Tag: Sachin Tendulkar

Virat Kohli scores 50th ODI century, breaks Sachin Tendulkar’s record

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Virat Kohli scored his 50th century in ODIs during the the ICC World Cup semifinal against New Zealand at the Wankhede stadium, in the process surpassing Sachin Tendulkar’s world record of 49 tons.

ALSO READ | IND vs NZ Live Score Updates

Kohli reached the century mark in 106 balls. He first leapt for joy after reaching the milestone and then he bowed down to Tendulkar in the stands as the veteran heartily applauded him.

Kohli took just 279 innings to become the first cricketer to score 50 centuries. Tendulkar, his idol, had scored 49 hundreds in 452 innings.

The 35-year-old was eventually dismissed for 117, scored off 113 balls.

During the record-breaking innings, Kohli also bettered Tendulkar’s World Cup record of most runs in a single edition of the tournament. The Master Blaster had scored 673 runs in the 2003 World Cup. Tendulkar took to X (formerly, Twitter) to congratulate Kohli, saying: “I couldn’t be happier that an Indian broke my record.”

India posted a herculean 397/4 before bundling out New Zealand for 327 in 48.5 overs with Mohammed Shami returning with magnificent figures of 7/57.

From Gavaskar to Djokovic, sports world hails ‘Super Human’ Virat Kohli

If maestro Sachin Tendulkar had set the bar, a “super human” Virat Kohli came and raised it a little further with his 50th ODI century, said Little Master Sunil Gavaskar as the cricketing world hailed in unison to the record-breaking feat.

Tennis legend Novak Djokovic also sent a congratulatory message to Kohli.

“Congratulations Virat. Legendary,” wrote Djokovic on his Instagram story. The premier Indian batter took three innings to first equal and then surpass his idol Tendulkar’s ODI century No 49 and also became the first batter to score 700 runs in a single World Cup edition.

Virat Kohli bows to Sachin (in the stands) after scoring his 50th century
| Photo Credit:
EMMANUAL YOGINI

“Yes. It’s very difficult to put it in words, to what it means, not just to him and his family, but to all those who love Indian cricket,” Gavaskar said on Star Sports.

“Because, look, you always have people who have set the bar and the standard. Then you want somebody to come and raise the bar a little further, and that’s exactly what Virat Kohli has done with his performances.

“He has been absolutely super human in this particular World Cup. He has got almost 700 runs, 2 hundreds in this tournament, plus fifties in about six other innings,” the Indian batting legend added.

“All those who are here should consider themselves fortunate that they were there. They will remember November 15th as the day where they were at the Wankhede Stadium and they saw Virat Kohli score a 50th century in one-day cricket. Nobody has done that before. 49 was the highest and he’s got the 50th.” Kohli notched up the 50th hundred off 105 balls, with a flick for two off Lockie Ferguson in the 42nd over of India’s innings against New Zealand in the first World Cup semi-final here.

Greatest of this generation: Yuvraj

Congratulating Kohli, India’s 2011 World Cup winning hero Yuvraj Singh termed him the greatest of this generation.

“I’m sure his late father must be very proud today and smiling from the clouds above looking at his son !! By far greatest of this generation,” Yuvraj posted.

Former India batter VVS Laxman said Kohli is now in a league of his own.

“What a sense of occasion, what a knock! Another special hundred from a man who has made a habit of it at the World Cup.

“Virat Kohli is now in a league of one, going past the great Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 49 ODI tons. To do it in the World Cup semis is extra special. Take a bow, champion!” wrote Laxman in X.

“Virat Kohli. GOAT,” wrote Akash Chopra.

Kohli: India’s control room

Former India allrounder Irfan Pathan described Kohli as Indian cricket control room.

“Virat Kohli Indian cricket Ka control room. Yaha se Jeet control hoti hai ab to sabse zyada shatak Ka control bhi @imVkohli ke naam (Virat Kohli is the control room of Indian cricket. Now, even the control of the most centuries is in the name of Kohli),” Irfan posted.

“50th ODI ton is not just a number. It’s an extraordinary tale of cricketing greatness,” described former India opener Robin Uthappa.

