For an Indian cricket team fan, March is the month of records. From Dravid & Laxman’s resilient partnership to Harbajan’s Singh hat-trick. From that famous victory at Eden Gardens to Sachin Tendulkar breaking records at the Sher-E-Bangla Stadium, the month of March has got all Indian fans mesmerized and nostalgic.
March 16, 2012, a date to be remembered by a fan of the sport of cricket. It doesn’t matter what’s your nationality or which team you support. On this date, 8 years ago, the cricketing fraternity witness greatness in the making, as India’s legendary batsman Sachin Tendulkar completed a Century of Hundreds.
The Indian Cricket team was playing Bangladesh in the 2012 edition of the Aisa Cup. Playing at the Sher-E -Bangla Stadium, the Indian Cricket team was put in to bat first by Bangladesh’s captain Mushfiqur Rahim. Before his innings began, Sachin already had 51 test hundreds and 41 centuries in the limited-overs format to his name. Sachin Tendulkar opened the innings with Delhiite Gautam Gambhir and began the innings cautiously.
Taking his time and getting his eye in, Tendulkar played a brilliant knock of 114 to bring up his 49th ODI century. Sachin scored his 114 in 147 balls. His knock included 12 fours and a 1 six. Sachin’s innings ended with a strike rate of 77.55. India’s middle-order batsman Suresh Raina was the lucky player to witness the moment occur from the best possible place in the world, the nonstriker’s end.
Sachin Tendulkar notched up his 100th century in what is an untouched record so far. He not only became the first player to achieve this milestone but also currently sits as the only player to have accomplished this feat. Tendulkar finally crossed the three-figure mark hurdle after a gap of over a year making the century more special for the player and his fans.
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Mashrafe Mortaza ended Sachin’s stay at the crease as the little master was caught out by Mushfiqur Rahim However, Tendulkar’s knock was not enough to seal the victory for India as the Indian bowlers were unable to defend a target of 290 set by India. Hosts Bangladesh won the match comfortably with four balls to spare.
Since his retirement, no other player has come close to what the mastero has achieved to date. Sachin’s record still remains untouched. The little master also has 164 fifties as he amassed a record-breaking 34,357 runs during his international career. Former Australia skipper and 3 time World Cup winner Ricky Ponting is closest to Sachin’s record with 71 international hundreds to his name.
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Sitting just behind Ricky Pointing is current India skipper Virat Kohli. Virat comes third in the list with 70 international hundreds beside his name. With age by his side and seeing the players’ fitness and huger to succeed, Virat seems to be the best bet and possibly the only one to be in line and make an attempt to break Tendulkar’s record of 100 hundred.
