Sachin is the true super star of cricket and the greatest ever player to have taken to the game of cricket on planet earth(till date)You could argue that Don Bradman was abetter palyer coz of his average which is almost double of Sachin's.But if you see the circumstances in which Sachin has played, the expectations, the number of matches played, the workload & the professionalism with which the game is played today, the stakes, the amount of money involved etc etc, Sachin truly head & shoulders above the rest. he's already captured the major records & is till creating new records. Every century he scores is a new record, so is every run & a man-of-the match award in ODI's. Following are some of his records & his factfile: Sachin played his first international match against Pakistan in Karachi in 1989, facing the likes of Wasim Akram, Imran Khan, Abdul Qadir, and Waqar Younis. He made just 15 runs, being bowled by Waqar Younis, who also made his debut in that match. It was an inauspicious start, but Tendulkar followed it up with his maiden Test fifty a few days later at Faisalabad. His One-day International (ODI) debut on December 18 was equally disappointing, where he was dismissed without scoring a run, again by Waqar Younis. The series was followed by a tour of New Zealand in which he fell for 88 in the Second Test. John Wright, who later became the coach of India, took the catch that prevented Tendulkar from becoming the youngest centurion in Test cricket. His maiden Test century came in next tour, to England in August 1990 at Old Trafford. Tendulkar truly came into his own in the 1991-1992 tour of Australia that included a brilliant century on the fast and bouncy track at Perth. He has been Man of the Match 11 times in Test matches and Man of the Series twice, both times in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia. His first ODI century came on September 9, 1994 against Australia in Sri Lanka at Colombo. It had taken Tendulkar 79 ODIs to score a century. Sachin Tendulkar is the only player to score a century while making his Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy and Irani Trophy debut. Wisden named Tendulkar one of the Cricketers of the Year in 1997, the first calendar year in which he scored 1,000 Test runs. He repeated the feat in 1999, 2001, and 2002. Tendulkar also holds the record for scoring 1,000 ODI runs in a calendar year. He has done it six times - 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000 and 2003. In 1998 he made 1,894 ODI runs, still the record for ODI runs by any batsman in any given calendar year. While not a regular bowler, Tendulkar has 37 wickets in 132 Tests. Tendulkar lists this innings, played on a bouncy WACA pitch when he was only 18 years old, as his best batting performance. Achievements Sachin Tendulkar's career performance graph. Test cricket Highlights of Tendulkar's Test career include: Rated as the second best batsman of all time (next to Don Bradman) by Wisden Highest number of Test centuries (35), overtaking Sunil Gavaskar's record (34) on 10 December 2005 vs Sri Lanka in Delhi. Played in the highest number of Cricket Grounds - he has played Test Cricket on 52 different grounds, ahead of Azharuddin (48), Kapil Dev (47), Inzamam-ul-Haq (46) and Wasim Akram (45). He is the fastest to score 10,000 runs in Test cricket history. He holds this record along with Brian Lara. Both of them achieved this feat in 195 innings. 4th highest tally of runs in Test cricket (10,323) Career Average 55.79 - Has the highest average among those who have scored over 10,000 Test runs Second Indian to make over 10,000 runs in Test matches. Has 37 Test wickets (14 Dec 2005) Third fastest player to reach 9,000 runs (Rahul Dravid made 9000 runs in 176 innings, Brian Lara made 9000 in 177 innings, Sachin in 179.) ODI Highlights of Tendulkar's ODI career include: Played more matches than any other cricketer along with Sanath Jayasuriya both played 362 matches Most Man of the Match (50) awards Appeared on the most grounds (89 different grounds) Most runs (14,146 as of 15th February, 2006) Most centuries (39) Most centuries vs. Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe. First cricketer and fastest cricketer to cross 10,000-run mark, 11,000-run mark, 12,000-run mark, 13,000 run-mark and 14,000 run-mark in ODIs Only cricketer to cross 14,000-run mark in ODIs Only player to have over 100 innings of 50+ runs as of February, 2006 Over 100 wickets (141 as of 15th February, 2006) Highest batting average among batsmen with over 10,000 ODI runs (as of March 17, 2006) Highest individual score among Indian batsmen (186* against New Zealand at Hyderabad in 1999) Holds the record for scoring 1,000 ODI runs in a calendar year. He has done it six times - 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000 and 2003. In 1998 he made 1,894 ODI runs, still the record for ODI runs by any batsman in any given calendar year. In 1998 he hit 9 ODI centuries, the highest by any player in a year. World Cup Most runs (1732 at an average of 59.72) in World Cup Cricket History Player Of The Tournament in the 2003 Cricket World Cup. 673 runs in 2003 World Cup, highest by any one in a single Cricket World Cup