Tendulkar, the entertainer par excellence

By the time Sachin Tendulkar made his debut in one-day internationals in 1989, the format had been in existence for 19 years, but it would not be an exaggeration to say that the little dynamo provided the impetus for the tremendous growth of the format.

Tendulkar redefined the rules of the shorter version and took it to new frontiers, setting milestones at every conceivable distance in the 20 years he has been around. He has been an inspiration for generations of players to follow.

The popularity of ODIs soared in the subcontinent when Tendulkar was at his peak. And in India, Tendulkar acquired the status of a demigod. Each time he walked down holding his bat, the nation of a billion waited in anticipation. The colour of the clothing fades and the bright stadium floodlights get hazy with Tendulkar's electrifying presence out in the middle. And the administrators of the game went to the banks laughing every time Tendulkar played in an ODI.

The 45 centuries that he has cracked in 436 ODIs came in a torrent once he got his first hundred five years and 79 matches after his debut, against Australia. Remarkably, 32 of his hundreds carried India to victory.

He was also the first player to score 10,000 runs in the ODIs, and after that every 1,000 he added was part of history, surpassing his own record.

He is the only player to post nine centuries in a calendar year in 1998 and also the only batsman to amass 1,000 runs in a calendar year seven times. No other batsman has contributed to as many runs as he did for a winning cause -- 10360 (ave.56.92) in 217 matches.

Besides, he has the most man of the match (60) and most man of the series awards (14).

Tendulkar's stats in ODIs as on Nov 15, 2009:

M I N.O. Runs H.S. Ave. 100 50

Total: 436 425 39 17178 186* 44.50 45 91

Home 150 146 13 6102 186* 45.87 17 34

Away 140 139 10 4873 163* 37.77 11 24

Neutral 146 140 16 6203 152 50.02 17 33

As Captain 73 70 5 2454 186* 37.75 6 12

Not as Captain 363 355 34 14724 175 45.86 39 79

For a winning cause 217 214 32 10360 186* 56.92 32 54

For a losing cause 192 192 2 6269 175 32.99 12 35

No Result games 24 16 5 518 105* 47.09 1 2

Tied games 3 3 - 31 24 10.33 - -

World Cup 36 35 4 1796 152 57.93 4 13

Asia Cup 20 18 2 799 112* 49.93 1 6

ICC Champions Trophy 16 14 2 441 141 36.75 1 1

Tournament Finals 39 38 5 1833 138 55.54 6 10

1st position 47 2 1625 120 36.11 2 9

2nd position 266 19 12437 186* 50.35 39 61

No.3 10 1 92 31 10.22 - -

No.4 61 8 2059 140* 38.84 4 15

No.5 36 8 797 82* 28.46 - 5

No.6 4 1 148 57* 49.33 - 1

No.7 1 - 20 20 20.00 - -

Milestones:

1st Match: vs.Pakistan at Gujaranwala on Dec 18, 1989

100th Match: vs.New Zealand at Pune on Nov 24, 1995

200th Match: vs.Zimbabwe at Harare on Sep 30,1998

300th Match: vs.Sri Lanka at Colombo,RPS on Sep 30,2002

400th Match: vs. Australia at Baroda on Oct 11,2007

ODI - career highlights:

At 16 years 238 days, he was the youngest Indian player - vs. Pakistan at Gujaranwala on Dec 18, 1989.

Holds an Indian record for the longest career - 19 years and 325 days

Most consecutive matches - 185 between April 25, 1990 and April 24, 1998

Holds a world record for aggregating most runs - 17178 (ave.44.50)

Most matches (436) by an Indian

Most Innings (425) by an Indian

Most Centuries (45)

Most Fifties (91)

Most Nineties (17)

Holds a dubious distinction of being the only player to have been dismissed on 99 on three occasions.

Holds the record for aggregating most runs in a calendar year - 1894 (ave.65.31) in 34 matches.

Only player to post nine centuries in a calendar year (1998)

Only batsman to amass 1000 runs in a calendar year seven times.

Most runs for a winning cause - 10360 (ave.56.92) in 217 matches.

Most Man of the Match awards (60)

Most Man of the Series awards (14)

Only all-rounder to complete the triple of 15000 runs, 150 wickets and 100 catches.

Holds ODI partnership records for the second and third wickets - 331 (2nd) with Rahul Dravid vs. New Zealand at Hyderabad on 8.11.1999 and 237* (3rd) with Rahul Dravid vs. Kenya at Bristol on 23.5.1999.

Only player to hit nine centuries against one opponent - Australia

Only player to have aggregated 2000 runs or more against three nations - Australia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka

His run-aggregate of 3005 (ave.46.23) is a record by any player against Australia

His run-aggregate of 2749 (ave.44.33) is a record by any player against Sri Lanka

His 186 not out against New Zealand at Hyderabad on 8.11.1999 is a record for the highest individual innings for India

He is the only player to aggregate 500 runs in a single edition of the World Cup twice. His run-aggregate of 673 (ave.61.18) in 11 matches in 2002-03 is a World Cup record for one edition

His run-aggregate of 1796 (ave.57.94) in 36 matches is a World Cup record

Holds the record for taking the least number of matches from 10,000 to 13,000

Last updated on Nov 14^th, 2009 at 19:33 pm IST--IANS