SACHIN TENDULKAR-THE LIVING LEGEND

When he became the first batsman to score 50 hundreds in international cricket, Sachin Tendulkar established himself as the greatest of all Indian cricketers. Recognised by Sir Donald Bradman as his modern incarnation, Tendulkar has a skill - a genius - which only a handful have possessed. It was not a skill that he was simply born with, but one which was developed by his intelligence and an infinite capacity for taking pains. If there is a secret, it is that Tendulkar has the keenest of cricket minds. At times in a Test series he looks mortal. But he learns every lesson, picks up every cue, dominates the opposing attack sooner or later, and nearly always makes a hundred. His bravery was proved after he was hit on the head on his Test debut in Pakistan, when he was only 16; and his commitment to the Indian cause has never been in doubt. If captaincy - or rather the off-field management of men less skilled than himself - was beyond him at his first attempt, his reading of the game, and his manifold varieties of bowling, have shown the same acute intelligence. His cricket has been played in the right way too, always attacking, and because he knew that was the right way rather than because he was a child of the one-day age, as he himself modestly said. The awe of opponents was as great as that of crowds. But the finest compliment must be that bookmakers would not fix the odds - or a game - until Tendulkar was out. Surpassed Sunil Gavaskar, his guru, as the leading century-maker in Test cricket with his 35th three-figure score in November 2005.

Batting and fielding averages

	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	4s	6s	Ct	St
Tests	140	226	23	11150	248*	54.92			37	45		42	93	0
ODIs	399	389	37	15563	186*	44.21	18234	85.35	41	84	1683	164	118	0
T20Is	1	1	0	10	10	10.00	12	83.33	0	0	2	0	1	0
First-class	239	373	38	19894	248*	59.38			63	91			160	0
List A	486	474	51	19115	186*	45.18			52	102			153	0
Twenty20	5	5	0	198	69	39.60	119	166.38	0	2	30	5	2	0

Bowling averages

	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4w	5w	10
Tests	140	115	3718	2135	42	3/10	3/14	50.83	3.44	88.5	0	0	0
ODIs	399	258	7901	6689	152	5/32	5/32	44.00	5.07	51.9	4	2	0
T20Is	1	1	15	12	1	1/12	1/12	12.00	4.80	15.0	0	0	0
First-class	239		7077	4024	67	3/10		60.05	3.41	105.6		0	0
List A	486		10077	8317	199	5/32	5/32	41.79	4.95	50.6	4	2	0
Twenty20	5	4	57	65	2	1/12	1/12	32.50	6.84	28.5	0	0	0