Top five innings in ODIs by Sachin Tendulkar: A personal research

Some call him GOD, while others call him SELFISH, he is the one and only Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, the five feet five inch run-machine, who has more than 60 records to his name.

His retirement from ODIs has sent the whole nation (even his detractors) in tears. When I took a look on his 24-year old career, there was a special onus on me to choose his top five IDPF (Intensive Display by a Player on the Field) innings in ODIs.

It was not at all an easy task to choose from 463 matches that he played in these years but when I sorted out the list, I was surprised to find that out that in his top 5 IDPF performances, 4 came out of his bat and 1 with the bowl and in those 4 batting performances, he didn’t have a century in 2 (IDPF is not about scoring centuries or taking 5 wickets).

So let us have a look at his 5 IDPF performances:

Sachin Tendulkar (file photo)

1. Kill me first if you want to win: It was a day before my birthday and India has a very bad record in November. Chasing a mountain of 351 runs to win against the Aussies in Hyderabad in 2010, India set off with rapid-fire fours by Sachin Tendulkar. If you look at the scorecard, only four out of India’s 11 players crossed 10 runs.

Sachin scored 175 in India’s three run-loss (50.43 percent of India’s runs) and the second highest being Suresh Raina (59 off 59 balls). So it was easily a Sachin show at Hyderabad.

Sachin Tendulkar walks back to the pavilion after performing he ‘sandstorm’ in Sharjah.

2. Sandstorm in Sharjah: The 143 against the Aussies in Sharjah back in 1998 is the top IDPF prformance by Sachin Tendulkar. If you remember the match, India had to chase 276 in 46 overs and needed 241 to qualify for the finals. Given the scenario in those days, it was difficult for a team to chase anything over 200 in one-dayers. Sachin Tendulkar lead India from the front with nine hits to the fence and five hits out of the park. He scored 143 runs in India’s 250 (57.2 percent of India’s runs). India lost the match but eventually qualified for the finals and won the tournament. Sachin scored 134 in the final.

Sachin Tendulkar en route to his 91 against Australia

3. Its NOW or NEVER: Commonwealth Bank Series, second final, Brisbane 2008. India had already won the first final by defeating Australia riding on Sachin’s unbeaten 117. Sachin scored 91 runs (35.27 percent of India’s runs) on a bouncy Brisbane track and batted close to 3 hours as India won by 9 runs. The second top scorer by an Indian player was Yuvraj Singh’s 38.

File photo of Sachin Tendulkar bowling

4. I am more dangerous with the ball: India were playing Pakistan in Kochi on April 2, 2005. After Sachin failed with the bat, India piled on 281 runs but to their dismay the Pakistani openers had their guns blazing before slipping from 45-0 to 64-4. But someone had to strike and remove the dangerous middle-order of Pakistan consisting of mighty Inzamam-Ul-Haq and Pakistan almost recovered to 112-4 before Sachin struck with the ball. He went on to pick up a five-wicket haul for 50 runs in 10 overs that comprised of a maiden over also.

Sachin Tendulkar

5. The nervous 90 at the Oval: India had to chase 317 vs England to stay in the series. Already 3-2 behind and a mountain to climb, the Indian openers that comprised of Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly had their guns blazing and scored at more than run-a-ball to bring up 150 by the 22nd over that set the platform for the middle order to win the match. Sachin hit 16 fours and one six in his fast-track innings of 94. India won the match and leveled the series.