Tendulkar's 'Desert Storm' Voted His Top ODI Innings on Birthday

Tendulkar's 'Desert Storm' Voted His Top ODI Innings on Birthday

A blistering 143 scored against Australia in 1998 was voted Sachin Tendulkar's greatest one-day innings in a world Cricket Council poll released for his 47th birthday.

The 131-ball knock, with nine fours and five sixes, became referred to as the 'Desert Storm' after a sand storm in Sharjah interrupted India's chase. Tendulkar took on the likes of Shane Warne, Damien Fleming and Michael Kasprowicz but his side lost.

 

Tendulkar's 'Desert Storm' Voted His Top ODI Innings on Birthday

Tendulkar's blitz narrowly edged out his match-winning 98 against arch-rivals Pakistan within the 2003 World Cup group match.

"It was neck and neck" until the top , the ICC said in releasing the results of its poll.

Tendulkar, who played 200 Test matches and is now India's biggest cricket legend in retirement, used his birthday to urge fans to remain indoors during the nationwide coronavirus lockdown.

"They encouraged me and that they prayed on behalf of me . What did they pray for? That Sachin shouldn't get out and that i should be at the crease," he told Indian broadcaster Star Sports.

"My wish for them is that they ought to also not get out. they ought to also stay inside the crease which suggests that they ought to occupy home, safe and healthy."

Meanwhile the Board of Control for Cricket in India relived the master blaster's unbeaten century against England within the Chennai Test in 2008 in excerpts released on its Twitter feed.

Tendulkar smashed 103 within the second innings to guide India to a six-wicket win.

BCCI president Sourav Ganguly, a former India teammate, and other past and present cricketers paid tribute to Tendulkar.

Current India skipper Virat Kohli said: "Happy birthday to the person whose passion for the sport of cricket has inspired many."

The right-handed Tendulkar made his debut for India aged just 16 in 1989 and broke almost every batting record before retiring in 2013.

The former India captain is that the only cricketer to possess scored 100 international centuries and is that the highest run scorer with 34,357 runs across formats.