Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, rated by many as the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket, still finds endless reasons to show his skills on the field. Born on 24 April 1973 and presently holding many cricketing records, Tendulkar is the world’s first and only player to score a double century in the history of one-day international (ODI) cricket.

Popularly known as the Little Master and Master Blaster, Sachin Tendulkar is relishing his stints more on the field now than what he used to do when he made his test debut on 15 November 1989 against Pakistan and ODI debut on 18 December 1989 against Pakistan.

Tendulkar became the first player to play 169 tests and outscored 168 by Australian Steve Waugh and is the highest run-getter in cricket history with 17,598 runs, including 46 centuries, in his 442 one-dayers and 13,742 runs in 168 Tests at an average of 56.08, notching up 48 hundreds and 55 half-centuries.

The 37-year-old champion batsman is seen wearing the Number 10 jersey during ODIs and even has the ability to mesmerize the opposition with his right-arm leg spin or right-arm off spin, which is evident from the fact that he has already taken 44 and 154 wickets in test cricket and ODI cricket, respectively.

The hunger for runs is still on Tendulkar’s side and the Little Master recently remarked that expectations of fans are god’s gift and not burden.

The champion batsman said he has had his rough times but always managed to find the reason to work hard to get out of rough patches. The diminutive batsman has once again silenced his critics to stop talking about his age and passion for cricket when he scored his fifth Test double hundred in the second Test against Sri Lanka last week.

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When the Australian batsman Matthew Hayden says farewell to international cricket, a list of records are safe in his kitty. He batted for just six matches in the first six years of his career. His inauspicious debut was in 1994 in South Africa. The left-hander then went on a record-breaking spree in the next eight years.

Hayden physically towered over his opponents. Thanks to the hugely build batsman’s statistics.

After an unforgettable debut, Hayden became a regular member of the Test team in

2001. He outshined others with his massive 549 at an average of 109.80 against India.

In the next summer, he hit tons in four consecutive Tests against South Africa, and narrowly missed making it five, before going back to pavilion for 96 in Cape Town.

Within the span of 12 months, he scored an impressive1,509 Test runs at 71.85. He was awarded the Allan Border Medal in Feb 2002. His tally of 1,391 Test runs in the 2001 calendar year was an Australian. Hayden was named as the Wisden cricketer of the year in 2003. Hayden scored highest individual innings in Test history next year. He knocked 380 against Zimbabwe by breaking the record of 375 made by Brian Lara. But later Brian Lara posted the first quadruple-century in Test history. In 2005, he again made four centuries in four Tests against England, the West Indies (and the World XI).

Hayden hammered the highest ODI score by an Australian when he scored an unbeaten 181 against New Zealand. The big left-hander also made an impressive performance at the 2007 World Cup, when Australia defended its crown. He scored 659 runs at 73.22. He scored the fastest century in World Cup history (66 balls) and became the third person to score three centuries in a single World Cup.

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