Sachin Ala Re... Dhoni TOO

Sachin Tendulkar and Mahendra Singh Dhoni thrill the crowds, on the field or off it. So when the people turned up in Pimpri-Chinchwad on Friday to felicitate the master blaster, who recently scored the highest Test runs and the captain-in-waiting Dhoni who, as the stand-in skipper, led India to victory over the Aussies in the Mohali Test, there was bound to be some fireworks.

Both were honoured with the traditional Maharashtrian pheta and a sword amid scenes of jubilation, as thousands turned up from every nook and corner of Pimpri-Chinchwad to give their heroes a standing ovation.

Tendulkar and Dhoni were in town for the inauguration of the Dilip Vengsarkar Cricket Academy set up in association with the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation at Thergaon.

There was one hitch though. The crowd was badly managed by the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) and the city police. Rather than managing the crowd, they played crazy fans.

Chaos reigned during the hour-long stay of the ace cricketers at the venue. The moment they arrived at the gates of the stadium, all hell broke loose. A stampede-like situation prevailed for minutes. Over 300 shutterbugs, both professionals and amateurs, went on a clicking spree blocking their entry into the stadium. Even as the two were being led on stage, the jostling lensmen and local fans tried to keep pace. Some tripped and some got hurt, others just fell down by the side and were left out.

The volunteers appointed to help the security made life miserable for mediapersons. It was perhaps sheer providence that the two cricketers escaped unscathed.

There was more tamasha on stage. Alongside speeches, the corporators, MLC, civic officers and local heavyweights present, many with their children in tow, vied with one another to get their pictures clicked with the Cricket stars. There was a melee as autograph hunters too got on stage. After the show, the scene was replicated on the ground where the two went out to toss for the inaugural match between Maharashtra XI and Mumbai XI.

Thankfully, both Tendulkar and Dhoni kept their cool, smiling and signing autographs without any fuss. In fact, Tendulkar, who has Z-plus security cover, reportedly asked his security staff to remain in the vehicle.

And when it was their turn to speak, the two didn't let the crowd down....




“Namaskar,” said Sachin as the crowd of youth waiting for him since early morning went delirious. “Mehanat kara, phal jaror milel. (work hard, it will yield fruit),” he said while thanking the residents for the honour bestowed on the two.

Tendulkar said he was sure the academy would produce outstanding cricketers. He didn’t utter a word on the comment made by Adam Ghilchrist regarding the monkeygate incident.

With the colourful pheta in place, Dhoni, the Jharkhand boy, hoped the “academy will not only produce Ranji trophy cricketers, but also Test cricketers.”


Municipal Commissioner Asheesh Sharma played down the chaos during the visit. “Such things do happen... But overall, the function was very good. I was sitting next to Sachin and he sounded very happy. He was enquiring about the city and how the academy will be developed.”...

Some remarkable achievements of his career

Some remarkable achievements of his career are:
* 4th highest tally of runs in test cricket (10,134) at an outstanding average of 57.25 (highest among those who have scored over 8,500 test runs) as of March 2005
* Most runs (over 13642) and centuries (38) in one-day internationals
* Only person to have scored over 11,000 ODI runs and over 25 ODI centuries as of April 28, 2005
* Highest ODI batting average among Indian batsmen and among all batsmen who have scored over 7,500 ODI runs (as of April 3, 2005)
* Most Number of Man of the Matches in one-day internationals
* Only player to have over 100 innings of 50+ runs in ODIs as of April 2005
* Most Number of Runs in World Cup Cricket History
* First cricketer to cross 10,000-run mark in ODIs
* Has equalled Sunil Gavaskar's record of 34 test centuries.
* Among those who have played over 100 test matches, he is the only one with a batting average above 55.
* Only second Indian to cross 10,000 runs in Test matches.
* He has the most centuries in ODI cricket against Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe.
* He is the fastest to score 10,000 runs in test cricket history. He holds this record along with Brian Lara. Both of them achieved this feat in 195 innings.
* To go with this he has 34 hundreds in Test cricket at an average of 57. An average above 50 distinguishes a batsman as an all time great.
* Highest individual score in ODIs among Indian batsmen (186* against New Zealand at Hyderabad in 1999)
*1994: Arjuna Award Receipient for achievements in Cricket
*1997: Tendulkar was one of the five cricketers selected as Wisden Cricketer of the Year
*1997/98: India's highest sporting honour - Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna
*1999: Padma Shri - India's civilian medal of recognition
*2008: Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian award.
*In August 2003, Sachin Tendulkar was voted as the "Greatest Sportsman" of the country in the sport
personalities category in the Best of India poll conducted by Zee News.
*In November 2006, Time magazine named Tendulkar as one of the Asian Heroes.
*In December 2006, he was named "Sports person of the Year"
The current India Poised campaign run by The Times of India has nominated him as the Face of New India next to the likes of
Amartya Sen and Mahatma Gandhi among others

Man of the series awards

Tendulkar has won a world record 14 ODI MoS awards over his 18 year career.