“Kohli’s century – a cricketing blockbuster with a script that deserves all the applause! 50 -One Day Hundreds!,” wrote Shikhar Dhawan. “Here’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for! Kohli, the maestro, crafting another magnificent century & achieving the milestone of scoring most centuries in one day cricket! Absolute brilliance, King Kohli,” former India lefthander Suresh Raina posted on X.

‘Kohli era’

Reactions also poured in from across the border with Pakistani great Wasim Akram terming it as the “Kohli era”.

“We live in Virat Kohli era. Congratulations emperor.” “Take a bow Virat. Superb milestone and no better occasion for it than a World Cup semi final. Your commitment and dedication to the game is what has got you here and you deserve each and every bit of this success,” posted Shoaib Malik.

England great Kevin Pietersen was also quick to acknowledge Kohli’s feat.

“He kept quiet when they doubted him and has let his bat do the talking, screaming & shouting. Love so much what you’ve done today, buddy!” wrote Pietersen on his X handle.

“Just incredible. World Cup semi… Sachin overlooking in stands and Kohli delivers No 50,” was how former England captain Michael Vaughan described the knock.

“Kohli with a great sense of occasion befitting a great player moves to ODI century No 50 in ICC World Cup Semi-Final 2023.

“Under the gaze of Sachin Tendulkar, Sir Viv Richards, Sunil Gavaskar, David Beckham and several sporting icons. Wankede is a special venue,” wrote Ian Bishop, the West Indies pacer-turned-commentator.

Afghanistan spin wizard Rashid Khan also noted Kohli’s feat: “Always a treat to watch him play. A wonderful innings and an even bigger feat. Take a bow Kohli you beauty.”



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FORMULA ONE | Verstappen’s dominance is spellbinding, scary part is he has only started

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During the sprint race of the recently concluded Qatar Grand Prix, Max Verstappen became a three-time Formula One world champion, joining an elite list of just 11 drivers to have achieved the feat. He also became only the fifth driver to score a hat-trick of titles after Juan Manuel Fangio, Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton.

While the manner in which his title was sealed was anti-climatic — Sergio Perez, his teammate and the only driver with a near-improbable mathematical chance of keeping the fight alive, crashed out of the race — it capped off one of the best campaigns in the sport’s history.

In elite sports across disciplines, some once-in-a-generation athletes push the boundaries and achieve tremendous success at such a young age that they etch themselves into history books as an all-time great of the sport long before their career ends.

Absolute superstars

The Dutchman, all of 26, has joined the list of some absolute superstars the world has seen, like Bjorn Borg, Sachin Tendulkar, Simone Biles, and Michael Phelps, who by the time they were in their mid-20s, had achieved greatness in their respective domains.

Right from when he appeared in his first free practice session at the Japanese Grand Prix in 2014, the 17-year-old Verstappen looked like he belonged at this level despite having just a season of racing cars.

While the road to F1 greatness was not always smooth — there were times till 2018 when his driving bordered on the dangerous, and he came under intense criticism from rivals — the 26-year-old has realised his pure pace is enough to be at the top of the game without having to do something reckless.

The consistency he showed even when Red Bull was not in title contention in 2019 and 2020 made it evident that he would be ready when the time came to fight for the championship.

Also read: Explained | What led to Max Verstappen’s win at Sunday’s Abu Dhabi GP?

After prevailing in a tense battle against Lewis Hamilton in 2021 under controversial circumstances, Verstappen has raised the bar in the last two seasons. In 2022, he showed terrific race craft and patience, often winning races despite starting outside the top ten due to engine or gearbox penalties.

Metronomic consistency

This year, Max, the son of former F1 driver Jos Verstappen, has just obliterated the field and his teammate with the kind of metronomic consistency rarely seen in the sport’s history.

Granted, Red Bull Racing’s RB-19 is one of the most dominant cars ever raced in F1 history. But Verstappen’s performance relative to his teammate Perez shows the gulf between the Grand Prix winners and world champions.

To illustrate Verstappen’s value to the team, let us look at a hypothetical scenario if he were not there.

