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Analysis

Milestones on the way to 357

Sachin Tendulkar has become one-day cricket's most-capped player, playing his 357th ODI, against South Africa at Kolkata

George Binoy
George Binoy
24-Nov-2005
Sachin Tendulkar has become one-day cricket's most-capped player rattling up 357 ODIs, when he played the fourth ODI against South Africa at Kolkata. He surpassed Wasim Akram who has played 356 ODIs. Cricinfo takes a look at Tendulkar's milestones over the years.


Sachin Tendulkar faced a fierce Pakistan bowling attack in his debut series © Getty Images
Debut v Pakistan at Gujranwala, 1989
Tendulkar, a young lad of 16, faced the prospect of a formidable pace-attack comprising Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Aaqib Javed in a match that was shortened to 16 overs a side. Pakistan had set India a target of 88 and Tendulkar came to the crease at 34 for 3. He lasted just two deliveries before Waqar bowled him for a duck. He followed that up with another duck in his second game against New Zealand at Dunedin.
9th ODI v Sri Lanka at Pune, 1990
A fine allround performance, 2 for 39 and a quickfire 53, gave Tendulkar his first Man-of-the-Match award in just his ninth game. After dismissing both the Sri Lankan openers, he hit seven fours and a six in a 41-ball half-century as India successfully chased 227 by the 46th over.
70th ODI v New Zealand at Auckland, 1994
Sixty nine matches passed before a decision was taken to open the innings with Tendulkar. It proved to be a masterstroke. New Zealand were restricted to 142 due to some fine seam bowling by Kapil Dev and Javagal Srinath. One-nil down in the four-ODI series, Tendulkar was in a frantic hurry to seal the victory as he hammered 82 off 49 balls, including 72 runs in boundaries, to finish the match in 23.2 overs.


Sachin Tendulkar, with 523 runs in the 1996 World Cup, became the first batsman to score more than 500 runs in a World Cup. © Getty Images
79th ODI v Australia in Colombo, 1994
For someone who now has 38 centuries, Tendulkar took an eternity to score his first. Against a team that would bear the brunt of his most memorable performances in later years, Tendulkar rattled off his first hundred, 110 off 130 balls, as India posted a sizable 246 and then skittled Australia to complete a 31-run win.
100th ODI v New Zealand at Pune, 1995
Tendulkar chipped in with 2 for 49 but New Zealand managed to score 235 as Chris Cairns blasted an 87-ball century. Useful middle-order contributions helped India coast home after losing Tendulkar for 7.
120th ODI v Sri Lanka in Colombo, 1996
India lost Tendulkar's first match as captain by nine wickets largely due to Sanath Jayasuriya's superb century but Tendulkar turned in a fine performance with the bat as well. Batting first, he hit 110 to take India to 226 as the rest of the batsmen simply failed to get going. He followed that up by taking the only Sri Lankan wicket to fall.


Sachin Tendulkar enjoys a a good day's work after breaking Viv Richards's record of 31 Man-of-the-Match awards. © Getty Images
179th ODI v Australia at Kochi, 1998
Tendulkar bagged the Man-of-the-Match award even tough his batting contributed just eight runs. Australia blazed away in their pursuit of 310 but Tendulkar then ran amok, claiming the entire middle-order and finishing with figures of 5 for 32, his first five-wicket haul.
198th ODI v Zimbabwe at Bulawayo, 1998
Tendulkar broke Desmond Haynes's record of 17 ODI centuries by leading India to a comfortable eight-wicket win against Zimbabwe. He scored 127 of the required 216 and gave India the lead in the series.
200th ODI v Zimbabwe at Harare, 1998
Chasing 260 for victory, India lost Tendulkar for 2 in just the second over and thereafter kept losing regular wickets and eventually fell short of the target by 38 runs.
207th ODI v Zimbabwe at Sharjah, 1998
Tendulkar went past Viv Richards's record of 31 Man-of-the-Match awards when he creamed 124 to lead India to a ten-wicket victory in the final of the Coca-Cola Champions Trophy. After restricting Zimbabwe to 196, Tendulkar tore their attack apart, with half a dozen sixes and twelve fours in his 92-ball blitz. He was particularly harsh on Henry Olonga who had taken his wicket with a short delivery that surprised him in an earlier game.


Sachin Tendulkar smashed 139 against Australia at Indore, passing 10,000 runs on the way © Getty Images
253rd ODI v New Zealand at Nairobi, 2000
Mohammad Azharuddin's world-record tally of 9378 runs fell in the final of the ICC KnockOut tournament. Tendulkar scored 69 as India frittered a great start to finish on 264. Cairns's century denied India the trophy after New Zealand were 132 for 5 at one stage.
266th ODI v Australia at Indore, 2001
Tendulkar plundered 139 runs off 125 balls and became the first cricketer to cross 10,000 runs as India finished on 299 when at one stage they looked set to target 350. However, the total proved to be more than sufficient and Australia were dismissed for 181 in the 36th over.
300th ODI v Sri Lanka in Colombo, 2002
On the reserve day of the ICC Champions Trophy final, India were 38 for 1 chasing 223 for victory before rain washed out any further chance of play. Tendulkar remained unbeaten on 7 and could only watch as all hopes of winning his first ICC trophy were dashed.
335th ODI v Sri Lanka at Dambulla, 2004
India lost a close run-chase to mark Tendulkar's becoming the most-capped Indian, going past Azharuddin who played 334 games. He made 11 before falling to Zoysa as India finished on 270, 13 runs short of victory.
356th ODI v South Africa at Banglaore, 2005
Tendulkar joined Wasim Akram as one-day cricket's most capped player. He was out for a dreadfully slow 2 off 22 balls as India drew level in the series by chasing 170 against South Africa.

George Binoy is editorial assistant of Cricinfo