When Sachin Tendulkar scored his 100th century

The Batman@50 series continues to celebrate Sachin Tendulkar’s birthday by revisiting some of his special knocksIn this episode, Dwaipayan Datta, Sports Editor, TOI Chennai, talks about Tendulkar’s 100th international hundred, scored in Mirpur Dhaka on March 16, 2012The pressure was huge on Tendulkar because he had got his 99th almost a year earlier, but just couldn’t get the 100th In the Asia Cup, India had won their first match against Sri Lanka and against Bangladesh, the feeling was that this could be his best chanceSachin didn’t play one of his most fluent knocks, but he managed to deal with the pressure and score his 100th hundred that sent the country into deliriumHis 114 off 147 balls was slow by his standards and India finally lost the game and were unable to make the Asia Cup final, but no one caredSachin said after the match that it seemed a weight had been lifted off his shouldersLet me take you back to the summer of 2012. It was March, the temperatures were rising as India went to Bangladesh for the Asia Cup. While there was a tournament to be played, all the hype was around whether Sachin Tendulkar would get his 100th international hundred.It was almost a year since Sachin had got his 99th against South Africa in the 2011 World Cup, but the historic 100th was just not happening. Every cricket journalist on every cricket tour of India after the 2011 World Cup knew the biggest assignment of the series would be Sachin Tendulkar’s 100th hundred. But Sachin couldn’t get it in England, Australia and a home series against West Indies, and now it was Bangladesh.I was told by my editor before I went on that tour that Sachin would be my primary assignment. “Track every movement of his, as much as you can. And remember you can become part of history,” he said.Imagine, if a journalist covering the event is under such pressure, what the man himself would have been going through. Sachin said that since he got that 99th, there was never a moment when he was not reminded of the 100th hundred. If room service was coming in the evening before the match, he would say: “Sir hope to see your 100th hundred tomorrow.”Sachin knew he was slowly running out of time. He was 39, his body had taken the wear and tear of cricket for 23 years, and international century didn't come easy. Once it dries out, it simply dries out, as we had seen with Virat Kohli recently when he went without a 100 for 3 years.Sachin didn’t get too many in the first game against Sri Lanka and though India won, we were falling into that familiar territory of pessimism that the century would probably elude us again.At Mirpur against Bangladesh, Sachin and Gautam Gambhir started well. But Sachin wasn’t even close to his fluent best. He just looked to accumulate the runs and because the pitch was good for batting, he figured that this could be his best chance. The bowling also wasn’t threatening and once Sachin went past his 50, he decided he wouldn’t let it go. In fact, it was almost uncharacteristic of Sachin the way he slowed up as he closed in on the ton.But let me tell you, every single that he was taking, it seemed we at the ground were all taking each run with him. In fact, the entire country was closing in on a moment that they never believed could happen.Finally, when it happened - more than euphoria - it was relief. It seemed a weight had lifted off Tendulkar’s shoulder. He pointed at his India badge on his helmet as we all stood up and clapped, trying to soak in a moment that we had all waited for so long.Yes, Sachin had slowed down as he closed in on that century and that was probably the reason India made only 289 on a batting beauty. Bangladesh topped that score and India couldn’t make the Asia Cup final, but all that became secondary. It was the first (and probably the last time) in my journalism career that the match report of the game was not carried in the paper.Just as the match got over, we had to run to talk to Tendulkar, and he thankfully came for the press conference. The defeat was hardly discussed, all that we spoke about was this journey.A relaxed Sachin met the Indian journalists again the next morning in the team hotel. “Imagine walking up the stairs with a 25kg weight on your shoulders. This last year was like that. I just wanted this milestone out of the way,” Sachin told me as I asked how difficult it was getting towards the end.He cut a cake, signed autographs, took pictures. You could see what it meant to cross this enormous landmark that has not come close to being topped in the next 10 years. As for me, he autographed on my accreditation card, the most treasured piece of memorabilia that I have.Sachin played one more ODI after that and a year and a half later, retired from international cricket. The Mirpur century, other than being the 100th hundred, remained the last hundred that the Little Master scored. And I still have goosebumps remembering that I was there, experiencing it from such close quarters.Audio production: Anil Chauhan