Tendulkar becomes most capped Test player

Colombo:

Milestone man Sachin Tendulkar on Tuesday became the most-capped Test cricketer in the world after taking field for his 169th match, the third and final of the ongoing series against Sri Lanka, here.

The 37-year-old champion batsman, who holds almost every batting record, overtook retired former Australian captain Steve Waugh with whom he was tied at 168 matches after the second Test at SSC here.

Tendulkar, who has been around for two decades now, has also played 442 one-day internationals, just a couple of matches less than Sri Lankan Sanath Jayasuriya's record of 444.

Tendulkar has scored 13,742 runs in 168 Tests at an average of 56.08, notching up 48 hundreds and 55 half-centuries in the process.

He has 17,598 runs, including 46 centuries, in his 442 one-dayers. The Mumbaikar also holds the distinction of being the first batsman to score a double hundred in ODIs.

But despite these astonishing feats, Tendulkar remains hungry for more runs and after getting his fifth Test double hundred in the second Test against Sri Lanka, the diminutive batsman urged critics to stop talking about his age.

Most capped Test players after Sachin Tendulkar: 168 - Steve Waugh (AUS) - retired 156 - Allan Border (AUS) - retired 146 - Ricky Ponting (AUS) 145 - Shane Warne (AUS) - retired 141 - Rahul Dravid (IND) 140 - Jacques Kallis (RSA) 134 - Mark Boucher (RSA).