Fifteen years ago today, a cricket ground in South Africa turned into a temple. December 19, 2010. Centurion‘s SuperSport Park. Indian batsmen normally suffer there. But this day was different. Right from the moment Sachin Tendulkar walked in to bat, people started chanting his name. South African, Indian, cricket lovers – all sitting on grass banks wanted the same thing. They wanted to see the first man reach 50 Test centuries.
Battle before the glory
Tendulkar was not thinking about any record that morning. India were down by 484 runs. The team was collapsing. He was just trying to save a lost cause. Block ball after ball. Kill time. He took his time moving from 88 to 89. South Africa knew what was coming. They posted a forward short leg. Morne Morkel started bowling those mean bouncers. Some near the helmet. Some into the ribs. Tendulkar kept ducking. He kept defending. If his heart was racing, his face showed nothing.
Paul Harris came on. This spinner always troubled India. Tendulkar hit him straight for six. The crowd lost its mind. The chants grew louder.
At 97, he faced more short balls. He stayed stuck there for ten deliveries. Then Dale Steyn ran in. An inside edge raced past midwicket. He moved to 99. Next ball, he squirted between cover and extra cover. He ran. He had done it. The 100th run came.
His celebration was nothing fancy. Helmet off. Back arched slightly. Eyes looking up at the sky. That was all.
A son’s promise kept
Later in the press conference, someone asked about the moment. Tendulkar’s answer was pure. “The first thing I thought of was my father. I wanted to do it for him. Yesterday was his birthday. I dedicate this to him.”
Someone else asked how he felt about this massive milestone. He did not give some big speech. Maybe because India were still losing. Maybe because the whole thing was too much to digest. “I don’t know. I’m okay. It’s just another number. It’s nice. I can’t say I’m not happy – I am happy. But I don’t know how to express this. I’m glad it’s come. Hopefully it continues.”
Dhoni fightback that made it possible
The record would not have happened without MS Dhoni. India were 277 for 6 when Dhoni walked in. Still 207 runs behind. The situation was desperate. That desperation gave Dhoni freedom to attack. And attack he did. He drove Lonwabo Tsotsobe through covers. When Graeme Smith took the new ball, Steyn and Morkel could not break through.
Tendulkar stayed calm and solid at one end. Dhoni kept hitting from the other. Sometimes just a push with perfect timing raced to the boundary. He started catching up with Tendulkar’s score. Morkel gave away 13 runs in one over. Dhoni hit three boundaries in a row off Kallis. The bowler walked away muttering to himself.
The prediction that seemed impossible
Fifteen years ago, reaching 50 Test centuries looked like the final frontier. But some people saw beyond that. Back in the 90s, when Tendulkar still had that baby face look, Sunil Gavaskar made a prediction that sounded wild at the time. There’s this video that keeps popping up on social media even now. Gavaskar is sitting next to a young Tendulkar and saying he expects at least 15,000 runs and 40 Test centuries from him.
“I’ll personally go and strangle him if he doesn’t get there,” Gavaskar says in that video. “Twenty years later my hands won’t have the strength, so he might survive. But I’ll find someone to do it for me. He’s got that much talent.”
Then Gavaskar turns to Tendulkar and adds, “Don’t let me down, don’t let Indian cricket down.”
The young Tendulkar just smiles and says, “I’ll try my best. “At that time Gavaskar himself held the record with 34 Test centuries. It seemed like a huge stretch. But Tendulkar not only crossed 40, he went way beyond. He even left Gavaskar’s record far behind. When people talk about spotting greatness early, this is what they mean.
That 2010 century was part of Tendulkar’s greatest year. Seven Test centuries, becoming the first man to breach the 200-run mark in ODIs all happened in that very year. Sanjay Manjrekar later told me how Tendulkar had tightened his game so much that his defense became the best among all batsmen he had seen.
Rahul Dravid, who shares the record for most century partnerships with him, spoke about the backlift. “Amazing how he (Tendulkar) has made it so small but still generates so much power,” one of India’s most reliable Test batters himself had said that during a discussion with Sambit Bal from ESPNCricinfo a few weeks prior to Sachin’s historic 50th Test ton.
Why 50 still stands alone in 2025
Now in 2025, looking back at that December day. More than a dozen batters have crossed ten thousand Test runs. You would think someone would have come close to 50 centuries. No one has. The closest any batter has reached is 45. That tells you everything about Tendulkar’s achievement.
Some records are made to be broken. This one just refuses to be taken down.
That day in Centurion, a foreign crowd made an Indian legend feel at home. They saw something that has not been repeated in a decade and a half. And honestly, from where we stand today, they might have seen something that will never be repeated again.