Sachin Tendulkar turns 51 today. The 'God of cricket' as he is fondly remembered as was among the greatest players to ever play the game. Almost a decade has passed since he played his last international game and yet most of his records still stand tall. (More Cricket News)
Among his major statistical achievements the major one are: most international runs (34357), most ODI runs (18426), most Test runs (15921), most international centuries (100), most Test centuries (51).
Apart from these major records the Indian legend has a plethora of other achievements a list of which will keep going on and on and on.
While former cricketers put out post on social media to wish the 'Master Blaster' his 51st birthday, Cricket Australia choose an interesting way to reminisce the greatness of the batting legend on this special day.
Early morning Indian Standard Time, Cricket Australia run website cricket.com.au posted highlights of every single Sachin Tendulkar century on Australian soil.
Australia was among the 'Little Master's' favourite away destination. Outside of India, Sachin has scored his most Test runs (1809) in Australia. He has scored six Test centuries in Australia, most for him in a foreign country.
The highlights uploaded on the website show how an 18-year-old Sachin scored his first century Down Under in 1992.
This was also the first time the Indian legend locked horns with the Australian spin Maestro Shane Warne, who was on his international debut. The Test marked not just the beginning of Shane Warne's career but also the starting point of a generation-defining rivalry.
The best of Sachin in this rivalry came in March 1998 at Chepauk.
The 'Little Master' was at the peak of his powers and the series was billed as a battle between him and Warne.
Warne was expected to bring his magic to India after bamboozling batters world over. But India could never become his turf.
Sachin smashed the Australian bowlers including Warne and finished with an unbeaten 155 off just 191 balls in the second innings to set a match-winning 348-run target for the visitors.
Warne leaked 122 runs in 30 overs in the second innings and Australia lost the game by 179 runs despite taking a first innings lead.
Among his other epic knock Down Under, the one that stands out is his 241 not out, again at Sydney in 2004.
The Legend was going through a rare lean patch in the series and he deduced that it was because of his eagerness to play the cover drive. Sachin went into bat in the Test determined not to play the drive through the cover region.
The right-hander showed super human level of concentration and determination in this 10-hour-long and 436-ball marathon innings where he plundered 241 runs as India drew the match.
IPL Connect
Australians are the most favoured group in the Indian Premier League. The biggest player contingent in the league usually comes from Down Under. The two costliest players of the league are Australians.
Even in the early seasons, Australians were the most sought after group in IPL. And it is not just that the players are in demand. Coaches and support staffs have also a large number of Australians.
However, all this is not for nothing. The first two IPL winning captains Shane Warne and Adam Gilchrist were both Australians. In fact, apart from Indians, only Australian captains have been able to lead teams to an IPL trophy. Warne, Gilchrist and David Warner still remain the only non-Indian skippers to win an IPL title.
Even the Player Of The Tournament in the first two seasons of the IPL were Australians. The graceful left-hander Shaun Marsh was the Player Of The Tournament for the first season while Adam Gilchrist was handed the award in the next season.
It was Sachin Tendulkar who broke the Australian stranglehold on the IPL Player Of The Tournament trophy. His 618-run season in 2010 took Mumbai Indians to final and Sachin became the first-ever Indian to be given the prestigious honour.
