Since Sachin Tendulkar made his Test debut in 1989, India have seen 87 newcomers to the five-day game in the span of 23 years. While most of them have finished their careers, Tendulkar continues his illustrious journey at the top.
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| Sachin Tendulkar |
Tendulkar was 187th player to don Indian Test cap. He made his debut against Pakistan in Karachi in 1989. Tendulkar's Mumbai team-mate and fast bowler Salil Ankola too made his entry to Test cricket in same match, by becoming the 186th cricketer.
India's last Test debutant was paceman R Vinay Kumar, who won the No. 274 Test cap against Australia earlier this year.
From November 15, 1989 (Tendulkar debut date) to date, India have played 209 Tests, of which Tendulkar has appeared in 192 (missed 17). India won 72 of those and lost 59. 78 ended in draw. Of the 72 wins, Tendulkar was a part of 66.
If you look back, most of the 87 who came after Tendulkar have retired and some, though playing first-class cricket, are not in India reckoning.
Former India captain Anil Kumble, writing in "The Week" magazine, felt about 60% of those cricketers have quit the game.
"Sachin was the 187th Indian to play Test cricket. The last debutant for India was R. Vinay Kumar, No. 274. If I am right, nearly 60% of the 87 players who made their Test debut for India after Sachin have already retired from the game," Kumble wrote.
It speaks volumes of Tendulkar's longevity at the highest level. No other cricketer has managed to stay at the international arena for such a long period. One more interesting feature of Tendulkar's career is that he was never dropped by the selection committee, based on form.
During his 23 years, he has been rested or missed matches for India due to fitness issues. He is the country's "undroppable" cricketer and continues to be one even as pressure mounts on his career in recent times.
The 39-year-old must have played with more than 50 different Indian players in his time. Ricky Ponting, who is playing his final Test for Australia in Perth, has so far played with 82 different team-mates in his 17-year career.
Tendulkar has had a huge impact on Indian cricket. The way he has played over the years for the country, he certainly deserves lot more respect, as former cricketers are saying.
So, let the "R" word decision remain with the Master Blaster.
List of India Test players, who made their debut after Sachin Tendulkar (with Test cap numbers)
188 Vivek Razdan
189 Venkatapathy Raju
190 Atul Wassan
191 Gursharan Singh
192 Anil Kumble
193 Javagal Srinath
194 Subroto Banerjee
195 Pravin Amre
196 Ajay Jadeja
197 Rajesh Chauhan
198 Vinod Kambli
199 Vijay Yadav
200 NR Mongia
201 Aashish Kapoor
202 Sunil Joshi
203 Paras Mhambrey
204 Venkatesh Prasad
205 Vikram Rathour
206 Sourav Ganguly
207 Rahul Dravid
208 David Johnson
209 VVS Laxman
210 Dodda Ganesh
211 Abey Kuruvilla
212 Nilesh Kulkarni
213 Debashish Mohanty
214 Harvinder Singh
215 Harbhajan Singh
216 Ajit Agarkar
217 Robin Singh (Tamil Nadu)
218 Robin Singh (Delhi)
219 S Ramesh
220 Ashish Nehra
221 Devang Gandhi
222 MSK Prasad
223 R Vijay Bharadwaj
224 Hrishikesh Kanitkar
225 Wasim Jaffer
226 Murali Kartik
227 Nikhil Chopra
228 Mohammad Kaif
229 SS Das
230 Saba Karim
231 Zaheer Khan
232 Vijay Dahiya
233 Sarandeep Singh
234 Rahul Sanghvi
235 Sairaj Bahutule
236 Sameer Dighe
237 Hemang Badani
238 Deep Dasgupta
239 Virender Sehwag
240 Sanjay Bangar
241 Iqal Siddiqui
242 Tinu Yohannan
243 Ajay Ratra
244 Parthiv Patel
245 L Balaji
246 Aakash Chopra
247 Yuvraj Singh
248 Irfan Pathan
249 Gautam Gambhir
250 Dinesh Karthik
251 MS Dhoni
252 RP Singh
253 S Sreesanth
254 Piyush Chawla
255 Munaf Patel
256 VRV Singh
257 Ramesh Powar
258 Ishant Sharma
259 Amit Mishra
260 Murali Vijay
261 Pragyan Ojha
262 Subramaniam Badrinath
263 Wriddhiman Saha
264 Abhimanyu Mithun
265 Suresh Raina
266 Cheteshwar Pujara
267 Jaydev Unadkat
268 Virat Kohli
269 Praveen Kumar
270 Abhinav Mukund
271 R Ashwin
272 Umesh Yadav
273 Varun Aaron
274 R Vinay Kumar
Number of Tests India played since Tendulkar's debut (November 15, 1989) till date
Total Tests: 209 (Tendulkar has played in 192)
Won: 72
Lost: 59
Draw: 78
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