Sachin Tendulkar became only the fifth batsman to reach 10,000 runs in the history of Test cricket when he flicked a ball from Abdul Razzaq down to fine leg on day 1 of the second Test against Pakistan in Kolkata on Wednesday.
The other batsmen to reach the landmark before Tendulkar are Allan Border (11,174), Steve Waugh (10,927), Sunil Gavaskar (10,122) and Brian Lara (10,094).
The Indian batting ace emerged on the international cricket scene as a 16-year-old prodigy in 1989, when he made his debut against Pakistan in Karachi in the Indian team, led by Krishnamachari Srikkanth.
Since then, he went on to become one of the best batsmen ever, drawing comparisons with the peerless Sir Donald Bradman.
In 1997 he was named Wisden cricketer of the year.
Tendulkar, who averages over 57 runs per innings, is also on the verge of taking over as the leading century maker in Tests from Sunil Gavaskar. Both are now level on 34 Test hundreds.
The top 10 run scores in Tests:
Tendulkar's performance against each country
| Opponent | Tests | Inns | NO | Runs | Hs | Ave. | 100s | 50s | 0s |
| Australia | 21 | 39 | 4 | 1859 | 241* | 53.11 | 7 | 7 | 4 |
| England | 16 | 24 | 2 | 1683 | 193 | 76.50 | 6 | 8 | - |
| New Zealand | 16 | 27 | 5 | 1062 | 217 | 48.27 | 3 | 5 | 1 |
| Pakistan | 12 | 18 | 1 | 746 | 194* | 43.88 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| South Africa | 16 | 29 | 2 | 1003 | 169 | 37.15 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| Sri Lanka | 13 | 16 | 2 | 1124 | 148 | 80.29 | 6 | 3 | - |
| West Indies | 16 | 25 | 2 | 1328 | 179 | 57.74 | 3 | 7 | 3 |
| Zimbabwe | 9 | 14 | 2 | 918 | 201* | 76.50 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| Bangladesh | 3 | 3 | 1 | 302 | 248* | 151.00 | 1 | - | - |
| TOTAL | 122 | 195 | 21 | 10025 | 248* | 57.61 | 34 | 40 | 12 |
10,000 Club members
| Batsman | Runs | For | Tests | Inns | NO | Ave | HS | 100 | 50 | 0 |
| AR Border | 11174 | Aus | 156 | 265 | 44 | 50.56 | 205 | 27 | 63 | 11 |
| SR Waugh | 10927 | Aus | 168 | 260 | 46 | 51.06 | 200 | 32 | 50 | 22 |
| SM Gavaskar | 10122 | Ind | 125 | 214 | 16 | 51.12 | 236* | 34 | 45 | 12 |
| BC Lara | 10094 | WI | 112 | 197 | 6 | 52.85 | 400* | 26 | 46 | 13 |
| SR Tendulkar | 10025 | Ind | 122 | 195 | 21 | 57.61 | 248* | 34 | 40 | 12 |
This is how 10,000-mark was achieved
| Inns | Tests | Batsman | For | Vs | Venue | Date | Age |
| 212 | 124 | SM Gavaskar | Ind | Pak | Ahmedabad | 07-03-1987 | 37 Y 240 D |
| 235 | 136 | AR Border | Aus | WI | Sydney | 03-01-1993 | 37 Y 160 D |
| 244 | 156 | SR Waugh | Aus | Eng | Sydney | 03-01-2003 | 37 Y 215 D |
| 195 | 111 | BC Lara | WI | Eng | The Oval | 21-08-2004 | 35 Y 111 D |
| 195 | 122 | SR Tendulkar | Ind | Pak | Kolkata | 16-03-2005 | 31 Y 326 D |
Tendulkar's performance in each calendar year
| Year | Tests | Inns | NO | Runs | Ave | Hs | 100s | 50s | 0s | 90s | 50+ |
