Sachin Tendulkar crosses 15000 runs mark in Test cricket

NEW DELHI: Sachin Tendulkar on Tuesday achieved another milestone as he became the first cricketer in the history of the game to cross 15000 runs mark in Test cricket.
 

Playing in his 182nd match, Tendulkar reached the mark on the third day of the first Test against the West Indies when he scored his 28th run in India's second innings with a single off leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo.
 

After crossing the coveted milestone, the batting maestro looked up at the heavens and acknowledged the standing ovation given by his teammates from the dressing room as his partner Rahul Dravid congratulated him. 

The West Indian players also came up after the completion of the over to congratulate the iconic batsman.

Tendulkar was 35 runs short of 15,000 before this match and he scored seven in the first innings before being adjidged leg-before off Fidel Edwards.

With 14,422 crowd cheering him, Tendulkar, who came in at the fall of Virender Sehwag's wicket when the team total was 95 for two, played cautiously with India needing 276 runs to win the match.

He hit just two fours after facing 76 balls to reach 28. The 38-year-old Tendulkar, the world's most prolific batsman, now needs just one hundred to complete a historic 100 international tons. He has scored 51 Test tons and 48 ODI hundreds. 

Rahul Dravid, who was batting at the other end with Tendulkar, is the second highest run-getter in Tests with 12,775 runs before this match while Australian Ricky Ponting  is third on the list with 12487 runs. 

Top run-getters in Test cricket (minimum 10,000 runs)  

15,048* - Sachin Tendulkar (IND)

12,859* - Rahul Dravid (IND)

12,487 - Ricky Ponting (AUS) 

11,953 - Brian Lara (WIS)

11,947 - Jacques Kallis (RSA)

11,174 - Allan Border (AUS) 

10,927- Steve Waugh (AUS)

10,122 - Sunil Gavaskar (IND)