1 Singer Series (Australia, Sri Lanka) 1994 136 (4 Matches & 3 Innings, 1x100)

2 Wills World Series (West Indies, South Africa) 1994/95 285 Runs (5 Innings, 1x100, 2x50); 39-4-155-8; 1 Catch

3 West Indies in India ODI Tour 1994/95 246 Runs (5 Innings, 1x100, 2x50); 16-0-93-1; 1 Catch

4 Silver Jubliee Independence Cup (Bangladesh, Pakistan) 1997/98 258 Runs (5 Innings, 3x50); 23.3-0-148-5; 6 Catches

5 Coca-Cola Cup (Australia, New Zealand) 1997/98 435 Runs (5 Innings, 2x100, 1x50); 19-0-101-2

6 India in Zimbabwe ODI Tour 1998/99 158 Runs (3 Innings, 1x100); 6-0-41-0; 1 Catch

7 Coca-Cola Championship (Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka) 1998/99 274 Runs (5 Innings, 2x100); 14-0-51-2; 1 Catch

8 South Africa in India ODI Tour 1999/00 274 Runs (5 Innings, 1x100, 1x50); 49-1-219-6; 1 Catch

9 Coca-Cola Cup (West Indies, Zimbabwe) 2001 282 Runs (5 Innings, 1x100, 2x50); 4-0-25-0

10 England in India ODI Tour 2001/02 266 Runs (6 Innings, 2x50); 30.5-158-2; 3 Catches

11 2003 Cricket World Cup 2002/03 673 Runs (11 Innings, 1x100, 6x50); 18-0-77-2; 4 Catches

