The field is Tendulkar's playground

When he takes the field for the third Test today, Sachin Tendulkar becomes the most Test capped player in the history of cricket.

In his first Test in 1989, it was evident that Tendulkar was to the manor born. as he becomes the most-capped player today, it seems he owns the place

When he takes the field for the third Test today, Sachin Tendulkar becomes the most Test capped player in the history of cricket. This is the least compelling of his myriad records but if clubbed together with his longevity in the game, throws up another fascinating dimension to his cricketing persona.

Sachin Tendulkar in a relaxed mood at Lahore during his debut tour to Pakistan in 1989. PIC/Ben Radford /Allsport

It's been almost 21 years since Tendulkar made his debut at Karachi in 1989. He was 16 then, which makes him 37 now. This is by no meansu00a0 'old' for a cricketer. Several players in the past played well into their 40s. C K Nayudu and Jack Hobbs , to name just two, were good in their 50s too and Sir Donald Bradman, whom Tendulkar is compared with increasingly, played his last Test at 40.

Very few players, however, have played international cricket for more than 20 years. Hobbs, Wilfred Rhodes, Geoff Boycott and Imran Khan are a few names that come readily to mind. In that sense, Tendulkar has lasted longer than Bradman, Gavaskar, Richards, Miandad and scores of other outstanding cricketers through the ages.

I make this comparison not as a measure of greatness, rather of appetite for playing the game. Given his workload, what with ODIs and sundry other matches to supplement the record number of Tests he's played, Tendulkar has shown himself to be extraordinarily hungry for cricket. At an age when most players would be looking for an honourable fade-out, he's marking out a fresh stance as it were.

Sunil Gavaskar mentioned the other night on one of the news channels that what marks Tendulkar out as different from him was his utter child-like delight at taking the field even now. That's what makes him different from most players, contemporaries or predecessors.

Tendulkar is more controlled than nakedly aggressive in his batting, more measured than instinctive. But he doesn't look a whit jaded. He understands signals from his body and mind, and does take leave of absence from some tournaments, but when he takes the field, it is with full heart, soul and commitment.

Not just statistically, but even from the quality of batsmanship the last two years have been remarkable. When most people thought that Tendulkar would be reaching the end, he has hit a purple patch like perhaps never before. He is scoring at close to 100 runs a Test and made seven centuries in his last 12 Tests, including the masterly double at Colombo last week.

If this is not a second wind, I don't know what is. When I saw him play his first Test, he had fuzzy hair and a boyish restlessness to prove himself at the highest level.

He didn't make too many on debut, but from the way he walked out to the middle and settled into his impeccable stance, it was evident that Tendulkar was to the manor born. More than two decades later, it seems he owns the place.