BOY IN WONDER
Stories about his phenomenal talent and ability to play the best of strokes even before he turned 15 had already reached every cricket lover in the country, thanks to Mumbai's cricketing grapevine. So when he showed the typical teenage bravado while carting Pakistan leg-spinners Abdul Qadir and Mushtaq Ahmed in a 20-over friendly one-dayer in Peshawar and showed amazing power for a young boy while lofting the cricket ball, the world finally saw why Sachin Tendulkar was the most talked about 16-year-old in the world. While Peshawar saw the aggressive side of Tendulkar, the Test series saw his defensive side. His fifties in Faisalabad and Sialkot on greenish tracks were illustrative of his grit and temperament. That greatness was going to descend on him became obvious after he scored his maiden Test century in Old Trafford, Manchester, in what was a match-saving effort on a difficult fifth-day pitch.
CHARMING THE DON (1992)
Perhaps it was the first time the world saw what a punch off the back foot meant. On the bouncy pitches of Australia, he looked completely at ease and stroked wonderful centuries in Sydney and Perth. The time he got to play his strokes was the talk of the world. Seldom has an 18-year-old batted with such authority in alien conditions and that tour was the start of Tendulkar's love affair with the Australian bowling and pitches.
ONE-DAY SUPERSTAR (1994)
While he was a reasonably successful player in ODIs, he didn't quite get the big scores regularly as a result of batting too low in the line-up. An injury to Navjot Sidhu just before the second ODI in Auckland meant that Tendulkar went out to open and his 82 in 49 balls started another chapter. The field restrictions and his ability to clear the ball with ease, thanks to his incredible power and ability to pick up length early, meant that Tendulkar's address in the batting lineup in ODIs had permanently changed. The one stroke that regularly comes to mind is the pick up shot over mid-wicket where he cleared his front leg and used his wrists to send the ball to the fence.
PRESSURES OF CAPTAINCY (1996-1997)
After being named captain, he felt the pressure of carrying the team on his shoulders and cut out some of the strokes from his game. The strokes that went away were the lofted inside out shot over extra cover which he played regularly against the left-arm-spinners. He seldom stepped out to the spinners and that is why he often was perturbed by the left-arm-over spin angle.
GLORIOUS YEAR (1998)
The moment the captaincy was taken away from him, he got the freedom to play all the strokes again. Out came the lofted stroke, the slog sweep from the rough against Shane Warne, the lofted stroke over the bowler's head which he played almost entirely with the top hand. It was his most productive year in cricket. The free approach saw him slam four Test hundreds and nine ODI tons, earning him praise even from the great Don Bradman.
MILESTONES & HEARTBREAKS (1999-2007)
The most tumultuous phase of his career was also, in parts, the most enervating. A heartbreaking 136, played with an injured back against Pakistan in Chennai in a Test which India lost by 13 runs, was followed by another unremarkable stint as captain before he finally found himself part of a team with the talent and gumption to take on stronger opposition. As India blossomed under Sourav Ganguly, Sachin became the first player to score 10,000 runs in ODIs, sizzled in the 2003 World Cup only to see India lose in the final, overcame a career-threatening tennis elbow injury and scored a gritty 241* in Sydney in 2003-04. Also had a shoulder operation in 2006.
CONSISTENCY PERSONIFIED (2008-2012)
Refashioned himself into a less flamboyant but hugely consistent run-machine following India's disastrous 2007 World Cup sojourn and the exit of coach Greg Chappell. Scored an unbeaten, masterful 154 in Sydney, his first century in more than two years and 19 Tests against opposition other Bangladesh. Followed it up by his first ODI century in Australia in the CB Series before breaking Brian Lara's record of most Test runs in Mohali, all in 2008. Scored the first ODI double century in 2010 before realizing his dream of being part of a World Cup-winning squad in 2011.
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Stories about his phenomenal talent and ability to play the best of strokes even before he turned 15 had already reached every cricket lover in the country, thanks to Mumbai's cricketing grapevine. So when he showed the typical teenage bravado while carting Pakistan leg-spinners Abdul Qadir and Mushtaq Ahmed in a 20-over friendly one-dayer in Peshawar and showed amazing power for a young boy while lofting the cricket ball, the world finally saw why Sachin Tendulkar was the most talked about 16-year-old in the world. While Peshawar saw the aggressive side of Tendulkar, the Test series saw his defensive side. His fifties in Faisalabad and Sialkot on greenish tracks were illustrative of his grit and temperament. That greatness was going to descend on him became obvious after he scored his maiden Test century in Old Trafford, Manchester, in what was a match-saving effort on a difficult fifth-day pitch.
CHARMING THE DON (1992)
Perhaps it was the first time the world saw what a punch off the back foot meant. On the bouncy pitches of Australia, he looked completely at ease and stroked wonderful centuries in Sydney and Perth. The time he got to play his strokes was the talk of the world. Seldom has an 18-year-old batted with such authority in alien conditions and that tour was the start of Tendulkar's love affair with the Australian bowling and pitches.
ONE-DAY SUPERSTAR (1994)
While he was a reasonably successful player in ODIs, he didn't quite get the big scores regularly as a result of batting too low in the line-up. An injury to Navjot Sidhu just before the second ODI in Auckland meant that Tendulkar went out to open and his 82 in 49 balls started another chapter. The field restrictions and his ability to clear the ball with ease, thanks to his incredible power and ability to pick up length early, meant that Tendulkar's address in the batting lineup in ODIs had permanently changed. The one stroke that regularly comes to mind is the pick up shot over mid-wicket where he cleared his front leg and used his wrists to send the ball to the fence.
PRESSURES OF CAPTAINCY (1996-1997)
After being named captain, he felt the pressure of carrying the team on his shoulders and cut out some of the strokes from his game. The strokes that went away were the lofted inside out shot over extra cover which he played regularly against the left-arm-spinners. He seldom stepped out to the spinners and that is why he often was perturbed by the left-arm-over spin angle.
GLORIOUS YEAR (1998)
The moment the captaincy was taken away from him, he got the freedom to play all the strokes again. Out came the lofted stroke, the slog sweep from the rough against Shane Warne, the lofted stroke over the bowler's head which he played almost entirely with the top hand. It was his most productive year in cricket. The free approach saw him slam four Test hundreds and nine ODI tons, earning him praise even from the great Don Bradman.
MILESTONES & HEARTBREAKS (1999-2007)
The most tumultuous phase of his career was also, in parts, the most enervating. A heartbreaking 136, played with an injured back against Pakistan in Chennai in a Test which India lost by 13 runs, was followed by another unremarkable stint as captain before he finally found himself part of a team with the talent and gumption to take on stronger opposition. As India blossomed under Sourav Ganguly, Sachin became the first player to score 10,000 runs in ODIs, sizzled in the 2003 World Cup only to see India lose in the final, overcame a career-threatening tennis elbow injury and scored a gritty 241* in Sydney in 2003-04. Also had a shoulder operation in 2006.
CONSISTENCY PERSONIFIED (2008-2012)
Refashioned himself into a less flamboyant but hugely consistent run-machine following India's disastrous 2007 World Cup sojourn and the exit of coach Greg Chappell. Scored an unbeaten, masterful 154 in Sydney, his first century in more than two years and 19 Tests against opposition other Bangladesh. Followed it up by his first ODI century in Australia in the CB Series before breaking Brian Lara's record of most Test runs in Mohali, all in 2008. Scored the first ODI double century in 2010 before realizing his dream of being part of a World Cup-winning squad in 2011.
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