12 TVS Cup (Australia, New Zealand) 2003/04 466 Runs (7 Innings, 2x100, 2x50); 21-0-125-1

13 West Indies in India ODI Tour 2006/07 191 Runs (4 Innings, 1x100, 1x50); 23-0-112-4

14 Future Cup (vs South Africa at Belfast) 2007 200 Runs (3 Matches, 3 Innings, 2x50)

Man of the match award

Tendulkar has won a world record of 57 ODI Man of the Match Awards in his career
1 Sri Lanka Nehru Stadium, Pune 1990/91 53 (41b, 7x4, 1x6); 9-0-39-2; 2 Catches
2 West Indies Sharjah CA Stadium, Sharjah 1991/92 11* (27b, 1x4); 10-1-34-4
3 South Africa Eden Gardens, Kolkata 1991/92 62 (73b, 8x4, 1x6); 5-0-27-1
4 West Indies MCG, Melbourne 1991/92 57* (88b, 2x4); 10-1-38-0
5 Pakistan SCG, Sydney 1991/92 54* (62b, 3x4); 10-0-37-1
6 Zimbabwe Westpac Park, Hamilton 1991/92 81 (77b, 8x4, 1x6); 6-0-35-1
7 New Zealand Eden Park, Auckland 1993/94 82 (49b, 15x4, 2x6)
8 Australia Premadasa Stadium, Colombo 1994 110 (130b, 8x4, 2x6); 3-0-15-0
9 New Zealand IPCL Ground, Vadodara 1994/95 115 (136b, 9x4), 3-0-27-0
10 New Zealand Feroz Shah Kotla, New Delhi 1994/95 62 (54b, 13x4); 10-2-29-2
11 West Indies Eden Gardens, Kolkata 1994/95 66 (68b, 8x4); 8-2-35-1
12 Sri Lanka Sharjah CA Stadium, Sharjah 1994/95 112* (107b, 15x4, 1x6); 1 Catch
13 Kenya Barabati Stadium, Cuttack 1995/96 127* (138b, 15x4, 1x6); 5-0-26-0
14 West Indies Roop Singh Stadium, Gwalior 1995/96 70 (91b, 8x4)
15 Pakistan Sharjah CA Stadium, Sharjah 1995/96 118 (140b, 8x4, 2x6); 7.1-0-40-2
16 Pakistan Toronto CSC Club, Toronto 1996 89* (89b, 9x4, 3x6); 2-0-12-0; 1 Catch
17 Australia Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore 1996/97 88 (111b, 9x4); 8-0-45-1; 2 Catches
18 South Africa Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai 1996/97 114 (126b, 14x4)
19 Zimbabwe Willowmoore Park, Benoni 1996/97 104 (97b, 8x4, 1x6); 3-0-16-0
20 New Zealand Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore 1997 117 (137b,13x4, 2x6); 7-0-35-0
21 Pakistan Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka 1997/98 95 (78b, 6x4, 5x6); 7-0-45-3
22 Australia Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Kochi 1997/98 8 (11b, 1x4); 10-1-32-5
23 Australia Green Park Stadium, Kanpur 1997/98 100 (89b, 5x4, 7x6); 4-0-19-0
24 Australia Sharjah CA Stadium, Sharjah 1997/98 80 (72b, 9x4); 4-0-21-0
25 Australia Sharjah CA Stadium, Sharjah 1997/98 143 (131b, 9x4, 5x6); 5-0-27-1; 1 Run Out
26 Australia Sharjah CA Stadium, Sharjah 1997/98 134 (131b, 12x4, 3x6); 1-0-12-0
27 Kenya Eden Gardens, Kolkata 1998 100* (103b, 13x4); 1-0-4-0
28 Sri Lanka Premadasa Stadium, Colombo 1998 128 (131b, 8x4, 2x6); 1-0-13-0
29 Zimbabwe Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo 1998/99 127* (130b, 13x4, 1x6); 1 Catch
30 Australia Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka 1998/99 141 (128b, 13x4, 3x6); 9.1-0-38-4; 1 Catch
31 Zimbabwe Sharjah CA Stadium, Sharjah 1998/99 118 (112b, 14x4, 2x6); 1-0-4-0
32 Zimbabwe Sharjah CA Stadium, Sharjah 1998/99 124 (92b, 12x4, 6x6); 4-0-16-1; 1 Catch
33 Kenya County Cricket Ground, Bristol, Bristol 1999 140* (101b, 16x4, 3x6); 1-0-23-0
34 Zimbabwe Kallang Ground, Singapore 1999 85 (72b, 7x4, 3x6)
35 New Zealand LBS Stadium, Hyderabad 1999/00 186* (150b, 20x4, 3x6); 1 Catch
36 South Africa IPCL Ground, Vadodara 1999/00 122 (138b, 12x4); 9-1-43-0
37 Sri Lanka Sharjah CA Stadium, Sharjah 2000/01 101 (140b, 3x4, 1x6); 5-0-22-0
38 Australia Nehru Stadium, Indore 2000/01 139 (125b, 19x4); 1 Catch
39 Zimbabwe Harare Sports Club, Harare 2001 70 (70b, 13x4)
40 West Indies Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo 2001 81 (110b, 8x4); 2-0-14-0
41 West Indies Harare Sports Club, Harare 2001 122 (131b, 12x4, 1x6); 2-0-11-0
42 Kenya Boland Park, Paarl 2001/02 146 (132b, 17x4)
43 England MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai 2001/02 68 (79b, 10x4); 1-0-8-0; 1 Catch
44 West Indies Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain 2001/02 65 (70b, 3x4,1x6); 3-0-20-1
45 Sri Lanka County Cricket Ground, Bristol 2002 113 (102b, 12x4, 1x6)
46 Zimbabwe Harare Sports Club, Harare 2002/03 81 (91b, 10x4)
47 Namibia Pietermaritzburg Oval, Pietermaritzburg 2002/03 152 (151b, 18x4)
48 Pakistan Centurion Park, Centurion 2002/03 98 (75b, 12x4, 1x6)
49 Australia Roop Singh Stadium, Gwalior 2003/04 100 (119b, 9x4, 1x6); 6-0-39-1
50 Pakistan Pindi Club Ground, Rawalpindi 2003/04 141 (135b, 17x4, 1x6); 6-0-45-0
51 Bangladesh SSC Ground, Colombo 2004 82 (126b, 10x4, 1x6); 10-0-35-3
52 West Indies Kinrara Academy Oval, Kuala Lumpur 2006/07 141 (148b, 13x4, 5x6)
53 West Indies IPCL Ground, Vadodara 2006/07 100* (76b, 10x4, 1x6)
54 South Africa Belfast, Northern Ireland 2006/07 93 (106b, 13x4, 2x6)
55 England The Oval, England 2007/08 94 (81b, 16x4, 1x6)
56 Pakistan Gwalior, India 2007/08 97 (102b, 16x4)
57 Australia SCG, Australia 2007/08 117* (120b, 10x4)

Oz tour set up Sachin's magic show

SACHIN Tendulkar revealed his maiden tour of Australia 16 years ago had played a key role in shaping his brilliant career.

Centuries in Sydney (148 not out) and Perth (114) in that five-Test campaign of 1991-92 gave the man who is now Test cricket's leading run-scorer confidence to prosper in any conditions against any attack.

Tendulkar's coming of age in Australia came less than five months after he notched his maiden Test ton in England -- a match-saving and unbeaten 119 in Manchester.

"I think the first hundred will always be the important one," he said. "It was a special one because we kept ourselves alive in that series in England.

