Long wait for Sachin's 100th ton finally over

Bannister’s 3:59.4, Chamberlain’s 100, Pele’s 1,281, Schumacher’s Seven, Federer’s 16... The list that, perhaps, encapsulates the true meaning of ‘achievement’ in the world of sport has a new entrant.

Moments after he jogged the 22 longest yards of his unmatchable — almost envious — career, Sachin Tendulkar allowed himself a smile of sorts. He glanced at his bat which, given the circumstances, stood the most burdensome test of his life.

He then took off his helmet, looked up to the heavens like he always does, acknowledged the deafening cheers of 25,000-odd boisterous fans and got back to work.

The hurdle which had been bogging him, and us, down for the last 369 days and 33 innings had been crossed, but Tendulkar treated his 100th international hundred like just another knock.

For once, let’s pay no heed to the piece of evidence that it was his slowest hundred (138 balls) in an Indian Blue; let’s overlook the fact that it came against Bangladesh and let’s close our eyes to the reality that India’s eventual total could have been well above 300. No one’s ever expected a man to run the last of his 100 miles the fastest.

As Indians, and as followers of this noble game, we must consider ourselves privileged to be relishing cricket in the era graced by a diminutive man whose broad shoulders have never stooped despite the weight of a billion prayers and curses.

Tendulkar’s dalliance with the three-figure marks began on a summer evening in serene Manchester when he rescued India from a hopeless situation in the second Test against Graham Gooch’s England. At 17 years and 112 days, he was then the youngest batsman to score a Test century and his repertoire of strokes proved that 119, studded with 17 hits to the fence, was the first of many. But these many?

The answer to that question is the man’s long-lasting desire to evolve and excel; prove and disprove; change and challenge and, well, just play and respect the game that’s given him so much. The journey from Old Trafford to Sher-e-Bangla has taken a mind-numbing 21 years, seven years and eight days or 7,891 days.

By his own admission, the last one year or so has been “a tough phase” for Tendulkar. “I started off the season batting reasonably well, I was luckless. 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,” Tendulkar said soon after his historic 114-run knock on Friday.

Tendulkar’s career is as complete as it can be. He owns every batting record worth owning, he’s won the World Cup and he now stands on a peak no one will even dare to scale. And so, may we ask: What now?