On August 14, 1990, Team India legend Sachin Tendulkar became the second-youngest international batter to notch up an international Test ton. His innings came against England at Old Trafford. Winning the toss,
England captain Graham Gooch elected to bat first. Riding on Gooch’s 116, Mike Atherton’s 131, and Robin Smith’s unbeaten 121, the hosts posted a massive total of 519. Following the score, India lost their Navjot Singh Sidhu, Ravi Shastri, and Dilip Vengsarkar early but Sanjay Manjrekar along with his captain Mohammad Azharuddin stood at the crease and stabilised India’s innings. Manjrekar departed after scoring 93 while Azharuddin amassed 179.
Tendulkar, who came at number six, produced a 68-run innings, which helped the visitors rack up 432 runs. In the second innings, England declared their innings after posting 320/4 on the board. Chasing the total of 408, India witnessed themselves under trouble after losing six batters at a score of 183. Sachin Tendulkar, allying with Manoj Prabhakar, built an unbroken 160-run stand for the seventh wicket. Prabhakar chipped in with his unbeaten 67 off 128 while Tendulkar played an incredible knock of an unbeaten 119 off 189. His innings included 17 fours. He shattered the record of Pakistan’s Saleem Malik, who was the second-youngest batter to hit a red-ball ton then. Malik pulled off the milestone at the age of 18 years and 323 days while Tendulkar got it at the age of 17 years and 107 days.
Mohammad Ashraful surpassed Sachin Tendulkar’s record in 2001
In 2001, Pakistan’s Mushtaq Mohammad’s record of fastest Test ton at the age of 17 years 78 days was shattered by Bangladesh’s Mohammad Ashraful, who played a 114-run innings against Sri Lanka in a Test match, played in Colombo and achieved the feat.
Ashraful smashed the century at the age of 17 years and 61 days. With Ashraful’s record ton, Mushtaq Mohammad came in the second position while Sachin Tendulkar also moved to the third spot. However, for India, the Master Blaster is still the youngest batter to hit a Test hundred.