"The Australian tour immediately after in 1991-92 was extremely good for me because I had a good tour, scored a couple of hundreds at Sydney and at Perth, two different kind of surfaces.

"That gave me immense confidence. I felt I could tour anywhere in the world now and score runs. That was probably the turning point of my career, I would say."

Tendulkar's ton against a four-man battery of Craig McDermott, Merv Hughes, Mike Whitney and Paul Reiffel on a WACA Ground wicket which, in those days, was a haven for pace bowlers, remains one of the great innings played on Australian soil.

Only 19, Tendulkar cut, pulled and hooked Australia's quicks to all parts of the ground.

While he still is capable of the spectacular, Tendulkar isn't the force he once was and it's doubtful he would be able to craft such a knock now, aged 35.

He refuses to be specific about how long he would like to play, but the indications are he would like to play the 2011 World Cup to be held in across the subcontinent.

National selection chairman Kris Srikkanth said yesterday he believed Tendulkar could play for another two years, after he passed Brian Lara's run-scoring record on day one of the second Test against Australia.

Tendulkar holds the run-scoring records in Tests and one-day internationals.

Sachin becomes highest Test run-getter

The stifling suspense and the prolonged wait finally came to an end as Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar on Friday (October 17) emerged as the highest run-accumulator in Test cricket’s history, staking a legitimate claim as the best batsman cricket has known since Don Bradman, both aesthetically and statistically.

After his mission incomplete in Bangalore, Tendulkar redeemed himself in Mohali in his 152nd Test and West Indian legend Brian Lara was toppled from the highest Test run-accumulator’s pedestal. Test debutant Peter Siddle sent down the first ball of the post-tea session. Tendulkar glided it to third man for three runs to surpass Lara’s record of 11,953 runs and raise the bar even higher for posterity.

Relieved to have achieved the milestone that eluded him in Bangalore, an overwhelmed Tendulkar took the helmet off and looked upwards in a silent prayer and suddenly all the hostility surrounding the Indo-Australian Test series evaporated as Ricky Ponting and his men came to shake hands with him.

Sourav Ganguly walked down from the non-striker’s end, patting him on the achievement and firecrackers went off around the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in a pre-Diwali celebration to mark the golden moment in the history of Indian cricket.

Tendulkar arrived here with 11,939 runs against his name from 151 Tests, averaging 54.02 hitting 39 centuries in the process. His ODI record put together– he tops the run-accumulator’s chart there too with 16,361 runs — Tendulkar has scored more than 25,000 international runs with the help of a mind boggling (42+39) 81 centuries and 138 half-centuries.

And all those runs flowed from the blade of someone who, rather reluctantly, swapped leather-flinging with willow-wielding after a blunt Dennis Lillee told the 12-year-old aspiring fast bowler in a Chennai camp that he had no hopes as a pacer. Or probably the blame actually lies with Waqar Younis.

Tendulkar was hit on the mouth by Waqar in his debut Test series in Pakistan with dripping blood drenching the shirt of the cuddly teen with curly hair. Nineteen long years since the incident and bowlers around the world continue to bleed even to this day for a folly of one of their predecessors. Worse, the torment is far from over.

Almost as a matter of revenge, Tendulkar lorded over the bowlers since that 1989 series, eclipsing virtually every batting record and piling on mountain of runs and setting new benchmarks for batsmanship in the process.

Impeccable technique, perfect temperament and unflinching commitment to his craft have made Tendulkar a paragon of all batting virtues and his single-minded determination and an incredible ability to insulate himself from anything unwarranted have only added to his aura.

With no real chink in his batting armour, bowling to him is often a trauma for the bowlers, although Shane Warne preferred to call it nightmare. Equipped with every shot in the book and endowed with the flair to blend routine with recherché, Tendulkar grew in stature with ever game before eventually attaining cult status. Don Bradman anointed him as his heir and euphoric Indians fans deified him.

He did burn his fingers with captaincy before renouncing it but the aura and idolatry remained intact. Unlike others, his name is not debated in selection meetings. They just enquire about his fitness. Loudmouth opponents like Australia refrain from sledging him, not as a favour but out of fear as it often brings out the best in Tendulkar. Bowlers fancy his scalp and whenever hit for a boundary, considers it comeuppance.

For his legion of fans, Tendulkar has been nothing sort of a messiah. Every time he walked out in the middle and took guard, he was expected to excel, regardless of opposition, condition and everything else. And on most occasions, Tendulkar did just that and his cult grew.

His impeccable demeanour on and off the field and a childish love for the game have endeared Tendulkar to all, making him a genuine ambassador of the game. With this new feather added to his already well-decorated cap, Tendulkar is now in a league of his own.

