21
When Sachin Tendulkar got out for 94 in the first innings of the Mumbai Test against the West Indies, the Wankhede Stadium got so stunned that one could hear not just the proverbial breath, but also the sound of one’s thoughts in the mind and emotions in the heart. The heartbreak was massive across the land… as if the pulse of the whole nation had forgotten to beat for a while.
This was the second time the maestro had fallen in the 90s while pursuing the century of international centuries, which, as we all know by now, will be the first time anybody would cross that milestone in international cricket. The pressure of public expectation is mounting and the century seems to be eluding the little master for some time.
Interestingly, Tendulkar has tried to douse the fire, but he has done that by spraying fuel on it. Though he continues to deny his anxiety on the matter, it is only obvious that he has been picking up his spots to achieve the milestone. He skipped the West Indies series earlier this year to make it happen at the hallowed Lord’s. Then it was down to somewhere during the series in England. There was a score in the 90s, and Tendulkar returned to do it in front of the Indian crowd, especially, if he could, at Mumbai, which is his hometown. Though he already has 51 centuries in Tests, and 48 in One Day Internationals, he is avoiding ODIs because he clearly wants to do it in a Test match setting.
All the talk of jinx and the pressure of being so near and yet so far, however, seem to be a little out of place when one takes a look at the relevant statistics. With the focus being consistently on the 99 international hundreds that Tendulkar has scored, it is perhaps a tad difficult for the public and, indeed, our dear old pundits to recall that he has made quite a few 90s in his celebrated career. Any idea how many? There are as many as 28 of them. Leaving out the last two, 26 of the 28 were scored without any pressure of any milestone in sight.
The number of 90s Tendulkar has scored are much more than most of the players have scored centuries in their careers. The total number of players who have appeared in any of the three forms of international cricket is 3,511. Of them, 758, or 21.5 per cent, have ever scored a century. And, there are only 31 players—0.8 per cent of the total—with 28 or more centuries against their names, and, to be sure, they are all big names, including four Pakistanis—Mohammad Yousuf, 39, Inzamamul Haq, 35, and Javed Miandad and Saeed Anwar, 31 each. It is a sign of Tendulkar’s massive talent that he has missed more centuries than those made by 3,480 others.
There have so far been 1,295 scores in the 90s by 491 players. Standing behind Tendulkar is fellow Indian Rahul Dravid, who has 14 such scores, followed by Australian Rickey Ponting and South African Jacques Kallis at 13 each.
Ten of Tendulkar’s 90s have come in Test matches, a mark he shares with Dravid and Australian Steve Waugh. Of the 2,660 who have represented their respective countries at the highest level, only 670—25 per cent—have ever scored a century, and only 112, or a mere four per cent, have scored more than 10, which actually is the number of centuries missed by Tendulkar.
The other 18 scores in the 90s came from Tendulkar’s bat in ODIs where he is followed by Sri Lankan Aravinda de Silva, New Zealander Nathan Astle and Zimbabwean Grant Flower with nine each. Of all the 2,006 individuals who have played ODIs, 670, or 14 per cent, have ever scored a century. Only eight—0.3 per cent—have scored a minimum of 18, which is the number of centuries Tendulkar has missed.
With 638 international innings thus far, Tendulkar’s 28 scores between 90 and 99 represent one such score every 23rd time he goes out to bat. The recent hullabaloo over two such scores apparently has more to do with media hype and public frenzy than with the master himself. It would be unfair to deny the existence of any butterflies in the tummy, but Tendulkar has achieved so much on the cricketing field that one would not expect him to be bothered too much by any milestone.
The naysayer will always be there, but the two recent 90s should be seen against the backdrop of the year 2007 when Tendulkar scored as many as seven 90s in less than five months, including three 99s. In June, he scored 99 and 93 in ODIs against South Africa. A month later, in England, he had scores of 99 and 94 in ODIs and 91 in a Test innings, before returning home and posting 99 and 97 against the visiting Pakistanis.
At the end of that year, Tendulkar had 78 international centuries. Since then he has had 21 centuries and five scores in the 90s. He will do that again, and, in all probability, the focus will then shift to his two centuries that will take him beyond the 50 mark in the ODIs. What a man!
humair_iq@hotmail.com
