The Greatest Player of Every Decade

The 1990s:

Tendulkar: Overcame some of the best bowlers the game had seen

Sachin Tendulkar (IND)

The 1990s was a difficult time for batsmen, as shown by the fact that none of the three highest run scorers in this decade averaged above 42. In a similar vein to the 1980s being the golden era of allrounders, the 1990s was the golden era of pace.

Curtly Ambrose, Glenn McGrath, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock were just some of the exceptional fast bowlers to thrive in this decade. If that wasn't enough of a headache for batters, there was also Shane Warn and Muttiah Muralitharan for them to worry about, albeit with the latter yet to reach his prime.

Yet the man who stood taller in the face of these greats than anyone else was the five foot five Sachin Tendulkar.

Still only 16 at the turn of the decade, Tendulkar had already made his Test debut. While he showed he had the head of a much older player, the first few years of the 1990s saw Tendulkar still working hard to find his footing at Test level.

It was in 1992 where things began to fall into place for Tendulkar, as he started the year with an unbeaten 148 against Australia. He would score two more centuries before the year's end, having only reached a hundred once before in his Test career.

In the seven remaining years of the 1990s, Tendulkar averaged over 60 in all but 2 years, scoring a further 16 centuries. His record for the 1990s saw him score 5626 runs at an average of 58.00. Nobody to score 2,000 runs during this period averaged more.

These figures would be incredible for any time, but they are made all the more remarkable by the quality of bowling he faced. This is demonstrated in that no single bowler dismissed him more than 10 times in a Test career that saw him take to the crease 329 times. Tendulkar also adapted his game to suit conditions, as his away average was actually slightly superior to his home one.

With a career spanning 25 years, the 1990s are just one segment of his career, but it was a segment that not only showed he could compete among the best, but that he could be the best.