List of world’s top Test cricket batsmen after Sachin Tendulkar broke Brian Lara’s record to become the leading run scorer today (Name, country, Tests, runs, centuries):

Sachin Tendulkar (IND) 152* 11,955 39
Brian Lara (WIS) 131 11,953 34
Allan Border (AUS) 156 11,174 27
Steve Waugh (AUS) 168 10,927 32
Rahul Dravid (IND) 127* 10,341 25
Ricky Ponting (AUS) 121* 10,239 36
Sunil Gavaskar (IND) 125 10,122 34.

Besides Tendulkar, only Rahul Dravid and Ricky Ponting are the active cricketers in the list while Brian Lara, Allan Border, Steve Waugh and Sunil Gavaskar have already retired.

The records of master blaster

Here are The records of our very own Master Blaster.

Such a great player to have in the team.

A Captain's Dream



1) Highest Run scorer in the ODI

2) Most number of hundreds in the ODI 42

3) Most number of nineties in the ODI

4) Most number of man of the matches(56) in the ODI's

5) Most number of man of the series(14) in ODI's

6) Best average for man of the matches in ODI's

7) First Cricketer to pass 10000 run in the ODI

8) First Cricketer to pass 15000 run in the ODI

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

10) Most number of the man of the matches in the world cup


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

12)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

13)He was Player of the World Cup Tournament in the 2003 Cricket World Cup.

14)Most number of Fifties in ODI's 89

15)Appeared in Most Number of ODI's 417

16)He is the only player to be in top 10 ICC ranking for 10 years.

17)Most number of 100's in test's 39

18)He is the only batsman to surpass 12,000 runs in Test cricket,

19)He is the first cricketer to receive the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, India's highest sporting honor

20)In 2003, Wisden rated Tendulkar 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)Tendulkar 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, Tendulkar became the first overseas born player to represent Yorkshire

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

26)Tendulkar has scored over 1000 runs in a calendar year in ODI's 7 times


27)He is the highest earning cricketer in the world

28)He has the least percentage of the man of the matches awards won when team looses a match. Out of his 56 man of the match awards only 5 times India has lost.

29)Tendulkar most number man of match awards(10) against Australia

30)Tendulkar has scored 1894 runs in calendar year in ODI's most by any batsman


31)In August of 2003, Sachin Tendulkar was voted as the "Greatest Sportsman" of the country in the sport personalities category in the Best of India poll conducted by Zee News.

32)In November 2006, Time magazine named Tendulkar as one of the Asian Heroes.

33)In December 2006, he was named "Sports person of the Year

34)The current India Poised campaign run by The Times of India has nominated him as the Face of New India next to the likes of Amartya Sen and Mahatma Gandhi among others.

35)Tendulkar was the first batsman in history to score over 50 centuries in international cricket

36)Tendulkar was the first batsman in history to score over 75 centuries in international cricket:79 centuries

37)Has the most overall runs in cricket, (ODIs+Tests+Twenty20s), as of 30 september 2008 he had accumulated over 26,000 runs overall.

38)Is first on the most number of runs in test cricket beating Brian Lara's record

39)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

40)The 20 century partnerships for opening pair with Sourav Ganguly is a world record


41)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

42)Sachin Tendulkar has been involved in six 200 run partnerships in ODI matches - a record that he shares with Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid

43)Most Centuries in a calendar year: 9 ODI centuries in 1998

44)Only player to have over 100 innings of 50+ runs (42 Centuries and 89 Fifties)(as of 18th Oct, 2008)

45)the only player ever to cross the 13,000-14,000,15000 and 16,000 run marks IN ODI.

46)Highest individual score among Indian batsmen (186* against New Zealand at Hyderabad in 1999).

47)The score of 186* is listed the fifth highest score recorded in ODI matches

48)Tendulkar has scored over 1000 ODI runs against all major Cricketing nations.

49)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

50)Most number of Stadium Appearances: 90 different Grounds

tendulkar becomes leading run scorer

It was about 15 minutes into Sachin Tendulkar's press conference. He had answered wide-ranging questions, not all pertaining to the match or his record. Before the next question came his way, the media coordinator asked him if he would like to continue. Tendulkar moved away from the mike, and although he could not be heard, it seemed he said something to the effect of "Why not?" The press conference continued for the next 11 minutes, way longer than the ones at the end of a day's play.

Tendulkar was in that kind of mood. He looked animated, spoke in three languages - English, Hindi and Marathi - and looked relieved and happy, and was subtly funny. He started off by admitting that although the record was not a big distraction, the anticipation around it did mean something. "During all the talk about the record, I concentrated on how to score runs for the team, but everybody I used to meet would talk about only one thing. Now that it is done, I know I wouldn't be asked the same question again and again."

On a personal level, he doesn't have a "what next" now? "I started as a 16-year-old, and there was no targets then," he said. "I just wanted to go enjoy every moment. That is what I like to continue with - not to think of too many things and complicate my game in the process.

