Sachin Tendulkar (India)
Tuesday, December 24 2002 15:56 Hrs (IST)

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar needs no formal introduction to any cricket fan throughout the world. Be it Test cricket or One-day cricket, it has been hard to overlook the man's genius for the game and its intricacies. He already has the maximum number of centuries in One-day cricket and is on the verge of surpassing Gavaskar in maximum centuries in Test cricket. Indian cricket has perhaps never relied so heavily on one man in its history.

Sachin was blooded into the Indian team quite early. He played his first One-day game against Pakistan in 1989. His first World Cup game was in the 1992 Benson and Hedges World Cup against England in which he scored 35 runs and bowled a tidy spell of 10 overs for 37 runs. India however lost that game.

As Sachin matured so did his game and gradually the records in both versions of the game started tumbling. In the 20 World Cup matches that he has played he has scored a total of 874 runs at an average of 51.41. He has scored two centuries and six 50s. His highest World Cup score is 137 versus Sri Lanka in the 1996 Wills World Cup, but surprisingly India lost that game.

He has also been frequently asked to bowl when the batsmen are threatening to take the game away. He can bowl both leg spin and off spin without a discernible change in his bowling action. He has been effective in breaking many partnerships when India needed it the most. His best bowling figures are two for 34 versus Sri Lanka at Eden Gardens in the semi-final of the 1996 Wills World Cup and the match was awarded to Sri Lanka due to crowd trouble.

He is expected to be the key performer for India along with Rahul Dravid in the 2003 World Cup in South Africa. Cricket fans wait with bated breath for this master blaster to enthral.

Compiled by Ramnath Bhat

Extras: