Cricket: 34th century seals Sachin legend

NEW DELHI - It was the most important single of Sachin Tendulkar's life.

He would have preferred to get it against a bowler of Australian paceman Glenn McGrath's class, but the scampered run off Tapash Baisya in Dhaka yesterday firmly cemented Tendulkar's place as one of the best players in cricket history.

By equalling Sunil Gavaskar's world record of 34 test centuries in the first test against Bangladesh, he proved right all the pundits who predicted big things when he made his debut as a curly-haired 16-year-old in 1989-90.

"It's great to have some company at the top," Gavaskar said during commentary on the ESPN sports channel soon after Tendulkar reached the milestone in his 119th test. Gavaskar played 125 matches.

Years of hard work have gone into the making of Sachin Tendulkar.

From climbing mango trees and playing table tennis for six hours at a time to when he rode a scooter to bat at No 3 in one match and No 6 in another, Tendulkar has had his days meticulously planned.

In fact, it was after he was caught climbing trees once too often that his brother, Ajit, took him to the field and told him to play cricket to keep away from mischief.

He was a quick learner under the guidance of coach Ramakant Archrekar and reached one milestone after another in school cricket, once scoring 326 not out as he put on 664 with Vinod Kambli, also a future Indian test player.

Tendulkar distinguished himself in his debut series with some dogged knocks against Pakistan firebrand Waqar Younis at his fastest, went on to score his first test hundred against England at Old Trafford the next year and has never looked back.

The father of two has now scored more than 9700 test runs at an average of over 56 and features in almost everyone's Dream XI. The soft-spoken Tendulkar, also regarded as the best one-day player ever, is conscious of his place in cricket history.

Sir Don Bradman, watching him in full flow a few years ago, remarked that Tendulkar's style was similar to his own - a great compliment that Tendulkar is known to cherish.

He has, however, become more conservative in his shot selection in recent years, cutting down on the uninhibited strokeplay that marked his early career.

Some observers feel his magic, which was not only about how many runs he scored but how he scored them, is waning.

Tendulkar agrees his batting has changed. He has abandoned his booming drives and vicious pull shots, relying on flicks and deft touches. He is content with milking the bowling rather than pulverising it. He says it is a sign of maturity. His fans say the new approach is simply not Tendulkar.

But the biggest problem has been a spate of wear-and-tear injuries in his back, toe, finger, ankle and elbow.

Despite all the problems and recent criticism, Tendulkar has a test average of 85 this year, the best for any Indian.

Observers may have a point when they say Tendulkar is no longer as dominant as he was, but numbers show he still has a lot left in him.

Test centurymakers

34 Sachin Tendulkar (India) 119 tests

34 Sunil Gavaskar (India) 125

32 Steve Waugh (Australia) 168

29 Don Bradman (Australia) 52

27 Allan Border (Australia) 156

26 Garfield Sobers (West Indies) 93

26 Brian Lara (West Indies) 112

24 Greg Chappell (Australia) 87

24 Vivian Richards (West Indies) 121

23 Javed Miandad (Pakistan) 124

- REUTERS