

Age 17: Toured England for the first time.

Scored a match saving 119 and became the second youngest player to score a test century. Won the Man of the match award for his efforts. Finished off the series with an average of 61.25

Age 16: Plays first One Dayer for Bombay, scores 103 not out.

First selected to play for India against Pakistan in Pakistan. Established his credentials with a fighting half century against a menacing Pakistani attack comprising Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis,Aaqib Javed and Imran Khan. This made him the youngest person to score a half century in test cricket. Toured New Zealand, made 88 in the 2nd test at Napier in 1989-90 narrowly missing becoming the youngest player to score a test hundred.

Age 15: First class debut for Bombay.

Began with a bang, scoring 100 not out. Only one man in the long, glorious history of Indian cricket has made a hundred on debut in all three of the domestic competitions, the Ranji Trophy, the Duleep Trophy and the Irani Trophy. Not surprisingly, that man is Sachin Tendulkar.

Age 14: Invited by Dilip Vengsarkar to the nets.

Not with Bombay, but with India. At the time,Tendulkar had the sort of average in schools cricket that made people more than sit up and take notice. The average : 1034

Age 13: Scores first century in school's first XI grade.

Sachin played five innings in Schools cricket : 27 not out, 125, 207 not out, 346 not out and of course the famous 329 not out in the finals where he shared an unbroken partnership of 664 with childhood friend and future India team mate Vinod Kambli. Having done his bit with the bat Sachin decided to use himself as an opening bowler. One sharp bouncer and slippery yorker later, the opening batsman was back in the pavilion. That signalled Sachin's approach to the game.