With five races left, the driver’s title would still be alive, with Perez just 30 points ahead of Hamilton, who hasn’t won a race this year, thus showing the vast difference in quality between the two.

It may now seem like a distant memory, but after the first four races, Perez trailed by only six points after the Red Bull drivers shared two wins each.

On a rampage

Since then, Perez has yet to win a race while Verstappen went on a rampage with ten consecutive wins, a new world record.

The worrying thing for rivals is that at 26, he is just entering the peak of his career. Even as he operates at an extremely high level with hardly any chinks in his armour, his drive to constantly improve should give the rest of the grid sleepless nights.

A prime example of this is that at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, where Perez won — thanks to a bit of luck with the timing of the Safety Car — Verstappen revealed he fiddled with his driving style, which has helped him since then.

“I learned a lot from the race in Baku over how to do some things with the car and how to set it up,” Verstappen was quoted as saying at Zandvoort.

“I didn’t win that race in Baku, but I tried a lot of stuff and different tools in the car. That’s why, throughout the race, it was a little bit inconsistent.

“At one point, I got into a good rhythm with what I found, but then I damaged my tyres a bit too much, but it was like: ‘Okay, that is quite interesting for the next races. I then implemented that, which has helped me on every track,” he added.

Turning point

Sure enough, it became evident at the next race in Miami, which can be considered the turning point in this year’s championship fight.

Verstappen started ninth after a problem in qualifying, while Perez started from pole position. However, the reigning champion breezed through the pack, including his teammate and coasted to victory. The Mexican driver’s confidence took a big beating at that race, and his campaign went off the rails since then, making Verstappen’s march to the title a foregone conclusion that culminated on Saturday.

His level of dominance is so spellbinding that his tally of 433 points so far is 107 more than what the Mercedes team has managed this year. With five races left, Verstappen would most likely have won Red Bull the constructor’s title — which the team clinched in Japan — on his own.

And he is not even done for this year. The champion-elect has won 14 of the 17 races this year, including the Qatar GP on Sunday and could better his record of 15 wins, the most in a season set last year.

In a year in which he shattered most records in the books, it would be only fitting he breaks his own. For now, there is no one to stop Max Verstappen!



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I don’t think I am 50, says Tendulkar

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Sachin Tendulkar with his family during his farewell ceremony at Wankhede stadium in Mumbai in 2013
| Photo Credit:
PTI

Sachin Tendulkar receiving the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honour, from President Pranab Mukherjee.

Sachin Tendulkar receiving the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honour, from President Pranab Mukherjee.
| Photo Credit:
PTI

Sachin Tendulkar being carried around by teammates after India’s triumph in the 2011 ICC World Cup in Mumbai.

Sachin Tendulkar being carried around by teammates after India’s triumph in the 2011 ICC World Cup in Mumbai.
| Photo Credit:
PTI

As Sachin Tendulkar turns 50, he looks back at his first innings and spells out the targets for his second.

What’s the feeling like now that you are turning 50?

(Laughs) It hasn’t hit me yet, honestly. I don’t think I am 50. I still like to fool around with my friends and play pranks. And I want it that way because that is something that keeps you young.

How is that the bubbly kid who grew up in Sahitya Sahawas hasn’t let the Bharat Ratna or the global celebrity status weigh on him?

The accolades are a reflection of what I have done on the field. But that doesn’t give me the right to do whatever I want because at the end of the day, I have to come back home and face everyone (in the family). It’s a reflection of the way the family brought me up. In the second part of my life, Anjali and her family played a big role. We never really had a big celebration for any of my achievements. We just told ourselves this is a good moment, offer a box of sweets and move on.

The chroniclers have compared your rise with India’s changing face globally…

The timing was such that many changes happened in our country and things started to look different. The biggest change I noticed on the field was the 1996 World Cup. There were sponsorships and multiple things. I was possibly the first (Indian) cricketer to have signed a contract where an agent was managing an athlete. There were comments saying that my focus was on money. In fact, it was the other way round. The bank balance was never more important than the score account.

How did you never let the middle-class complex affect you as it was the Indian psyche in the 80s and 90s?

