Heroics in the 2003 World Cup

The 2003 World Cup was played in South Africa and it was a big moment for the Indian team after the disappointment of the previous edition in England in 1999. India had a new captain in Sourav Ganguly, who had prepared his own brilliant unit which was a perfect mix of youngsters and experienced players.

On this day: Sachin Tendulkar became the first batsman to make a century of centuries

Sachin remained a valuable member of this unit and was tasked with carrying the batting on his shoulders. As per quotes from Rahul Dravid, his teammate in the world event, Sachin didn’t face a single delivery in nets throughout the tournament and just received hundreds of throwdowns before matches.

Despite this, the master managed 673 runs in the tournament, which remains the most by a batsman in a single World Cup event. Though Tendulkar managed just one century, which was 152 against Namibia, he played crucial innings of 98 against Pakistan and 97 against Sri Lanka.

Sachin gave us some cherishable moments like the six on a hook shot off Andy Caddick against England and the still amazing cut shot off Shoaib Akhtar that went over the point fielder for a six. It was just cruel that such performance couldn’t warrant World Cup trophy, as India fell short to Australia in the finals.