On this day: Sachin Tendulkar scores his 100th international century

16th March will be etched in the minds of cricket fans across the globe as the day when Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar scored his 100th international century.

“I was not thinking about the milestone, the media started all this; wherever I went, the restaurant, room service, everyone was talking about the 100th hundred. Nobody talked about my 99 hundreds. It became mentally tough for me because nobody talked about my 99 hundreds” – This is what Sachin Tendulkar had said after becoming the first man in the history of the game to score 100 international hundreds.

Tendulkar’s comments make the mood of the country and the cricket community crystal clear when he was in search of that particular century. No other player’s achievement has been celebrated as much as Tendulkar’s in a team game and it is not surprising at all. No other cricketer has achieved as much success with the bat as Tendulkar.

No player has carried the burden of more than a billion people on his shoulders longer than Tendulkar. For over two decades, Tendulkar represented India in international cricket and was the poster boy of Indian cricket for the majority of his glorious career. There was a time when India’s success depended directly on his batting. Unsurprisingly, the Indian fans treated him like a demi-god and celebrated his personal milestones as the team’s success.

The entire country was waiting desperately for Tendulkar to score his 100th ton. 100 international centuries would have probably never even entered the realms of the achievable for any other cricketer but Tendulkar was an exception by miles. Breaking records and achieving the unimaginable were the hallmarks of his career. Thus, it was absolutely fitting that the record of 100 international centuries was first breached by Tendulkar and it would not be surprising at all if this record is never-ever broken.

Coming to the 100th ton, it came against Bangladesh in Mirpur during the 2012 Asia Cup. The century came after a long wait of 33 innings. The kind of form Tendulkar was in during the second half of the 2000s, the 100th century looked like a mere formality after he scored his 99th during the match against South Africa at the 2011 World Cup.

Destiny, however, had something else in mind. Luck seemed to have deserted the most-prolific run-scorer in the history of the game as the wait for the century continued. But after a wait of more than one year and 33 innings, Tendulkar finally reached the milestone which is unlikely to ever be emulated.

It was not an easy century for the batting maestro. Tendulkar was not at his fluent best and was unusually cautious. The batting legend toiled in front of a partisan crowd and finally reached the milestone off 138 deliveries.

Tendulkar reached the 100th hundred with a nudge behind square leg in the 44th over. Despite the huge buzz surrounding the century and the magnitude of the historic achievement, there was no over-the-top celebration from the Little Master. The former India batsman took his helmet off and looked at his bat as if he was asking ‘why did it take so long to reach the 100th ton?’. He then looked up at the sky before acknowledging his delighted team-mates by raising his helmet.

It was also his first ODI hundred against Bangladesh, completing his set of centuries against every Full Member country in both Tests and ODIs. Tendulkar was out for 114 as India scored 289 for 5. Unfortunately, the bowlers failed to defend the total as Bangladesh chased down the target in the final over of the match to register a famous win.