‘God of Cricket’ as he is fondly known by among his billions of fans across the world, legendary Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar turned 50 on April 24, 2023.
Widely regarded as one of the greatest ever batsmen to grace the sport of cricket, Tendulkar has created and broken multiple records throughout his illustrious career that spanned over 24 years.
He is the all-time highest runscorer in the Tests and ODIs and also in international cricket across all formats.
He also has the most numbers centuries (100) in international cricket, a unique record that is yet to be broken.
As the maestro reached a new milestone in his life, we look back at all the firsts he has achieved in international cricket.
What are some of the firsts that Sachin Tendulkar achieved in his career?
- First to reach 100 centuries in international cricket: On March 16, 2023, Sachin Tendulkar became the first and the only batsman on the planet to score 100 centuries in international cricket. He his 49th ODI century against Bangladesh to reach the milestone.
- The first man to score 200 in ODIs: Till date, eight cricketers have managed to score double centuries in ODIs but the first man to reach the milestone was Sachin Tendulkar when he scored an unbeaten 200 against South Africa in Gwalior on February 24, 2010.
- First to play 200 test matches: Sachin Tendulkar’s last Test match of his career was his 200th appearance in the longer format. He played his final and 200th test match against West Indies in his home city Mumbai. He is the first and only player to have played 200 test matches.
- First to reach 15,000 Test runs: The Indian legend is also the first and only batsman to score 15,000 runs in Test cricket. He achieved feat against West Indies in Delhi in the first of his final test series in 2013.
- First to score 18,000 runs in ODIs: Sachin Tendulkar is again the first and only batsman to have scored 18,000 runs in ODIs. He achieved the feat during the 2011 World Cup quarter-final against Australia in Ahmedabad on March 24, 2011.
- First to score 30,000 runs: On November 20, 2009, Sachin Tendulkar became the first batsman to reach 30,000 runs in international cricket against Sri Lanka in a test match. He went on to score 34,357 international runs across all formats (Test, ODI and T20I). To date, no other player has able to achieve this milestone.
- First player to be given out by the third umpire: This may not be a record that Sachin would be proud of. However, he remains the first batsman to be given out by the third umpire. In the first Test of India’s tour of South Africa, Sachin was involved in a runout and was given out by the third umpire after replays.