On this day 26 years ago, Sachin Tendulkar slammed his first ODI century in the match against Australia in Colombo.
Sachin Tendulkar may hold the record for most number of runs and centuries in the ODI format, but even the Master Blaster had to wait for five years since his debut in the format to reach his maiden three-figure mark.
On this day 26 years ago, Sachin Tendulkar slammed the first of his 49 ODI centuries in the match against Australia in Colombo. It was his 78th ODI.
It was a gritty performance from then-19-year-old Tendulkar, who scored a 130-ball 110 in an innings when no other Indian batsman could cross the 50-run mark. His innings played a key role in the side's victory in the match, as India won by 31 runs.
Tendulkar opened the batting alongside Manoj Prabhakar and dominated a star-studded Australian pace attack which included the likes of Craig McDermott, Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne, among others.
Even as the Australian side continued to dismiss the batsmen at the other end in regular intervals, the young Tendulkar continued to play his aggressive brand of cricket throughout the innings. He eventually battled the Aussie attack to reach the three-figure mark, which had eluded him on the previous 77 occasions.
India bowled Australia out on 215 in the run-chase.
Tendulkar went on to slam 48 ODI centuries in the ODIs, ending his career as the highest century-scorer in the history of the format. Overall, Tendulkar has scored 100 international centuries (51 in Tests), which is also a world record.
The 'Master Blaster' appeared for India in 463 ODIs, scoring 18,426 runs.