"I have not played for records. I can't be running after every record [answering a query about breaking Brian Lara's 400]. I would be looking after what the team needs. The team obviously needs it. If it comes my way, I will take it. If it doesn't come, there will be no regrets."

Despite that attitude there must have been moments when he would have realised he could end up the leading run-getter in both Tests and ODIs. "As the career progresses, there is sub-consciousness mind starts thinking about it," he said. "You know that people start talking about it the records. That is how you are aware of all these things.

"There have been occasions that I didn't know how many runs I needed [to get to the record]. A couple of team-mates did not believe. I was willing to swear on anyone that I don't know. That is when they believed. The beauty is just to go out and play, and while doing that the records were meant to be broken and various milestones achieved."

What was he thinking when it happened? The steer towards the third-man boundary that got him past Brian Lara? "When I looked up, obviously I had two thoughts in my mind," he said. "One was I thanked the almighty and the second, I thanked my father. Today I miss him. He would definitely be a proud man, and I just thought of him."

Sourav Ganguly was a special partner to have when the record happened. He reminded Tendulkar of the fact that he was his partner when Tendulkar got his 35th century. "If you can remember that in the middle of all that ..."

He also dedicated the record to Ramakant Achrekar, his childhood coach, his family who have been by his side "whether or not he did well", and especially "my mother".

Almost in paternal manner, he subtly put his critics in their place. "I don't need to prove anything to anyone," he said. "I have been around for 19 years, and those 19 years I did not play cricket to prove anything to anyone, whether it was first year of my cricket or 10th, or 15th, or 19th.

"I'm not here to answer to what x, y and z is writing or saying about me. It is their opinions, and I don't take all those opinions seriously ... But sometimes I don't know how they can figure out what's going on in my mind when sometimes I myself can't figure that out."

That was the only time he sounded mildly sour, but only mildly. The talk eventually went back to the celebration when he got the record. "The duration [of the fireworks] was bit worrying." When a journalist informed him they had planned 11,954 crackers, he said, "Eventually I figured out it was 11,954 crackers or something like that."

Critics & Facts about Sachin

This is what we hear from most of SACHIN’S CRITICS

1.Selfish
2.Scoring Against weaker Oppostions
3.Failing in pressure situation

Little Info about this

1.Selfish

Well Records are meant to be broken and if Sachin is breaking them critics[haters more rightly] can’t digest them..One of the incidents people mention is regarding his 194 knock against pakistan..some said it was slow knock..agreed it was a slow knock by Sachin’s stature,but if it is compared wid one of the knock wid Dravid…this will not look as bad it seems..Tendulkar- 194 runs in multan with a strike rate of around 54 Dravid- 217 runs in oval with a strike rate of around 46

I m just taking one example to tell that Dravid’s natural game is to hold the one end and let the others to dominate..in multan Sachin changed his gears and holded one end and he let sehwag to dominate..played Rahul’s role in that innings. Now this is called team game.. but people call it slow batting and selfish… Sachin always said Team’s win is more important than personal landmark..He proved this statement in that very test by taking Moin Khan’s wicket off the last ball of the 3rd day..That Ball was beauty!!Wasn’t he happy at that moment??? Since Sachin is the most senior player of the team so he can’t throw his wicket just to prove critics that he is still a master blaster…[he is still scoring at brisk rate in onedays]..People forget his fast scroing Centuries against world class bowling

169 [201 balls] against South Africa in 1997 at Capetown
92 [120 balls] against West Indies in 1997 at Bridgetown
155 [191 balls] against Australia in 1998 at Chennai
79 [ 85 balls] against Australia in 1998 at Kolkata
100 in 123 balls against NewZealand in 1999 at Wellington[he scored 113
runs in that inning]
155 [183 balls] against South Africa in 2001 in Bloemfontein

There are many other breath taking innings in tests from 10dulkar.

But everyone please note this down..Sachin is the Only Batsman in Test Cricket who scored 3 Centuries wid a SIX

179 - 6 off Walsh[I remember it was a hook shot] against WestIndies in 1994 at Nagpur
124 - 6 off Min Patel[off spinner,straight down the ground] against England
in 1996 at Birmingham
113 - 6 off Wiseman[off spinner,straight down the ground] against Newzealnad in 1999 at Wellington

Critics says he plays for his records and centuries..Now just look to this..

