Sachin Tendulkar passed Brian Lara as the leading scorer in Test match history today, giving the Indian several of cricket's major run-getting records and reinforcing his iconic status in his home country.
The 35-year-old Tendulkar hit a Peter Siddle delivery for three in the second Test against Australia in Mohali to lift his run tally in five-day Tests above the mark of 11,953 set by retired West Indies captain Lara. The milestone by the 5-foot-5 Tendulkar, nicknamed the ``Little Master,'' prompted a several minute delay of crowd celebrations and fireworks.
Tendulkar, who made his debut against archrival Pakistan as a 16-year-old, already has amassed a world record 39 centuries in Test cricket and the most runs (16,361) and hundreds (42) in one- day internationals. He went on to score 88 before becoming debutant Siddle's first Test victim just before play ended for the day. Tendulker pushed at a full-pitched ball and edged to Matthew Hayden at first slip.
``I was trying to focus on the game, but every now and then the people around me made it a point to remind me,'' Tendulker said on Sky Sports 1. ``It's taken me almost 19 years and they've been ups and downs. It's a great feeling.''
Indian finished the day at 311-5, with Sourav Ganguly on 54 and Ishant Sharma on 2.
With a batting style founded on balance, precision and anticipation, Tendulkar's mastery of an array of strokes has enabled him to accumulate runs at an average of 54.10 per Test innings in all conditions and in any country.
Bradman Similarities
That's the highest average by any Indian who played more than 20 Tests and 21st in a list headed by the late Donald Bradman. With an average of 99.94, Bradman once remarked that Tendulkar reminded him of himself.
Tendulkar has scored more runs against Australia, the dominant force during his career, than any other team. Almost a quarter of his Test centuries came against the top-ranked Australians.
Mumbai-born Tendulkar registered his first three-figure score in Tests against England at Manchester in 1990 when aged 17 and racked up 16 Test hundreds by the age of 25.
His achievements in the sport's long and short forms made him an idol in cricket-crazy India. He signed a three-year marketing contract with Saatchi & Saatchi Plc in 2006 worth $40 million, Indian media reported.
Shane Warne, Australia's leading Test wicket-taker, wrote in a Times of London column that the only way to appreciate the scrutiny and adulation heaped on Tendulkar was to watch India play at home.
Crowd Favorite
``Outside grounds, people wait until he goes in before paying to enter,'' wrote Warne, who ranked Tendulkar No. 1 of the top 100 players of his era. ``They seem to want a wicket to fall even though it is their own side that will suffer. This is cricket as Sachin has known it since the age of 16.''
Tendulkar today completed a rise to the top of the run list that began a week after the Berlin Wall came down and that lost momentum in the past year because of knee and groin injuries and indifferent form. He averaged just 13.57 in his seven innings prior to this Test series.
Australia captain Ricky Ponting and Indian teammate Rahul Dravid are the only other active players to have scored more than 10,000 Test runs. Lara, who has the record for the highest Test innings of 400 not out, retired from international cricket in April 2007.
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