I think it was due to the calmness of my father and the grit of my mother. I have always believed that someone being nice shouldn’t be taken as weakness. If I am nice, polite and humble, it doesn’t mean that I am not confident. Where I needed to show aggression, I showed it. There is a difference between reaction and response. Reaction came instinctively on the field but response was completely different.

Almost a decade since you last played for India, what is it that you miss the most?

When you are playing for your country, that pride, those on-field challenges, those meetings, that camaraderie in the dressing room, those moments… it’s but natural that they cannot be permanent. But those are things that happen when you are in a team. I used to think how the experience of my last match would be. Whatever happened that day, it was more than special to me. That’s the reason I don’t miss anything.

You were a trend-setter on the field in many ways — technique, running between the wickets, playing lofted strokes consistently… what do you make of modern batting techniques?

What’s changed batting is the laws of the game. You can make it even faster by adding more fielders in the circle. The number of bouncers you use, the number of balls you use… all these can make the game faster or slower. If we shorten the game to 40 overs and bring one more fielder in, we’ll get to see maybe 380 runs. Whereas you take one fielder out, use one ball — let it get discoloured — you may not see 300-plus so frequently. It is all about the rules that the ICC introduces and also the kind of surfaces we play on.

Would you focus on the skills front or have cricket getting driven by the commercial aspect?

That balance has to be there. Of course, commercially it has to make sense but at the same time, if we have shorter formats and introduce them to the younger generation, even Test cricket needs to go at a reasonable pace. It cannot be a dead track and a drawn Test. Nobody wants to see that today. To engage more eyeballs, I think the pitch has to be interesting and helpful enough for a bowler to do something every over.

You are fine with a two-and-a-half day Test rather than a five-day dull draw…

We should not judge a Test by the number of days played but by the quality of cricket. If the quality is good and a Test goes on for four and a half days, I am fine with it. Why is it that if it’s a challenging wicket, no one can bat? It is called Test cricket… that’s where your skill and character are tested. There will be difficult surfaces and that is where you are meant to show your mettle.

What would you attribute the Indian batters’ inability to score big at home in Tests? Pitches, lack of skills, evolving batting techniques due to an overdose of limited-overs cricket, or a combination of all these factors?

I think that has happened over a period of time. The opponents, too, have virtually got their home team playing IPL for two months in India. So these are not foreign conditions for anyone. Similarly, for our players, they are not unfamiliar opponents. Earlier, if I was playing against someone — it could be a Glenn McGrath or whoever — we only saw him every four years in Australia or every four years in India.

Had T20 cricket happened earlier, would we have seen a different Tendulkar in the latter half of his career?

I don’t know, honestly… tough to answer. I personally don’t think so because there was a period where a number of guys did not understand what T20 was about and termed T20 as a young man’s game. In fact, I would say T20 is the easiest format. In ODIs, you have to last the whole day and is the most difficult physically. Test cricket, when the fast bowlers have to bowl long spells in the heat, it can be very taxing. Or, if a batter has to bat the whole day under the scorching sun, things can get tough.

Is there a period or instance during your career — or life — that you wished things had panned out differently?

Yes. 2007 World Cup. That phase from 2005 to 2007 wasn’t a great one in Indian cricket. Also the late 90s… that was a dark phase in Indian cricket. Those two for sure.

You have always been involved in social service…

We started the Foundation (Sachin Tendulkar Foundation) basically to work with children. We work in three verticals: health, education and sports. We have done a decent job and has given us satisfaction. Outside the Foundation too, we do some work but the Foundation is where the energy goes into in the second innings.

Even before the Foundation shaped up, you always interacted with youngsters. How do you assess Gen Z?

Their exposure is just unbelievable. I was actually in Tadoba (National Park) and just outside in a village, I had a look at a school on the way. There were 17 girls and 17 boys. They had my chapter in the book. The teacher told the students that I was the person in the book! When I asked them what they wanted to be, the answers were unbelievable. They wanted to be musicians, professional dancers, police officers, doctors and scientists… the children were between 8 and 12, but their confidence was unbelievable.

