Indian batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar has come a long way in international cricket since making his international debut against Pakistan as a teenager. Sir Don Bradman had said that Tendulkar is the one batsman who comes closest to his own batting style, and if one takes a look at the records of these two legends, it wouldn't be tough to understand the reason for the Don expressing that opinion. Tendulkar now has 42 Test centuries to his name and looks good for a few more, but he scored his maiden ton in the longest form of the game against England at Old Trafford in August 1990. Tendulkar, who was then the second youngest batsman behind Pakistan's Mushtaq Mohammad to score a Test century, remained unbeaten on 119 and it was his partnership with Manoj Prabhakar for the seventh wicket on the last day that saved the match for India. Mushtaq's record was broken by Bangladesh batsman Mohammad Ashraful in September 2001 against Sri Lanka.
In the Old Trafford Test from August 10-14, 1990, England captain Graham Gooch won the toss and elected to bat first. England spurred on by centuries from Gooch, Michael Atherton and Robin Smith made 519 in the first innings with Narendra Hirwani (62-10-174-4) being the most successful of the Indian bowlers. India's response was led by captain Mohammad Azharuddin, who made 179, with Sanjay Manjrekar (93) and Tendulkar (68) making useful contributions, as the tourists wre bowled out for 432 with Angus Fraser (5-124) being the pick of the English bowlers.
Allan Lamb (109), Atherton (74) and Smith (61*) led England's charge in the second innings as the home team declared after scoring 320 for 4, setting India a target of 408 runs to square the series.
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