Published: Aug 17, 2015, 07:31 PM (IST)
Edited: Aug 17, 2015, 07:31 PM (IST)
It was one of Sachin Tendulkar’s many 100 international centuries in the years to come. India toured England in the summer of 1996, to play three one-Day Internationals (ODIs) and three Tests. Mohammad Azharuddin was the skipper. India lost the ODI series 0-2. The first Test at Birmingham again went in the favour of the hosts, as they won by eight wickets. The second Test ended in a draw riding on a spirited performance by Venkatesh Prasad, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble.The third Test was to be held at Trent Bridge. India won the toss and elected to bat. Vikram Rathour and Nayan Mongia opened the batting for India, however, neither of the openers lasted long.
Sourav Ganguly and Tendulkar were the next batsmen to come in. The duo were involved in a 255-run partnership for the third wicket as India reached the total of 288 for the loss of three from 33 for the loss of two. Ganguly departed after scoring 136 from 268 balls. Ganguly hit 17 fours and two sixes. Tendulkar, along with Sanjay Manjrekar, added another another 89 runs, before he was dismissed by Mark Ealham. Tendulkar hit 26 fours. India’s first innings score was 521. In reply, England scored 564. India batted again, and Tendulkar scored 74 before Chris Lewis removing him.
The match eventually ended in a draw and England won the 3-Test series 1-0. Ganguly was awarded the Man of the Match and both Ganguly and Nasser Hussain was awarded man of the series.
In 2012, Tendulkar became the first cricketer to score a record 100 international centuries when he scored a fine 100 not out during fourth Asia Cup match against Bangladesh at Mirpur. The Little Master took 138 balls to reach the triple figures, and hit 10 boundaries and one six during the knock. The right-handed batsman, who bats in the middle-order in Test formats and opens in the One-Day Internationals, is also the leading run-getter in both the formats. Tendulkar made his Test debut against Pakistan in 1989 and hit his first Test century against England in 1990 at Old Trafford.