One Day
Centuries- 39 [out of 39 centuries India Won 28 times and lost 10 times,1 century in a rain affected match ]
10 centuries gone in Vain..
Half Centuries- 72

now here is that intresting part

out of these 72 centuries Sachin got 28 scores of 80 and above in these 28 scores if we take out the innings in which he was not out [coz of over completed or target chased ] he was 5 times not out in such innings so now lets talk about remaining 23 innings Can u believe he has 10 scores of 90’s??? If these 90’s were converted in
100’s the stats looks likes this

Centuries-49 just one short of 50 ODI centuries… and look he missed another record for those who have so much fuss about playing for records.. getting out highest numbers of times in 90’s in ODI’s ..just coz he wanted to score for the team and not for the his personal records he got out 10 times in 90’s

Test
Centuries- 35 [12 in which India won,15 in dead tests,8 in lost tests ] lone warrior in tests which India lost
Half Centuries- 41

Intresting Part
12 scores of 80+
6 scores of 90’s convert them in 100s..he will pass 40 centuries in Test Cricket..sad for critics he played for team and thats why couldn’t converted these 90’s into 100’s

2.Scoring Against weaker Oppostions

This can happen in India only..People remembers 152 against Namibia and forgets 98 against Pakistan in WorldCup

People remembers 248 against Bangladesh and forgets his 7 centuries against World Champions Australia [4 in their own den]..Only one century against Bangladesh and share the honour of scoring test century against each test playing nation wid Dravid,Ponting and Garry Kristen…No one talk about other 3 batsman scored centuries against Bangladesh.. then why the fuss for Sachin??

Test
Australia - 7 Centuries [4 in Australia], 2 of them at the age of 18 in 1992
Bangladesh- 1 Century [Unfortunately his highest score in Test Cricket]
England- 6 Centuries [4 in England],
NewZealand- 3 Centuries [1 in NewZealand]
Pakistan- 2 Centuries [1 in Pakistan]
SouthAfrica- 3 Centuries [ all three in South Africa]
Srilanka- 7 Centuries [4 in Srilanka]
WestIndies- 3 Centuries [ 1 in WestIndies]
Zimbabwe- 3 Centuries [ none in Zimbabwe]

90+
96 against Srilanka at Banglore in 1994
92 against West Indies at Bridgetown in 1997
97 against South Africa at Mumbai in 2000
90 against England at Banglore in 2001
92 against England at Nottingham in 2002
94 against Pakistan at Mohali in 2005

Intresting Part
He scored runs in all parts of world..There are three types of wickets u generally found in Cricket..Fast and bouncy Pitches like in Australia,South- Africa,NewZealan d,WestIndies, Spin tracks in India,Srilanka, Pakistan, and seeming tracks like in England. Today people talk about Ricky Ponting…now check this out

Sachin’s and Ponting’s average at their own home soil is above 55 so nothing to discuss this here,but the real part starts now Sachin’s average in Australia 54.15 , 4 centuries Ponting’s average in India,12.28 , no centuries

Sachin’s average in England 71.60 , 4 centuries
Ponting’s average in England 42.63 , 3 centuries

I am taking records for these countries only bcoz.. rightnow,best fast bowlers are from Australia,best spinners are from India,Best Seamers from england[as there is no choice bcoz only england have such pitches] Anyone can take easily tell who played gud cricket against best attack on all kind of pitches…

One Day
Australia - 7 Centuries + 1 score of 90’s
Bangladesh- 0 Century
England- 1 Centuries + 1 score of 90’s
Kenya- 4 Centuries
Namibia- 1 Century
NewZealand 4 Centuries
Pakistan- 5 Centuries + 4 scores of 90’s
SouthAfrica- 3 Centuries + 1 score of 90’s
Srilanka- 7 Centuries + 3 score of 90’s
WestIndies- 2 Centuries
Zimbabwe- 5 Centuries

90+
90 against Australia in 1996 at Mumbai
91 against England in 1997 at Sharjah
95 against Pakistan in 1998 at Dhaka
93 against Pakistan in 2000 at Hobart
93 against SouthAfrica in 2000 at Nagpur
93 against Srilanka in 2000 at Dhaka
98 against Pakistan in 2003 at Centurion
97 against Srilanka in 2003 at Johannesburg
93 against Srilanka in 2005 at Nagpur
95 against Pakistan in 2006 at Lahore

Intresting Part
Only 5 Centuries against minnows like Kenya ,Namibia[non test playing nation]…and Kenya was the semi-finalist of the world cup’03 10 scores of above 90 against only test playing nations…now can anyone tell me how is he selfish?? 34 times he scored more than 80 and couldn’t reached 100..If he played for his records..he could easily scored 100’s all of those scores above 80’s …

3.Failing in pressure situation

ODI

Won Chasing Target
M R H AVG 100s 50s
Sachin- 101 4397 134 58.62 13 23
Dravid- 72 2124 109* 49.39 2 19
Ponting- 77 2670 124* 53.40 4 17

In Quater Finals
Sachin- 3 210 141 70.00 1 0
Dravid- 2 57 48 28.50 0 0
Ponting- 3 118 46 39.33 0 0

