It was on this day in 2012 that India’s cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar drew curtains on his ODI career after scoring a half-century against Pakistan in the 2012 Asia Cup held in Dhaka.
The Master Blaster made his one-day international debut on 18 December, 1989 against Pakistan at Gujranwala and went on to play a total of 463 ODIs in his illustrious career, amassing 18426 ODI runs at an average of 44.83.
Tendulkar played his last ODI on 18 March, 2012, two days after he scored his 100th international century against Bangladesh in the same tournament. No one knew that it was going to be his last ODI. He would later announce his retirement from the format.
In the 50-overs match held at Mirpur, Pakistan had won the toss and chose to bat first. Mohammad Hafeez (105) and Nasir Jamshed (112) smashed a century each and took Pakistan towards a competitive total of 329/6.
Chasing a target of 330 runs, India lost Gautam Gambhir for a duck and it was Sachin Tendulkar who steadied the innings by scoring a quick-fire 52 off 48 balls, before being dismissed by Saeed Ajmal. Rohit Sharma then posted 68 for the team and Virat Kohli’s splendid 183 off 148 balls helped India win the fifth match of the Asia Cup by 6 wickets.
While India was celebrating its victory in the match, little did anyone know that this would be the last time they saw Sachin Tendulkar bat in the ODIs. He shocked the world by announcing his retirement five days later on 23 December.
With an illustrious one-day international career which lasted 22 years and three months, Tendulkar notched up 49 centuries and 96 half-centuries, currently holding the record for most hundreds in both ODIs and Tests. The genius batter also registered 195 sixes and 2016 boundaries in his ODI career.
The Master Blaster also created history when he was 36 years and 306 days old by scoring the first double-century in one-day cricket.
Sachin Tendulkar then bid adieu to Test cricket on 13 November, 2013 and called time on his career after his 200th Test match.
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