With regard to India’s young cricketers, do you feel that they tend to be overconfident at times…

There are two ways to look at it. One is they are getting a chance to mingle with foreign players and the IPL has become very big even for foreign players. So the way the players interact with each other on the field pre- and post-IPL, on and off the field, is completely different. There are not many rivalries the way we had. For any sport, you need rivalries to attract more eyeballs. Be it tennis where you have Roger Federer, Nadal, Djokovic — three really top players — that rivalry is there. In Formula One, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen… that rivalry is there.

Speaking about young cricketers, there’s a blooming cricketer at home. How do you assess Arjun’s career?

I got the freedom to do what I wanted to. My parents and brother did not pressurise me at all. That’s exactly what we do with Sara and Arjun. They are not pressurised but asked to give their best.

At 50, is there anything that you wanted to achieve and have not been able to do yet?

Not really. The first innings lasted 24 years. I am just completing 10 in the second and want to achieve more in it. That’s where I would be wearing the Foundation hat and represent India. That’s my goal now.

If there’s a change you want to see in Indian cricket over the next decade, what will that be?

The big change I wanted to happen has already begun. With the Women’s Premier League, equal opportunity has started. It’s going to open the doors to so many young girls. Equality has multiple layers: opportunity and the freedom to express yourself in various platforms.

Being gender neutral is something that will give everyone a reason to smile.

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50th Birthday: the A to Z of Sachin Tendulkar

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To the Indians, Sachin Tendulkar is the man for “all seasons”.

It has been 10 years since he bid farewell to international cricket, leaving the nation full of moist eyes.

As India’s favourite son completes his 50th birthday, PTI chronicles his life and times in an alphabetical manner. It could be people, places and events related to the great man, which have dominated our lives for a better part of three-and-a-half decades.

West Indian players clap to pay their respect to Sachin Tendulkar as he arrives to bat for the last time in Test cricket on Day 1 of their 2nd Test match at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Novemebr 14, 2013.
| Photo Credit:
PTI

A (Anjali, Arjun, Ajit): As Sachin Tendulkar maintains, better-half Anjali is the “best partnership” of his life. Son Arjun is carrying forward the Tendulkar legacy on the cricket pitch. And, had it not been for brother Ajit’s efforts, who knows we would been deprived of the batting wizardry of the man from Bandra.

B (Bristol): The venue will always have an emotional connect with Tendulkar. It was here that he scored 140 against Kenya but, more importantly, it came less than a week after the death of his father, Professor Ramesh Tendulkar.

C (Centurion): The venue in South Africa where Tendulkar perhaps played one of his greatest ODI knocks — 98 versus Pakistan during the 2003 World Cup. The six off pace bowler Shoaib Akhtar over point will always be remembered by fans.

D (‘The Don’): Sir Don Bradman will forever remain the ‘Greatest’ with his average of 99.94. But when ‘The Don’ said the “little fella’s” batting style resembled his, the debate on contemporary cricket’s best batter ended there.

E (Eden Gardens): Wankhede, where Tendulkar played his 200th Test, might be his soul but Eden Gardens, where he played his 199th game, remains one of his favourite grounds. Tendulkar the bowler attained superstardom when he bowled the epic last over in the Hero Cup semi-final against South Africa in 1993. India managed to defend 195 by restricting the Proteas to 193/9, with Tendulkar conceding just three runs in the 50th over.

F (Ferrari): Tendulkar’s favourite car and also his favourite Formula One team. He was the proud owner of a gleaming red Ferrari back in the day when the company decided to present him one in 2002 for equalling the record of 29 Test centuries by Sir Don.

G (Gujranwala): Tendulkar ended his ODI career with 49 hundreds but the first of his 463 games was played in this Pakistani city. How much did he score on debut? Well, he didn’t trouble the scorers.

H (Harris Shield): The famous Mumbai Inter-school cricket tournament, where the world first came to know about Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar after his 664-run stand with Vinod Kambli.

I (Inzamam ul Haq): The former Pakistan captain had an interesting story to tell. His son Ibtisam was a big fan of Tendulkar. During the 2004 historic tour of Pakistan, Inzamam actually brought his school-going son during an Indian practice session to introduce him to Tendulkar.

