7 moments from Sachin Tendulkar’s career that don’t fade away

4) Near century at Centurion

Sachin Tendulkar celebrates a century at the SuperSport Park, Centurion

The game was on his mind for over a year before it actually happened. India versus Pakistan in cricket’s showpiece event – it couldn’t get any bigger.

On the day of the game, Pakistan batting first put up an impressive target of 274 runs, led by Saeed Anwar’s 126-ball 101.

In reply, Tendulkar put on display one of his career’s finest knocks, treating the Pakistani bowling line-up (that boasted of names such as Waqar Younis, Wasim Akram, and Shoaib Akhtar) with an irreverence that is only seen in age-group cricket.

A wide array of shots – square cuts, drives, flicks, upper-cuts and pulls took the batsman to 98 off just 75 deliveries before he fell to Shoaib Akhtar. But not before he had played the most epic shot of the tournament, upper-cutting a wide, outside off delivery of Akhtar over the third-man boundary for a six.

India went on to win the game and added to their tally of wins against Pakistan in World Cup cricket.