Expert Blog

Tendulkar - the bowler

Though known for his stupendous batting prowess, one shouldn’t overlook Sachin Tendulkar’s bowling exploits in his long illustrious career.

20 years ago, today, Sachin Tendulkar made his debut. No one could have foreseen that the great maestro would score nearly 30000 international runs during this period nor that he would still be in his prime form. Everyone seems to be discussing the batting exploits of the master. One facet of his game, his bowling, seems to be ignored. Let us look at his bowling exploits, especially in winning ODI matches.

Tendulkar has captured 154 ODI wickets, albeit at a, highest amongst bowlers, average of 44.50. However he has, to his credit, many match-winning bowling performances which are summarized below. He has had 14 innspells in which he captured 3 wickets and more.

First, that famous last over in the Hero Cup semi-final match against South Africa at Calcutta. Probably South Africa have never recovered from this over when they needed 6 runs to win and could only score 3 runs, completely bemused by Tendulkar’s unorthodox spin.

4 for 34 against West Indies during 1991 at Sharjah

West Indies, batting first, were dismissed for 141. This was one of Tendulkar’s best collection of top-order scalps, considering that he dismissed Lambert, Richardson, Logie and Dujon. India won quite comfortably.

3 for 43 against Sri Lanka during 1994 at Rajkot

Chasing India’s modest total of 246, Sri Lanka finished 8 runs short, thanks to Tendulkar’s bowling. He dismissed three top order batsmen, Mahanama, Samaraveera and Ranatunga. One could safely say that this was the match, which, along with the Calcutta one, changed the perception of Tendulkar as a bowler. Until this match he had captured 16 wickets in 65 matches.

3 for 36 against West Indies during 1994 at Chennai

West Indies, batting first, were dismissed for 221. This was one of Tendulkar’s better innspells, considering that he dismissed Lara, Adams and Campbell. India won quite comfortably.

5 for 32 against Australia during 1998 at Kochi

India batted first and scored 309. Australia fell 41 runs short, thanks to Tendulkar’s one of two 5-wicket hauls in international cricket. Included in this innspell were the wickets of Bevan, Steve Waugh, Lehmann and Martyn, a formidable quartet.


4 for 38 against Australia during 1998 at Dhaka

This was the Wills International Cup (ICC Cup) quarter-finals. This almost followed the pattern of the Kochi match. India scored 307 and Australia were dismissed for 263. Tendulkar captured the wickets of Bevan, Steve Waugh and Martyn. Let us not forget that Tendulkar also scored 141 runs, making this one of the best all-round performances by any player.

5 for 50 against Pakistan during 2005 at Kochi

India scored 281 and then dismissed Pakistan for 194. Tendulkar’s victims included Inzamam, Hafeez, Razzaq and Afridi. Interesting to note that Tendulkar captured his second 5-wicket haul at Kochi. Probably the “karimeen” there agrees with him.

It can be seen that most of Tendulkar’s better bowling performances have come in India. This is a reflection of his style of bowling.

Tendulkar was a far better bowler in ODIs than Tests probably because he was quite unorthodox and batsmen who tried to attack him paid the price. In Tests, they had the luxury of not having to attack always. However, no one can forget Tendulkar’s match-winning supporting innspell at Calcutta in the Laxman match. He captured 3 for 31 in an incisive spell dismissing Hayden, Gilchrist and Warne. While Harbhajan was the main destroyer, Tendulkar’s role in this epic win can never be forgotten.

It is intriguing that Tendulkar failed as a batsman in all these matches barring the ICC Cup quarter-final.