| 1989 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 215 | 35.83 | 59 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 1990 | 7 | 10 | 1 | 373 | 41.44 | 119* | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 1991 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 78 | 19.50 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1992 | 7 | 11 | 1 | 419 | 41.90 | 148* | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 1993 | 8 | 9 | 2 | 640 | 91.43 | 165 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 1994 | 7 | 11 | 1 | 700 | 70.00 | 179 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 1995 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 58 | 29.00 | 52* | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 1996 | 8 | 15 | 0 | 623 | 41.53 | 177 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 1997 | 12 | 17 | 1 | 1000 | 62.50 | 169 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| 1998 | 5 | 9 | 1 | 647 | 80.88 | 177 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 1999 | 10 | 19 | 3 | 1088 | 68.00 | 217 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 9 |
| 2000 | 6 | 10 | 1 | 575 | 63.89 | 201* | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 2001 | 10 | 18 | 2 | 1003 | 62.69 | 155 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| 2002 | 16 | 26 | 1 | 1392 | 55.68 | 193 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 9 |
| 2003 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 153 | 17.00 | 55 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 2004 | 10 | 15 | 5 | 915 | 91.50 | 248* | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 2005 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 146 | 73.00 | 94 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
Tendulkar's performance at each batting position:
| Position | Inns | NO | Runs | Ave | HS | 100 | 50 | 0 | %Runs |
| Opening | 1 | 0 | 15 | 15.00 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.15 |
| # 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| # 4 | 154 | 19 | 8142 | 60.31 | 248* | 29 | 31 | 9 | 81.22 |
| # 5 | 18 | 0 | 1048 | 58.22 | 169 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 10.45 |
| # 6 | 18 | 2 | 703 | 43.94 | 148* | 2 | 4 | 1 | 7.01 |
| # 7 | 4 | 0 | 117 | 29.25 | 41 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.17 |
| TOTAL | 195 | 21 | 10025 | 57.61 | 248* | 34 | 40 | 12 | 100 |
Tendulkar's performance at each ground:
| Ground | Tests | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Ave | 100 | 50 | 0 |
| Chennai | 6 | 10 | 3 | 714 | 165 | 102.00 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| Mumbai (WS) | 7 | 12 | 0 | 699 | 148 | 58.25 | 1 | 6 | - |
| Nagpur | 5 | 7 | 1 | 635 | 201* | 105.83 | 3 | 1 | - |
| Kolkata | 8 | 14 | 2 | 503 | 176 | 41.91 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| Sydney | 3 | 5 | 3 | 498 | 241* | 249.00 | 2 | 1 | - |
| Colombo (SSC) | 3 | 6 | 2 | 456 | 139 | 114.00 | 3 | 1 | - |
| Mohali | 6 | 9 | 1 | 455 | 126* | 56.88 | 1 | 3 | - |
| Bangalore | 5 | 8 | 1 | 439 | 177 | 62.71 | 1 | 2 | - |
| Ahmedabad | 5 | 9 | 0 | 431 | 217 | 47.89 | 2 | - | - |
| Trent Bridge | 2 | 4 | 0 | 377 | 177 | 94.25 | 1 | 2 | - |
| Delhi | 5 | 9 | 0 | 346 | 122 | 38.44 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Melbourne | 3 | 6 | 0 | 267 | 116 | 44.50 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Dhaka | 2 | 2 | 1 | 266 | 248* | 266.00 | 1 | - | - |
| Cape Town | 2 | 3 | 0 | 251 | 169 | 83.67 | 1 | 1 | - |
| Wellington | 2 | 4 | 0 | 219 | 113 | 54.75 | 1 | 1 | - |
| Port-of-Spain | 2 | 3 | 0 | 205 | 117 | 68.33 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Multan (CS) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 194 | 194* | - | 1 | - | - |
| Headingley | 1 | 1 | 0 | 193 | 193 | 193.00 | 1 | - | - |
