Sachin Tendulkar has been the most complete batsman of his time, and arguably the biggest cricket icon as well. His batting is based on the purest principles: perfect balance, economy of movement, precision in stroke-making, and that intangible quality given only to geniuses, anticipation. If he doesn't have a signature stroke - the upright, back-foot punch comes close - it is because he is equally proficient in each of the full range of orthodox shots (and plenty of improvised ones as well) and can pull them out at will.

Though he has adopted a noticeably conservative approach in the last quarter of his career, there are no apparent weaknesses in Tendulkar's game. He can score all around the wicket, off both front foot and back, and has made runs in all parts of the world in all conditions.

Some of his finest performances have come against Australia, the overwhelmingly dominant team of his era. His century as a 19-year old on a lightning fast pitch at the WACA is considered one of the best innings ever to have been played in Australia. A few years later he received the ultimate compliment from the ultimate batsman when Don Bradman confided to his wife that Tendulkar reminded him of himself.

Blessed with the keenest of cricket minds, and armed with a loathing for losing, Tendulkar set about doing what it took to become one of the best batsmen in the world. This was after he was turned away from a fast-bowling camp in Chennai by Dennis Lillee.

Tendulkar's greatness was established early: he was only 16 when he made his Test debut. He was hit on the mouth by Waqar Younis but continued to bat, in a blood-soaked shirt. His first Test hundred, a match-saving one at Old Trafford, came when he was 17, and he had 16 Test hundreds before he turned 25. In 2000 he became the first batsman to have scored 50 international hundreds, and in 2008 he passed Brian Lara as the leading Test run-scorer and the first to 12,000 runs. He currently holds the record for most hundreds in both Tests and ODIs - remarkable, considering he didn't score his first ODI hundred till his 79th match.

Tendulkar's considerable achievements seem greater still when looked at in the light of the burden of expectations he has had to bear from his adoring but somewhat unreasonable followers, who have been prone to regard anything less than a hundred as a failure. The aura may have dimmed, if only slightly, as the years on the international circuit have taken their toll on the body, but Tendulkar remains, by a distance, the most worshipped cricketer in the world.

England in India Test Series - 2nd Test India v England

2008/09 season

Played at Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh, on 19,20,21,22,23 December 2008 (5-day match)

	India 1st innings			R	M	B	4s	6s	SR
		G Gambhir	c Cook b Swann	179	464	348	25	1	51.43
		V Sehwag	c Prior b Broad	0	9	3	0	0	0.00
		R Dravid	c Panesar b Swann	136	473	328	19	0	41.46
		SR Tendulkar	lbw b Swann	11	47	26	1	0	42.30
		VVS Laxman	lbw b Flintoff	0	35	24	0	0	0.00
		Yuvraj Singh	c Prior b Panesar	27	82	66	3	1	40.90
		MS Dhoni	c sub (OA Shah) b Anderson	29	102	73	3	0	39.72
		Harbhajan Singh	c Swann b Panesar	24	32	21	2	1	114.28
		Z Khan	b Flintoff	7	37	21	1	0	33.33
		A Mishra	b Flintoff	23	49	31	1	1	74.19
		I Sharma	not out	1	16	15	0	0	6.66
		Extras	(b 5, lb 5, nb 6)	16
		Total	(all out; 158.2 overs; 677 mins)	453	(2.86 runs per over)

Fall of wickets1-6 (Sehwag, 1.6 ov), 2-320 (Gambhir, 109.5 ov), 3-329 (Dravid, 113.3 ov), 4-337 (Tendulkar, 119.4 ov), 5-339 (Laxman, 120.6 ov), 6-379 (Yuvraj Singh, 140.3 ov), 7-418 (Dhoni, 146.5 ov), 8-418 (Harbhajan Singh, 147.2 ov), 9-446 (Khan, 154.3 ov), 10-453 (Mishra, 158.2 ov)

	Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ
	JM Anderson	32	5	84	1	2.62	(2nb)
	SCJ Broad	26	9	84	1	3.23
	A Flintoff	30.2	10	54	3	1.78	(4nb)
	MS Panesar	23	2	89	2	3.86
	GP Swann	45	11	122	3	2.71
	PD Collingwood	2	0	10	0	5.00

	England team

AN Cook, AJ Strauss, IR Bell, KP Pietersen, A Flintoff, PD Collingwood, MJ Prior, GP Swann, SCJ Broad, JM Anderson, MS Panesar

Toss India, who chose to bat first Player of the match tba Umpires Asad Rauf (Pakistan) and DJ Harper (Australia) TV umpire SL Shastri Match referee JJ Crowe (New Zealand) Reserve umpire VD Nerurkar Close of play day 1 - India 1st innings 179/1 (G Gambhir 106*, R Dravid 65*, 72 ov) day 2 - India 1st innings 453 (I Sharma 1*, 158.2 ov)

Match notes

• Day 1
• India 1st innings
• Match Delayed: India - 0/0
• Bad Light: India - 0/0
• Drinks: India - 15/1 in 11.0 overs (G Gambhir 9, R Dravid 3)
• India: 50 runs in 19.5 overs (121 balls), Extras 5
• Lunch: India - 51/1 in 21.0 overs (G Gambhir 35, R Dravid 11)
• 2nd Wicket: 50 runs in 120 balls (G Gambhir 30, R Dravid 15, Ex 5)
• G Gambhir: 50 off 101 balls (7 x 4)
• India: 100 runs in 33.1 overs (201 balls), Extras 5
• 2nd Wicket: 100 runs in 216 balls (G Gambhir 56, R Dravid 39, Ex 5)
• Drinks: India - 106/1 in 38.0 overs (G Gambhir 62, R Dravid 39)
• R Dravid: 50 off 151 balls (6 x 4)
• Tea: India - 134/1 in 53.0 overs (G Gambhir 78, R Dravid 50)
• India: 150 runs in 57.6 overs (352 balls), Extras 7
• 2nd Wicket: 150 runs in 350 balls (G Gambhir 86, R Dravid 60, Ex 7)
• G Gambhir: 100 off 214 balls (11 x 4, 1 x 6)
• Drinks: India - 176/1 in 69.0 overs (G Gambhir 105, R Dravid 64)
• Bad Light: India - 179/1 in 72.0 overs (G Gambhir 106, R Dravid 65)
• End Of Day: India - 179/1 in 72.0 overs (G Gambhir 106, R Dravid 65)

• Day 2
• New Ball Taken: India 198/1 after 80.1 overs (G Gambhir 119, R Dravid 71)
• India: 200 runs in 80.3 overs (488 balls), Extras 8
• 2nd Wicket: 200 runs in 477 balls (G Gambhir 113, R Dravid 79, Ex 8)
• Drinks: India - 239/1 in 89.0 overs (G Gambhir 131, R Dravid 98)
• R Dravid: 100 off 261 balls (13 x 4)
• India: 250 runs in 94.1 overs (570 balls), Extras 11
• 2nd Wicket: 250 runs in 571 balls (G Gambhir 134, R Dravid 106, Ex 11)
• G Gambhir: 150 off 322 balls (21 x 4, 1 x 6)
• India: 300 runs in 104.6 overs (635 balls), Extras 11
• Lunch: India - 302/1 in 105.0 overs (G Gambhir 167, R Dravid 124)
• 2nd Wicket: 300 runs in 629 balls (G Gambhir 163, R Dravid 129, Ex 11)
• Drinks: India - 337/3 in 119.0 overs (SR Tendulkar 11, VVS Laxman 0)
• India: 350 runs in 130.1 overs (787 balls), Extras 12
• Tea: India - 356/5 in 133.0 overs (Yuvraj Singh 12, MS Dhoni 6)
• India: 400 runs in 144.2 overs (872 balls), Extras 12
• Drinks: India - 418/7 in 146.5 overs (Harbhajan Singh 24)
• India: 450 runs in 156.6 overs (948 balls), Extras 16
• Innings Break: India - 453/10 in 158.2 overs (I Sharma 1)