Sachin Tendulkar’s Top 5 IPL innings

Sachin Tendulkar won the Orange Cap in IPL 2010, as the captain of MI.

24^th April is the date when every Indian cricket fan worships the birth of the god of cricket, Sachin Tendulkar. Born in 1973, Tendulkar has become synonymous with the game and perhaps the most popular player to ever hold the bat. He was compared to the greatest of all-time Sir Don Bradman, who saw himself in Tendulkar.

Sachin Tendulkar was well into his illustrious career when the storm of T20 format came knocking on the doors of the cricketing world. Tendulkar played just one T20 international match for India, the country’s very first, scored 10 runs and picked a wicket as well. But he declined to play in the inaugural ICC World T20 in 2007, along with the likes of Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, and Anil Kumble.

But the cricketing fans wanted to see these stalwarts transforming their game to suit the newest format in the market and that’s what the Indian Premier League provided the fans. Sachin Tendulkar became the icon player for the Mumbai Indians and till 2013, Tendulkar enthralled the fans with his batting in 20-over cricket.

Today, as the great one turns 46, Team COC brings to you five of the most memorable innings of Sachin Tendulkar in the Indian Premier League.

Check out Sachin Tendulkar’s top 5 IPL innings

89* vs RR, 2010

Mumbai Indians faced Rajasthan Royals in the 45^th match of the IPL 2010 at Jaipur. The clash saw Sachin Tendulkar showcase a belligerent type of taking on the bowlers as he singlehandedly carried the MI batting. Batting first on a wonderful pitch, MI lost Sanath Jayasuriya and Ambati Rayudu early; but then Tendulkar took over, first stabilizing the innings and then rocketing the scoring rate in later overs.

He even hit his opposition number Shane Warne for three fours in an over and in the 19^th over, smacked Siddharth Trivedi for 20 runs. Tendulkar ended up on 89* in 59 balls with aid of 10 fours and 2 sixes, leading MI to 174.

68 v KKR, 2009

The 2009 Indian Premier League was held outside India for the first time and the venue was South Africa. The bouncy pitches suited the stroke play of the Indian batting maestro, as he showcased a range of shots against Kolkata Knight Riders in the match played at the Port Elizabeth ground.

He took the fans down memory lane, as he started off with a six cut over point in shades of his shot against Shoaib Akhtar in the match against Pakistan in 2003 World Cup. Tendulkar’s innings was full of precise cuts and pulls and he even mastered the then red-hot Sri Lankan spinner Ajantha Mendis.

A 127-run opening partnership ensued with Sanath Jayasuriya and Tendulkar made 68 in 45 balls with 6 fours and 2 sixes, taking his team to 187 runs. Tendulkar was looking set for his first T20 century but his quickfire knock was cut down in the 13th over.  MI bowled out KKR for 95 runs and won the match by 92 runs.

72 v CSK, 2010
The Wankhede stadium was undergoing renovation and MI shifted their home games to the Brabourne Stadium next door. This match saw them hosting the Chennai Super Kings and they batted first, scoring 180 runs thanks to some brilliance by Suresh Raina and S Badrinath.

MI knew someone needed to bat out of their skins on Brabourne wicket and Tendulkar was the one to do so. He made 72 in 52 balls with 8 fours and one six. What was amazing about this innings was his mastery over the spin of Muttiah Muralitharan and Shadab Jakati, as he guided his team masterfully through a tricky chase. Tendulkar fell in the 19^th over with MI needing 9 runs from 10 balls, but the team won with 5 wickets to go.     

63 v DD, 2010
The year 2010 was a wonderful year for the little master, as Sachin Tendulkar became the first male batsman to score a double hundred in ODI cricket and then in the IPL 2010, he notched up a record 618 runs and won the Orange Cap for most runs.

Against Delhi Daredevils in that tournament, Tendulkar showed another facet of his batting style, the absolute monster one. This innings against DD, showed the Hulk side of Tendulkar as he slammed a 32-ball 63, to take MI to 218 runs. He hit 11 fours in his innings and the strike rate of 196.87 was something amazing to see with Tendulkar’s innings.

100* v KTK, 2011
Sachin Tendulkar’s one and only T20 century came against the short-lived IPL franchise of Kochi Tuskers Kerala in IPL 2011. The Mumbai Indians met Kochi team at the Wankhede Stadium and batted first. Tendulkar slammed 100* in just 62 balls with 12 fours and 3 sixes at a strike rate of 151.51. Though MI lost this match, Sachin Tendulkar’s innings was enough to make this a cherished memory for his fans.