| Old Trafford | 1 | 2 | 1 | 187 | 119* | 187.00 | 1 | 1 | - |
| Bloemfontein | 1 | 2 | 0 | 170 | 155 | 85.00 | 1 | - | - |
| Georgetown | 2 | 2 | 0 | 162 | 83 | 81.00 | - | 2 | - |
| Hamilton | 3 | 5 | 1 | 162 | 67 | 40.50 | - | 1 | - |
| Kanpur | 3 | 5 | 1 | 159 | 61 | 39.75 | - | 1 | - |
| Johannesburg | 2 | 4 | 0 | 156 | 111 | 39.00 | 1 | - | - |
| Kingston | 2 | 4 | 1 | 149 | 86 | 49.67 | - | 1 | - |
| Edgbaston | 1 | 2 | 0 | 146 | 122 | 73.00 | 1 | - | - |
| Colombo (RPS) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 143 | 143 | 143.00 | 1 | - | - |
| Lucknow (KDS) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 142 | 142 | 142.00 | 1 | - | - |
| Harare | 3 | 5 | 0 | 130 | 69 | 26.00 | - | 1 | 1 |
| Adelaide | 3 | 6 | 0 | 122 | 61 | 20.33 | - | 1 | 1 |
| Perth | 1 | 2 | 0 | 119 | 114 | 59.50 | 1 | - | - |
| Bulawayo Q.C. | 1 | 2 | 1 | 110 | 74 | 110.00 | - | 1 | - |
| Bridgetown | 2 | 4 | 0 | 104 | 92 | 26.00 | - | 1 | 1 |
| Lord's | 3 | 5 | 0 | 96 | 31 | 19.20 | - | - | - |
| Sialkot | 1 | 2 | 0 | 92 | 57 | 46.00 | - | 1 | - |
| Napier | 1 | 1 | 0 | 88 | 88 | 88.00 | - | 1 | - |
| The Oval | 2 | 2 | 0 | 75 | 54 | 37.50 | - | 1 | - |
| Colombo (PSS) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 71 | 71 | 71.00 | - | 1 | - |
| Faisalabad | 1 | 2 | 0 | 67 | 59 | 33.50 | - | 1 | - |
| Lahore (Gad.) | 2 | 3 | 0 | 51 | 41 | 17.00 | - | - | - |
| Chittagong | 1 | 1 | 0 | 36 | 36 | 36.00 | - | - | - |
| Durban | 2 | 3 | 0 | 30 | 15 | 10.00 | - | - | - |
| Port Elizabeth | 2 | 4 | 1 | 29 | 22* | 9.67 | - | - | 1 |
| Christchurch | 1 | 2 | 0 | 24 | 24 | 12.00 | - | - | 1 |
| Brisbane | 2 | 3 | 0 | 23 | 16 | 7.67 | - | - | 1 |
| Karachi (Nat.) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 15 | 15.00 | - | - | - |
| Chandigarh | 1 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 11 | 11.00 | - | - | - |
| Auckland | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 5.00 | - | - | - |
| Cuttack | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2.00 | - | - | - |
| Rawalpindi CC | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1.00 | - | - | - |
| Kandy | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - |
| St. John's | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | - | - | 1 |
Tendulkar's pattern of scoring
| Opponent | 0-9 | 10-19 | 20-29 | 30-39 | 40-49 | 50-89 | 90-99 | 100-149 | 150-199 | 200-250 |
| Australia | 13 | 7 | - | 2 | 3 | 7 | - | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| England | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | - | 6 | 2 | 3 | 3 | - |
| New Zealand | 10 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | - | 2 | - | 1 |
| Pakistan | 8 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - |
| South Africa | 11 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - |
| Sri Lanka | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | 2 | 1 | 6 | - | - |
| West Indies | 6 | 3 | - | 3 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - |
| Zimbabwe | 2 | - | 1 | 4 | 1 | 3 | - | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Bangladesh | - | 1 | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| TOTAL (195) | 53 | 26 | 13 | 17 | 12 | 34 | 6 | 19 | 11 | 4 |
Also see: Sachin 30 | Tendulkar 100
Rediff shopping: Sachin Tendulkar - A Definitive Biography