Exactly 23 years ago, God of Cricket, Sachin Tendulkar, scored his maiden ODI hundred vs Australia at R. Premdasa Stadium, Colombo, during the Singer World Series. Tendulkar had to wait for 78 ODIs and five years before he achieved this feat in his 79th match.

In what was the third match of the tournament, India had lost its firsts one to Sri Lanka. On the other hand, Australia were fresh from a 28-run victory against Pakistan. Mohammad Azharuddin, the then Indian captain, won the toss and chose to bat. On the back of Tendulkar’s hundred, India ended up scoring 246-8 in 50 overs. Tendulkar scored 110 (130) with the help of eight fours and two sixes before being bowled by Craig McDermott.

In their chase, Australia kept on losing wickets at regular intervals and eventually got bundled out on 215 in 47.4 overs. Having registered figures of 8-0-34-3, Manoj Prabhakar was the pick of the Indian bowlers. India won the match by 31 runs. Sachin Tendulkar was adjourned the Player of the Match

Watch the full video of Tendulkar’s first ODI century: