On this day: Sachin Tendulkar becomes the most capped Test player
In a scintillating, belief-defying career, the mighty Sachin Tendulkar did many things which were thought to be impossible before. One of them was scripting records for fun. Making new ones and breaking the old ones were a part of Tendulkar’s daily routine. There came a time when the legend would just step onto the field and might end up eclipsing any former stalwart.
That’s precisely what happened on this day in 2010 when India’s most beloved son named himself the record of becoming the most capped player in the Test history. To speak of Tendulkar’s records, there is hardly any he does not find himself as a part.
Unarguably cricket’s most prolific star, the Master Blaster holds the record of playing the most Tests (200), most ODIs (463), is the leading run-maker in both formats with 15,921 and 18,463 runs, respectively. He also holds the record for making most centuries in both the formats, 51 and 49, respectively, while no one has more half-centuries than him either, as he leads the lists with 67 and 96 fifties.
With such batting feats, it becomes easy to neglect how good he was with the ball. Tendulkar was more than a capable bowler and has many famous spells named against himself. With 201 wickets to his name in international cricket, Tendulkar proved that he was no mug in the other department of the game.
While all these numbers took an immense amount of grit, blood and sweat, on 3rd August 2011, the Master Blaster broke a record as soon as stepped out against Sri Lanka in the third and final Test of the three-match series to play his 169th Test, surpassing Steve Waugh’s 168. Tendulkar went on to play 31 more Test matches and completed a double century of his appearances in whites. The Indian team made the occasion sweeter by winning the third Test by five wickets.
