Sachin Tendulkar has reached many milestones in batting

By A. C. De Silva

India's batting star ... Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar who celebrated his 39th birthday last Tuesday (24th April) knows his routine work - a measured work to the crease, taking guard, surveying the field and getting down to doing what he knows best - scoring runs.

From that sultry afternoon at the Wankhede Stadium in 1988, when he made his first-class debut, it has been a momentous journey for Sachin. To have played the game with dignity, devoid of controversies, only confirms his character.

If batting is an art, Sachin is an unblemished artist. His canny judgement in leaving a ball is matched only by Rahul Dravid in contemporary cricket. Nobody has batted like Don Bradman or Viv Richards. Also nobody bats like Sachin does. Leave statistics aside. Can Bradman or Richards be evaluated in terms of statistics? Never! Can Garfield Sobers be judged by the number of runs he has scored or the wickets he has taken? No one played cricket like Sobers did. Few have pledged loyalty to the game and team as Sachin has.

Sachin's cricket, batting and his long touch with the game makes him a phenomenon. His career can make for a perfect case study in discipline.

He came into the limelight before his 15th birthday by putting on an unbroken 664-run stand with Vinod Kambli in the semi-finals in a inter-school competition in February 1988. Tendulkar scored an unbeaten 329 while Kambli was 349 not out.

He made his first-class debut in a Ranji Trophy match for Mumbai (then Bombay) against Gujarat at the Wankhede Stadium (December 10-12 in 1988).

Tendulkar, who scored 100 not out, became the youngest Indian - at 15 years and 221 days- to score a century on first-class debut.

At 16 years and 214 days, he became the youngest player to represent India in Test cricket (versus Pakistan in Faisalabad, November 1989).

At 16 years and 238 days, he became the youngest player to represent India in One-Day Internationals (versus Pakistan in Gujiranwala, December 1989).

At 19 years and 217 days, he became the youngest player to complete 1,000 runs in Test cricket.

Five Test Centuries before 20

He became the first player to score five test centuries before turning 20, when he notched up 165 against England in Chennai in February 1993.

Then at 20 years and 330 days, he became the youngest player to complete 2,000 runs in test cricket.

Money kept flowing in and before his 23rd birthday, Tendulkar was signed on for a marvellous Rs. 300 million in a five-year advertisement deal in October 1995. He became the highest paid player in cricket history.

He was India's cricket captain before his 24th birthday at the age of 23 years and 126 days. The earlier record was held by Kapil Dev who led the Indian ODI team at the age of 23 years and 249 days.

At 23 years and 228 days, he became the youngest player to reach 3,000 runs in Test cricket in his 45th match (versus South Africa in Kanpur, December 1996).

At 24 years and 224 days he became the youngest player to complete 4,000 runs in Test Cricket in his 58th test (versus Sri Lanka in Mumbai, December 1997).

First to 1,000 runs in 3 years

Became the first batsman to aggregate 1000 ODI runs in three consecutive years (1996 to 1998). Ended the year 1998 with 1,894 runs (34 matches, 9 centuries and 7 fifties, average 65.31, strike rate 102.15) it contained two world records for the most runs and most centuries in a calendar year.

He also set a world record for winning the Man of the Match awards for most number of times in a single year 12 in 1998.

Before he reached his 32nd birthday, Sachin Tendulkar equalled another great Indian batsman Sunil Gawaskar's mark of 34 world Test record. It was in the first Test against Bangladesh in Dhaka in December 2004. He scored 248 not out which is his highest test score.

Became only the third player in history, after Gary Kirsten and Steve Waugh, to score centuries against all Test-playing nations.

Became the fifth batsman in Test history to score 10,000 runs during the second test against Pakistan in Kolkata in March 2005.

Then before he reached his 38th birthday, Tendulkar became the most capped player in Test cricket, surpassing Steve Waugh's tally of 168 tests in Sri Lanka in August 2010.

First batsman to aggregate 14000 runs

Became the first batsman to aggregate 14,000 runs in Test cricket in the match versus Australia (Bangalore, October 2010).

Became the first Indian to score six Test centuries in a calendar year on October 11, 2010.

Became the first batsman to score 50 Test centuries by making an unbeaten 111 against South Africa in Centurion in December 2010.

Became the most capped player in ODIs with the World Cup opening game versus Bangladesh (February 2011), surpassing Sanath Jayasuriya's tally of 444 matches.

Became the first player to complete 18,000 ODI runs. Then before his 39th birthday, he became the first player to aggregate 15,000 runs in Test cricket in the match against West Indies in Delhi in November 2011.

Another mark, Tendulkar became the first player to score 100 international centuries by making 114 in an Asia Cup match against Bangladesh in March 2012.