OTD | Sachin Tendulkar became the first man to make 30,000 international runs in 2009

On this day in 2009, Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar became the first Men’s player to score 30000 runs combining all formats for the game (ODIs, Tests, and T20Is). While he has played only one T20I game, the right-hander has played 463 ODIs and 200 Tests, a record that is unlikely to be broken in the recent future. Meanwhile, during this day 14 years back, Tendulkar did something which was never done by the others.

Sri Lanka had arrived in India for an all-format series during November and December 2009. The series started with the three-match Test series after which the Men In Blue became the Number One Test side in their history. Meanwhile, the first match was played at the old stadium, Motera in Ahmedabad (now Narendra Modi Stadium).

The home team won the toss and elected to bat first. Thanks to centuries from Rahul Dravid (177) and MS Dhoni (110) and a half-century from Yuvraj Singh (68) helped the team reach 426 all-out in just 104.5 overs. On a dead pitch of Motera, the team was 385/6 at stumps on Day One. In reply, the Lankan Lions displayed one of their best batting performances in India.

They amassed 760/7 declared, leading by 334 runs at the end of the first innings. While Tillakaratne Dilshan (112) scored a hundred, Mahela Jayawardene (275) scored a massive double-hundred to ensure none of the teams lost this game. Apart from this, wicketkeeper Prasanna Jayawardene (154*) scored an unbeaten hundred. In the second, the two-time World Test Championship finalists needed to bat time.

In the second innings, Gautam Gambhir (114) and Virender Sehwag (51) provided a great start on day four. Even though the team lost two wickets, the Lankan Lions couldn’t do much damage. On the last day of the game, after the fall of nightwatchman, Amit Mishra, Sachin Tendulkar came in and scored an unbeaten 100 off 211 balls. During this, he completed 30,000 runs in international cricket. In the end, the game ended in a draw with India scoring 412/5 with VVS Laxman also getting a fifty.

Also read: OTD| Andy Flower lashed an unbeaten 183 for Zimbabwe in the first Test against India in 2000