NEW DELHI, 16 January 2004 — When Australia’s Steve Waugh retired earlier this month, the mantle of the world’s most experienced cricketer passes to 30-year-old Sachin Tendulkar.
The prolific Indian batsman made his international debut way back in November 1989, before anyone else still playing at the top level.
He has also played more matches, scored more runs and compiled more centuries in both forms of the game than any other active international cricketer.
And yet the sport’s newest senior statesman will not turn 31 until April. If Tendulkar lasts in the game as long as 38-year-old Waugh did, few batting records will be left standing.
Among current players, only New Zealand’s Chris Cairns has played Test matches for more than 14 years.
Both Tendulkar and Cairns made their debut a week apart in 1989, the Indian against archrivals Pakistan at Karachi and the Kiwi against old foes Australia at Perth.
Yet the injury-prone Cairns has played only 56 Tests compared with Tendulkar’s 111. Pakistani leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed, who entered Test cricket two months later in January 1990, has played 52.
West Indian captain Brian Lara (101) and Australia’s Shane Warne (107) are the only ones still playing to have a century of Test appearances.
In the 90s club are South African opener Gary Kirsten (97), Australian fast bowler Glenn McGrath (95) and Inzamam ul-Haq of Pakistan and Nasser Hussain of England (91 each).
Tendulkar’s 9,265 Test runs so far, with 32 centuries, remains a benchmark for contemporary batsmen.
The immensely gifted Lara is his closest challenger with 9,117 Test runs and 24 hundreds. None of the others has reached the 8,000 mark and only one, Kirsten (7,029), is over 7,000. The Bombay maestro’s performance in limited-overs cricket — a record 12,792 runs with 36 hundreds — is even more remarkable and way ahead of the pack.
Next in line are Inzamam with 9,389 runs, Sri Lanka’s Sanath Jayasuriya (9,172) and Tendulkar’s captain in the Indian side, Saurav Ganguly (9,049). Ganguly’s tally of 22 one-day centuries is the second-best, but still 14 short of Tendulkar.
