We, as a cricket-crazy nation, owe a debt of gratitude once again to the inspirational Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar for becoming the first human to break the 200-run barrier in 2961 international ODI matches.

Hail Master Sachin Tendulkar

Tendulkar's brilliant, flawless historic, unbeaten 147-ball knock in Gwalior yesterday in his 442nd game in 20 years of international cricket in a career that has seen him obliterate all manner of Test and ODI records, was vintage Sachin, one that will rank alongside his best in the limited overs version.

The Little Master's achievement yesterday was all the more commendable since it came in humid conditions against the fiercely competitive attack and athletic fielding of one of the most formidable teams in the world, one that ranks among the top three in both Test and one-day cricket.

It also bore testimony to his admirable physical fitness in that, at age 36, he remained unbeaten after batting through 50 overs, despite suffering from cramps in the last 10 overs.

His incandescent display was illumined with 25 thrilling fours and three imperious sixes, but was also notable for 56 sprinted singles and 13 twos, the result of flawless timing and deft placements.

Tendulkar's accomplishments in a star-studded career, starting with his unbeaten 286 in the Giles inter-school final and his unbeaten stand of 664 with Vinod Kambli in an inter-school match for Shardashram School on the very day -- February 24 (in 1988) -- are too well-known to bear repetition.

Suffice to say that even after 47 Test and 46 ODI centuries (for a total of 93) against all-comers all over the world, the diminutive Goliath (not an oxymoron in this context) said after yesterday's memorable innings that he would like to play another 50-over ODI innings.

On the evidence of yesterday's performance, and given thatu00a0 Tendulkar is showing no traces of losing any of his magical powers (10 of his hundreds have come in the last 12 months), there is no reason why the self-effacing genius -- a gentle, compassionate human being if ever there was one -- should not complete a century of centuries in the very near future.

Significantly, Tendulkar dedicated his record yesterday to "all people of India... who stood by me and supported me."

When he scores his 100th century, it will surely be another reason for all Indian hearts (he stresses he is Indian first before all else), to swell with pride again.

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