Sachin Tendulkar: Top five test match innings by the little master

Here is our pick of Sachin's top five Test match knocks

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar turns 44 today. More than 3 years after his retirement, the little champion is still the most famous batsman in the world. While we may not see him bat again in a Test match, we can take solace from the fact that he batted in an age when all the matches were televised. We can revisit our favorite Tendulkar innings and relive those moments when the most prolific run-scorer in the history of the game brought a smile to millions of faces across the world. 

Here are five of his best Test knocks

1. 114 vs Australia, Perth, February 1992

This was Sachin Tendulkar's first tour of Australia and he had already scored a century in Sydney but the fifth Test match at Perth was a different ball game, literally. Not only was this the fastest and bounciest pitch in the world, but he was also faced with a loss of support at the other end. India had lost 8 batsmen for just 159 runs and then Sachin built a 81-run partnership with wicket-keeper More. His talent was never in doubt - he had already scored two hundreds -  but with this hundred he stamped his class.

This is what former Australian captain, Ian Chappel has to say about this hundred:

Here is this 18-year-old kid, he comes to Perth and he makes 114. Okay, he got more runs in Sydney, but to me the innings in Perth was more impressive because here is a kid, coming from low-bouncing pitches to the highest bouncing and the fastest pitch in the world - totally unique conditions. He makes all the adjustments and scores 114.

Watch it here:

2. 169 vs South Africa, Cape Town, January 1997

On a blazing fast pitch in the first test match of the series at Durban, Indian had been dismissed for 100 and 66 in the two innings. It was a huge embarrassment. In the second test match at Cape Town South Africa scored a huge 529 runs in the first innings. In reply, it seemed that India was ready for another batting collapse in the first innings when it lost 5 wickets for just 58 runs. The South African pace battery of Donald, Pollock, Klusener and McMillan was making life difficult for Indian batsmen. Some sledging from the South Africans was only adding to the pressure. Then, India fought back with a partnership of 222 runs between captain Sachin Tendulkar and Mohammed Azharuddin, both of whom batted with aggression and determination and scored memorable centuries even though India lost the match. It was a brilliant catch by Adam Bacher that got Tendulkar out eventually. 

South African Cricket administrator, Ali Bacher had this to say about this knock:

During that day Sachin (Tendulkar) played one of the greatest knocks I have ever seen. I can recall two things — one is Allan Donald taking the second new ball and bowling from the Wynberg End. Then what we see is straight drives, cover drives, and pulls and cuts. Sachin simply annihilated Donald.

Watch it here:

3. 155 vs Australia, Chennai, March 1998

Shane Warne came to India in 1998 hoping to conquer the final frontier with his guile. India not only had the most supportive pitches for spin bowling but also had batsmen who could hold their own against any spinner. But would they be able to do so against Shane Warne? And how would Sachin fare against the champion leg spinner? The whole world wanted to watch that battle. 

In the first Test match of the series, Warne won round 1 as he dismissed Sachin cheaply in the first innings; caught at slip by Mark Taylor as he tried to play an expansive drive. In the second innings, Tendulkar didn't let Warne smile though. He cut, pull, drove, swept and smashed the Aussie spinner all day and ended with 155 runs, with a strike rate of 81, in a Test match. Warne's confidence was shattered. Tendulkar had been preparing for this face-off for a long time. He made former Indian leggie, Laxman Sivramakrishnan bowl to him from around-the-stumps on his pads to emulate what Warne could do. It proved beneficial as Warne could barely trouble him throughout the series.

English Test umpire David Shepherd also officiated in this 3 Test series. He had this to say about Tendulkar much later:

Sachin Tendulkar! If he isn't the best player in the world, I want to see the best player in the world.
 

Watch it here: 

4. 136 vs Pakistan, Chennai, January 1999

The Pakistan Cricket team was travelling to India for the first time in 12 years. For three days, the first Test between India swung wildly. If India seemed to have the upper hand after Day 1, Pakistan had more or less evened things out by the end of Day 2. On Day 4, India needed 271 to win but this had been Saqlain Mushtaq's match. He had taken 5 Indian wickets in the first innings and had already taken 2 wickets in the second. India had been reduced to 2 down for just 6 runs when Sachin walked in and grafted. More wickets were lost and India was 82 for 5 when Nayan Mongia walked in to join Sachin who then took control and brought India closer to the target. On a turning track, with Saqlain tossing unplayable ball after unplayable ball, it was an innings of unmatched determination and skill. As the Pakistani close-in fielders put pressure and as Indians lost their fingernails, Tendulkar was calm, till he played his first bad shot and it was over. It was heartbreak as India lost the match by 12 runs eventually, but Sachin's hundred in adverse circumstances against a bowling line-up that included Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and a Saqlain Mushtaq lobbing grenades at Chepauk.

Waqar Younis rated this knock as Sachin's finest. Watch it here:

5. 241 vs Australia, Sydney, January 2004

Sachin hadn't had a good series till India reached Sydney for the fourth Test match at SCG. He'd been dismissed cheaply at Brisbane, Adelaide and Melbourne and in the last test of the series he was determined to make it count. It was his off-side play that was giving him trouble and he decided he wouldn't drive on the off-side and he did not. He did not play even a single cover-drive till he had crossed 200. Australia had set a 7-2 field and he took advantage. It was an innings of extreme discipline as he set about gathering runs. He faced 436 balls and ended with 241 runs with 33 boundaries and was ubeaten when India declared after scoring 705 runs. The match ended in a draw.

India's then coach, John Wright said the innings was "remarkable for the strokes Sachin did not play". When asked which was his favourite Sachin innings of all time, Brian Lara picked this double hundred at SCG. Watch it here: 

Twitter: @bhayankur