Cricket:Sachin Tendulkar became the first player to score 100 international cricket centuries during India's Asia Cup one-day game against Bangladesh, ending his yearlong wait to reach the milestone.
Tendulkar, the leading run-scorer in Test and one-day matches, reached the mark with a single off Shakib Al Hasan at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka. He now has 51 centuries in elite five-day Tests and 49 in one-day matches, including his first today against Bangladesh.
He reached 114 before falling to Mashrafe Mortaza. It’s the latest record for Tendulkar, 38, in a career that began at 16. In the past two years, the right-hander became the first player to hit a one-day international double-century, score 50 Test hundreds, amass an unprecedented 15,000 Test runs and set the record for Test matches played.
In April, he helped India win its first Cricket World Cup title since 1983. Mumbai-born Tendulkar had been stuck on 99 centuries since hitting 111 against South Africa on March 12th, 2011, at the World Cup. His drought spanned 33 innings during which he’d twice got out in the 90s and passed 50 on eight occasions.
He averaged 34 in the Test series in England in July and August that the home team swept 4-0. His highest score in the first three matches was 56, then he reached 91 before getting out leg-before-wicket.
Tendulkar got to within six runs on November 25th in the third Test against the West Indies, disappointing his hometown crown in Mumbai by edging the ball to a fielder when on 94.
TENDULKAR FACTFILE
1973:Born April 24, Mumbai.
1988:Scores 100 not out in his first first-class match for Bombay against Gujarat in the Ranji Trophy, becoming the youngest cricketer to score a century on his first-class debut, aged 15 years and 232 days.
1989:Makes Test debut for India against Pakistan in Karachi at the age of 16. Makes ODI debut against Pakistan but is dismissed by Waqar Younis without scoring a run.
1990:Scores maiden Test century against England at Old Trafford.
1992:At the age of 19 he becomes the first overseas-born player to represent Yorkshire.
1994:Claims his first ODI century against Sri Lanka in Colombo after 79 one-day matches.
1996:Leading run-scorer at World Cup played in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka with a total of 523 runs. Takes on the India captaincy although suffers two relatively unsuccessful stints during a four-year period, winning only four Tests and 23 ODIs.
1997:Named Wisden Cricketer of the Year.
1998:Scores his first double century for Mumbai against Australia in the Brabourne Stadium.
1999:November — Involved in India's highest run-scoring ODI partnership with Rahul Dravid as the pair put on 339 against New Zealand. In the same match, he records the highest individual ODI score in Indian history with an unbeaten 186.
2000:Gives up the captaincy of India after the two-Test series with South Africa.
2001:Given a suspended ban of one game in light of alleged ball tampering during a match against South Africa at St George's Park, Port Elizabeth. The ban is later lifted by the International Cricket Council after an investigation.
2003:Named the Player of the Tournament at the 2003 Cricket World Cup and scores 673 runs, the highest by any player in the tournament.
2005:Overtakes Sunil Gavaskar's record of the highest number of Test centuries by claiming his 35th Test century against Sri Lanka in Delhi.
2006:Overtakes Kapil Dev, claiming the record for the highest amount of Test appearances for India with 135.
2007:Edges past Brian Lara's world record of runs scored in Tests away from home with 5,751 runs. Becomes the first player to score over 15,000 ODI runs during a match against South Africa in Belfast.
2008:Plays in his 417th ODI match against Australia and holds the record for the most ODI matches played. Becomes just the third player in Test match history, and the first from India, to play 150 matches when he is selected in the third Test against Sri Lanka at the P Saravanamuttu Stadium in Colombo. He becomes highest run scorer in Test cricket, passing Lara's previous mark of 11,953, when he reaches 16 in the first innings of the second Test against Australia.
2010:Breaks the record for the highest individual score in a one-day international innings, hitting an unbeaten 200 in the ODI against South Africa to pass the previous mark of 194 not out set by Zimbabwe's Charles Coventry and 194 by Pakistan's Saeed Anwar. Becomes most capped player in Test history, making his 169th Test appearance in the third Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo to overtake former Australia captain Steve Waugh. B
Becomes first batsman to hit 50 Test centuries, achieving the feat against South Africa in Centurion.
2011:Scores a tournament-best 482 runs as India win the World Cup. One of his two centuries, against South Africa, is his 99th international hundred. He is named as player of the tournament. Becomes the first player to make 15,000 Test runs in a meeting with West Indies.
2012:After a year-long wait for the milestone, makes his 100th international century in the Asia Cup match against Bangladesh in Mirpur.