Sachin Tendulkar seems to be getting better with ageEvery time Sachin Tendulkar goes through a purple patch - which he is enjoying at the moment - or sets a world record - which he did the other day at Gwalior - I am reminded of the now infamous headline carried by a national newspaper exactly four years ago. "Endulkar?'' it screamed on page one after a few failures in the Test series in Pakistan. This can now be summarily dismissed as sensationalism or a vulgarly irresponsible job by a deskman who tried to be too clever but was made to eat humble and distasteful pie.
Since then, Tendulkar has gone on to make many more hundreds in both formats of the game as well as a few thousand runs, while being an integral part of both the Test and ODI squads. It was always on the cards that someone would reach a double hundred in an ODI. After all, batsmen had got to 188, 189 and 194 and the front runners over the last decade would have been Sanath Jayasuriya, Adam Gilchrist and Virender Sehwag with MS Dhoni and Chris Gayle ranked as outsiders. Hardly anyone would have bargained for Tendulkar to break the 200-barrier.
No doubt he enjoys an enviable record in ODIs - most number of runs and most number of centuries and in both the important categories he is well ahead of the second placed batsman. His average - around 45 - and strike rate - about 85 - confirmed his status as a champion batsman and he did have a highest score of 186 not out. Still, with more aggressive batsmen around, it did appear that someone younger would probably be the one to first top the 200-mark in ODIs.
But there appears no limit to Tendulkar's boyish enthusiasm for the game, his insatiable hunger for runs and big scores and his indomitable spirit. These are the factors that keep him going, easily shrugging off the challenges posed by the young brigade. One has only to see him make a diving stop on the boundary to prevent the ball from going over the line to underline his commitment. And to think that he is just two months short of his 37th birthday and in his 21st year of international cricket!
With all due credit to Charles Coventry and Saeed Anwar it is fitting that one of the greatest batsmen in the game holds the record for the highest score in ODIs breaking a barrier in the process. It is a barrier that has defied the best players for almost 40 years during which nearly 3000 matches have been played. Some of the greatest have gone past 170, others went past 180 but the double century remained elusive - till the memorable evening at Gwalior on February 24 - a date that will no doubt go down in history.
Actually, given the early background, it does seem incredible that it took so long for a batsman to reach 200 in ODIs. As early as the 20th ODI, Glenn Turner hit 171 in the inaugural World Cup in England in 1975. Those were the days when matches were played on a 60-over basis and when Kapil Dev raised the bar to 175 not out at Tunbridge Wells eight years later in another World Cup game it was again a 60 over match. Vivian Richards raised this to 189 not out the following year, but that was a 55-over Texaco Trophy game against England. At that time it did seem that if a batsman would get to 200 it would be the peerless Antiguan. But he never did get to the mark though he hammered 181 in a World Cup match against Sri Lanka in 1987, by which time all ODI's were generally regularized at 50 overs.
And, so the tantalizing suspense continued as South Africa's Gary Kirsten could not get more than 188 not out in the World Cup match against UAE in 1996, and Pakistan's Saeed Anwar while surpassing Richards' long-standing record was dismissed for 194 in the Independence Cup match against India at Chennai the following year. Last year, a most improbable entrant made his way into the record books with the be-spectacled Coventry equaling Anwar's score while ending up with 194 not out for Zimbabwe against Bangladesh at Bulawayo. He, however, had the misfortune to finish on the losing side for the visitors inspired by a swashbuckling 154 from Tamim Iqbal overhauled Zimbabwe's total of 312 with 2.1 overs to spare. It must be a unique happening for a man scoring 194 not out to be sharing the man of the match award.
There was no question of the man of the match award at Gwalior the other day being shared. Like good wine, Tendulkar seems to be getting better with age. He has spoken of his burning desire to be a member of a World Cup winning squad. If he bats like the he did at Gwalior there is no reason why his ultimate cricketing wish would remain unfulfilled. Perhaps deep inside he also wishes for a triple hundred in Tests. If he can get 200 in a limited overs match there is every reason to believe that he can get 300 in a Test. And somehow it does seem perfect that the two greatest contemporary batsmen should hold the record for highest individual scores in ODIs and Tests breaking new ground in the process.
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