The early exit from 2007 ICC World Cup was one of the most humiliating chapters in the history of Indian cricket. The supporters had a hard time dealing with India's exit at the group stage itself.
At this point of time, some relief from shortcomings of the past was the need of the hour which was provided by India's timely win in the 2007 T20 World Cup. But before that sweet victory, an innings had calmed the nerves of the Indian supporters.
That innings came in Belfast, Ireland from the bat of a certain Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.
After the drubbing in West Indies, India travelled to England and Ireland to play a three-match ODI series against South Africa and then a full-fledged series against the Three Lions.
Against the Proteas, India made a comeback after losing the first game and went on to register a 2-1 win in the series.
Notably, in the second ODI of the series, 10 years ago, Sachin Tendulkar scored his 15000th run in one-day internationals. India went on to win the match by six wickets on the back of Tendulkar’s historic milestone.
He became the first player to complete 15,000 ODI runs in the match. A record, which is expected to remain untouched for many more years to come.
Tendulkar arrived in Ireland on the back of a patchy run of form. However, his fortunes changed from the first game itself as he scored 99 runs before getting run out in a match which India ultimately lost.
In the second one-dayer, the Proteas managed just 226 in their stipulated 50 overs and Yuvraj Singh starred with figures of 36/3. In reply, Tendulkar and Ganguly managed a 134 runs opening stand which took the game away from the South Africans.
The pitch was on the bouncier side which led the likes of Makhaya Ntini and Andre Nel to pitch it short time and again against the Indian openers. But the right-handed Mumbaikar was up to the task as he used his cuts and pulls intelligently to reply to the short stuff.
Tendulkar top-scored for the Indians with 93 but missed out on another ODI century, which could have been his 42nd. However, the feat we are focussing on here came in the 18th over. The master blaster took a single off Andre Nel’s bowling on the leg side and along with it, completed his 15000th run in the shorter format of the game.
Tendulkar made his debut in 1989 and it took him 384 ODIs to reach the number. In an extravagant career spanning over two decades, SRT scored 18426 ODI runs at an average of 44.83, along with 49 centuries and 96 fifties.
Tendulkar's individual brilliance and the series win helped the team reinstill the fans’ belief in Indian cricket, which was lost to some extent after the World Cup debacle. India followed it up with a famous test series win over the Three Lions in England, their first in 21 years.
Brand-new app in a brand-new avatar! Download CricRocket for fast cricket scores, rocket flicks, super notifications and much more! 🚀☄️
