The Clubhouse

Bradman, bowled Hollies 0.

Tendulkar, caught Sangakkara, bowled Malinga 18.

In the former situation, the second-ball dismissal of the world’s greatest batsman yet was a tremendous letdown for the cricketing world, whether romantics or not, as “The Don” failed to end his career with a Test batting average of 100.

England leg-spinner Eric Hollies spoilt the party in the fifth Ashes Test at The Oval in August 1948, so Don Bradman, who had only one visit to the crease in the Aussies’ innings victory, completed his 52-match career with an average of 99.64 per completed innings. This remains the best by a batsman – Bradman played only Test matches – by a country mile.

Fast-forward to the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday, when the world’s current greatest batsman, Sachin Tendulkar, had a red-letter occasion on which to try to score his 100th international century, in the 2011 World Cup final.

He’d had a couple of stabs at it in the knockout stages of the tournament, but, again, for the romantics, what better stage than the final, against Sri Lanka, at his home stadium, to play one of the game’s landmark innings?

Instead Lasith Malinga, the slinger with the out-there blond highlights in his hair, provided one of the few “lowlights” of the event for the whole of India when he found the outside edge of Tendulkar’s bat to provide his captain Kumar Sangakkara – later also named to lead the “World Cup XI” – with a catch behind the stumps.

Just like Bradman’s failure of nearly 63 years ago, Tendulkar’s cheap dismissal on Saturday will have evoked “if only” feelings among the game’s followers.

The up-side, of course, is that “the Little Master”, even though he turns 38 later this month and has been in international cricket since 1989, has no intention of calling time on his illustrious career.

Two days ago India went on to win the World Cup for the second time, although it was their greatest player’s sixth attempt to get his hands on the silverware. The understated, modest batting star allowed himself a few raucous shouts and tears of joy in the celebratory mêlée after the triumph. Then he was taken on a victory lap of the ground on the shoulders of teammates. He may not have played the match-winning innings, but as young teammate Virat Kohli so succinctly put it: “Tendulkar has carried the burden of the nation for 21 years; it was time we carried him.”

Tendulkar’s career statistics show 51 Test centuries and 48 in the 50-overs format (he has played only one T20 international for India). Next best is Australia’s Ricky Ponting, with 69 hundreds (39 in Tests and 30 in ODIs) in the two longer formats, with the Proteas’ Jacques Kallis on 57 (40 in Tests and 17 in ODIs).

South Africa have conceded more than 10 percent of the Mumbai maestro’s three-figure scores. The tally is seven hundreds in Tests and five in ODIs, including that magnificent undefeated 200 in Gwalior 13 months ago – the first double-century in the 50-over format.

Others have been on the receiving end of Tendulkar’s talents more frequently than the Proteas, having played against him more. Twenty of his centuries in all formats have been notched ups against Australia, while he has collected 17 hundreds in contests against Sri Lanka.

Purists may quibble that Tendulkar has scored the most runs in the history of cricket because he has played the most matches.

His Test average of 56.94 and an ODI average of 45.16 are outstanding achievements, though, and the fact that 57 of his centuries have been scored on foreign soil shows his technical mastery – the ability to adapt to varied and challenging conditions, and bowlers of all types.

In a country where cricket is king, Tendulkar has been almost deified. His continued good form, even as a new generation of stars burgeons around him, has been a vital building block in India’s ascent to the top ranking in Test cricket and second in ODIs behind Australia.

There are cricket fans now in their 70s and 80s who may remember having had their ears glued to their transistor radios in 1948 when the Bradman “moment” loomed, then passed with a whimper.

All followers of the game, with the benefit of television, should stay on the alert for India’s forthcoming assignments so as not to miss out on that 100th Tendulkar hundred.

Like Bradman, Tendulkar is a short man, but he will leave a giant imprint on the game.

Seeing him raise his bat to acknowledge the acclaim for his next three-figure score is a moment in sporting history not to be missed… his feats will probably never be equalled.