Tendulkar still in search of Lara's record
Posted on Aug 04, 2008 at 15:15 | Updated Aug 05, 2008 at 17:16
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Galle: Not only is Sachin Tendulkar hoping to score that elusive 40th Test century this Sri Lanka tour.
Forgotten amid all the current tour hype of crushing defeats in four days in Colombo and comeback victory in this appealing port town, is how Tendulkar still remains 96 runs adrift of Brian Lara's record to become the highest run scorer in Test cricket.
So far this tour four innings have yielded 75 runs at the none-too-flattering Tendulkar average of 18.75, with a top score of 31 on day three of this Galle Test, won by India on Sunday by 170 runs.
When you consider how pre-tour the avalanche of publicity was all about Tendulkar scaling the metaphorical "Mount Lara" of 172 runs and taking control of the record, but how also it shouldn't deflect interest of the Test series, the silence has been deafening. Especially when you consider how the boast was made that he would scale such peaks of success in the first game of the series.
Such cheeky pre-Test claims have been as quietly forgotten as they were made before the new round of propaganda over so-called mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis and the looming menace of Muttiah Muralitharan grabbed headlines. This was of course followed by the Sri Lankan achievement at the Sinhalese Sports Club, and Team India's recovery programme clinching a series levelling win at Galle International.
Lara's record is 11,953 runs while Tendulkar before the series started had 11,782 at 55.31. He now has 11,857 runs as a lesser average; but those are statistics for you.
You can guarantee, however, that Tendulkar has not forgotten. After all, it was against Sri Lanka at Ferozshah Khotla in New Delhi during India's last Test series against Sri Lanka that he finally edged ahead of Sunil Gavaskar's record of 34 Test centuries.
It would be a tad ironic too in this case if he broke Lara's record at historic Saravanamuttu Oval in Colombo where the third Test is being played and starts on Friday.
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Total Comments: 9
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Posted By Venkat
lets focus on what India should do to win the next test and the series.
and then let Sachin focus on
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Posted By Vorshal
Tendulkar still in search of Lara\''s record
The question should be is it worth continuing to play for the wrong reason?
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Posted By SanjayN
He\''s been written off so many times in the past that I\''m sure he will bounce back. However, it\''s unlikely
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Posted By Sujay
Media have got nothing to do....When sachin played great against india all
of then showing the scene how sachin had got
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Posted By Ganesh
I wish Tendulkar all the very best to score a century, also which helps India win the series which is
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