Iconic batsman Sachin Tendulkar achieved yet another milestone in his illustrious career as he completed a marathon 22 years in international cricket on Tuesday.
Even though the entire nation is waiting for his coveted 100th international century, completion of 22 years will certainly be regarded as a remarkable achievement in international cricket.
It was on this very day in 1989, a 16—year—old prodigy walked into bat at the Karachi National Stadium facing the likes of Imran Khan, Wasim Akram and another debutant Waqar Younis.
Although he managed only 15 in his debut innings, the maturity with which he faced the scorching pace of Akram and Younis made everyone sit up and take notice. Even the likes of Imran Khan and Javed Miandad knew that a star was born that very day.
The 38—year—old Tendulkar is playing his 182nd Test match - more than any player in the history of the game. To go with 182 Tests, he has played 453 ODIs as well.
The master batsman has almost all the batting records in his kitty including being the first man to score a double hundred in an ODI. He has so far scored 15,048 Test runs (before the Kolkata Test started) and 18,111 runs in ODIs.
He scored 38 in the first innings of the current Test against the West Indies, and it looks unlikely that he would get another chance to bat in the match to reach the historic milestone at this venue.
Tendulkar now lies ninth in the list of players with the longest careers in Test cricket. English all—rounder Wilfred Rhodes holds the unique record of representing his country for 30 years 315 days from June 1, 1899 to April 12, 1930.
Englishmen Dennis Brown Close and Frank Wooley occupy the second and third place respectively. Close played Test cricket for 26 years 356 days, while Wooley’s career spanned 25 years 13 days.