J (John McEnroe):` Tendulkar is a tennis buff and during his teenage years, he used to be a big fan of American John McEnroe. Old-timers say that, like McEnroe in the early 80s, the curly-haired Indian genius could be seen moving around his housing society wearing a red headband.

K (Vinod Kambli): Tendulkar’s childhood buddy, Kambli was his partner in that world-record stand of 664 runs in Harris Shield. Kambli’s famous comment on Tendulkar is still one of the most quotable quotes: “Sachin went to the top riding a lift. I had to take the staircase”.

L (Brian Lara): The debate on who between the two was the bigger cricketer will never cease. But to enjoy Sachin Tendulkar’s class, one also needs to appreciate Brian Lara’s panache. The two lit up the 90s like never before and the mutual respect was there for everyone to see. They brought so much grace into rivalry.

M (Glenn McGrath): Tendulkar versus McGrath was the contest that made Test cricket so lively. The two master operators gave it their all when they were competing against each other. Not even an inch of territory was conceded, and their duels in the 1990s and 2000s remain one of the most fascinating rivalries of all time.

N (Narsingh Deonarine): Narsingh Deonarine’s international career is nothing to write home about but the West Indian cricketer will forever cherish being the last-ever bowler to dismiss Tendulkar in international cricket — during the second Test at the Wankhede Stadium in 2013. Sachin was dismissed for 74 by the off-spinner in a match India won by an innings and 126 runs.

O (Old Trafford): No cricket venue in the world is more dear to Tendulkar’s heart than Old Trafford in Manchester. This is the ground where he scored the first of his 100 international hundreds. The unbeaten 119 enabled India to save the second Test of the 1990 series against England.

P (Peshawar) It was the venue where world cricket first took note of the teenage Indian prodigy who hit 53 off just 18 balls. It was an exhibition match curtailed due to rain, but Sachin played a T20-style innings to regale the spectators and make a lasting impression on them.

Q (Abdul Qadir): When we talk about that Peshawar game, can Abdul Qadir be far behind? On several occasions, Tendulkar has recounted the instance where Qadir tried to sledge him after he had launched into Mushtaq Ahmed. “Bacche ko kya marte ho, humein maar ke dikhao? The rest is history as Tendulkar clobbered Qadir for 28 runs in an over.

R (Rahul Dravid): An excellent batter in his own right, Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar are the most successful Test-batting pair with 20 century-plus stands between them and 6,920 cumulative runs in partnerships.

S (Shivaji Park Gymkhana): This is where it all started. Under the watchful eyes of Ramakant Achrekar, Tendulkar learnt the ropes of the game at this very ground, considered to be the cradle of Mumbai cricket.

T (Toronto): The Skating and Curling Club ground at Toronto will always be special for Tendulkar. It was here that he got his first ‘Man of the Match’ award as captain after scoring an unbeaten 89 off 89 balls in a winning cause against Pakistan.

U (U2): Tendulkar is a Lata Mangeshkar devotee but when it comes to English songs, he is a big fan of world famous Irish rock band U2. His favourite U2 song is “Where Streets Have No Name”.

V (Virat Kohli): The day Tendulkar retired, Virat Kohli gifted his chain, which was his father’s memory, to Tendulkar and sang “Tujh Mein Rabh Dikhta Hai” inside the Wankhede dressing room.

W (Wimbledon): A tournament Tendulkar has hardly missed. The legend makes an annual pilgrimage to SW19 and can be seen sitting in one of the VIP zones watching marquee Centre Court matches.

X (St Xavier’s School): It was this particular school against whom Tendulkar and Kambli, playing for Sharadashram Vidyamandir, scored 664 runs in Harris Shield.

Y (Yorkshire): English county side Yorkshire has been in the midst of several racism allegations but in 1990, they received Tendulkar with open arms. The Indian icon was the first overseas player recruited by the club.

Z (Zimbabwe): Zimbabwe bowler Henry Olonga had rattled Tendulkar with a bouncer that the Indian fended and was out caught by close-in fielders during a league game of the 1998 Champions Trophy in Sharjah. However, in the final the icon scored 124 runs as India won by 10 wickets with 120 balls to spare.

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