In Semi Finals
Sachin- 7 232 83 33.14 0 2
Dravid- 4 28 58 42.66 0 1
Ponting- 5 71 37 14.20 0 0

In Finals
Sachin - 36 1487 134 47.96 4 9
Dravid- 23 690 103* 34.50 1 3
Ponting- 33 1217 140* 45.07 2 6

All Finals
Sachin- 47 1954 141 46.52 5 11
Dravid- 30 943 103* 37.72 1 5
Ponting- 41 1406 140* 40.17 2 6

In Series Won
Sachin- 127 5548 186* 51.37 19 26
Dravid- 76 2645 153 42.66 2 22
Ponting- 177 7245 145 47.98 18 45

In Test
100’s in Tests India Won - 12
100’s in Tests India Lost - 8
100’s in Test Drawn - 15

Holds the record of maxium number of 100’s for loosing team…That means a lone warrior..Thats why once Indian Cricket Team was called as ONE MAN ARMY!!!!

More Intresting Part!!!!!!!!

Often said Sachin gets fail at crunch situation… Well 1st we must admit that when Sachin on the crease Win is sure…As soon Sachin gets out..the situation becomes crunchy!!! Sachin is out,now who will win match for us?? Dravid ?? or Sehwag?? or Yuvraj?? Or Ganguly?? No one sure who will win match for them…So bcoz of this thing Teams targets Sachin as the most precious wicket…

Nasser Hussain introduced Negative lines for Sachin Tendulkar to stop the flow of runs when he is on wicket!!! Local umpires also involved some times to help their team against Sachin Tendulkar,espeicall y Australians! Some incidents striking in my mind…I think Sachin is the player who got out maximum numbers of times bcoz of bad or wrong decision by Umpires..I m producing those incidents only which I remember,there may be many other too

1. 92 - out of a NO ball from Frankline Rose against West Indies in 1997 at Bridgetown.. Remember India lost the test just by 38 runs..U can just imagine how much that bad decision effected the result of the match!!!

2. 83 - Out of a NO ball again..[don’ t remember the bowler] last test in WestIndies in 1997.Draw Test.

3. 67- LBW off Crains..last test against NewZealand in 1999, was not out coz the ball pitched outside the legstump.Match Drawn

4. 61 - caught at forward shortleg,bowler Shane Warne.against Australia at Adelaide in 1999.. the ball touched the thigh pads and Umpire Darel Harper gave him out.. India were 107 for 4 when Ganguly joined Sachin and they put on 108 runs for the 5th wicket..

5. 0 - LBW bowler Macgrath..against Australia at Adelaide in 1999,same test, nothing more to say..Everyone remember that FOOLISH decision

6. 52 - LBW bowler Shane Warne,Umpire David Shepherd,against Australia at Melbourne in 1999, were chasing 356 as a target on the fourth day.

7. 45 - LBW bowler Macgrath,UmpireIan Robinson,against Australia at Sydney in 2000, the ball seemed to hit him too high and was going on leg stump, In that very over,Tendulkar had pulled a short one from Macgrath for two,and hooked the next two for boundaries,and a ball later punched the fast bowler back past him for the 3rd four of the over

8. 16 - caught behind off Waqar Younis,against Pakistan at Perth in 2000, it was must win situation for India to qualify in the final , scored 16 runs of 9 balls,hitted 3 fours in one over of Waqar Younis and 1 off Wasim Akram on the fastest pitch of the world,India were chasing 260 odd runs…

9. 0 - LBW bowler Gillespie,Umpire Bucknor,against Australia at Brisbane in 2003 funny thing is that the bowler not applead for the LBW… MR.Bucknor gave the decision of his own

10. 0 - caught behind off Lee,against Australia at Melbourne in 2003,ball touched the thigh pads and umpire given him out.

11. 54 - caught behind,Umpire Bucknor,against Pakistan at Kolkata in 2005, I think we all seen that decison, theball was not near to his pad,gloves,helmet, arm.. no where…

There may be so many other incident like this…Teams like Australia taking help from the umpires to stop Tendulkar… the 1999-2000 tour of Australia proves it..

THIS IS THE ANSWER TO ALL WHO HATE SACHIN TENDULKAR “GOD OF CRICKET”

HEY CRITICS is that ENOUGH OR STILL U WANT

And the last thing is that Sachin played 11 years [1989-2000] in the era where his own team mates involved in match fixing.. So despite of his brilliant knocks we failed to win the match just bcoz others not contirbuting. .Yuo can win ODI’s just wid ur own batting but u can’t win test matches wid one innings bcoz test played for 5 days its a 4 inning game..Still Tendulkar’s record in that era is Awesome.. and remember The awe of opponents was as great as that of crowds. But the finest compliment must be that bookmakers would not fix the odds - or a game - until Tendulkar was out.