Ton of tons: It's not over yet, Master Sachin Tendulkar says!

Delhi: Phew. Sachin Tendulkar gave his fans yet another reason to believe that he is, after all — the God of cricket. His chase for the elusive hundredth International ton finally ended at Dhaka on Friday. And after waiting for 370-long-days Sachin’s fans have all finally heaved a collective sigh of relief.

Sachin himself felt that it had been wearing down on him and that “he lost 50 kgs” of bodyweight in the pursuit of his latest conquest. And now that it is done and dusted, cricket lovers are left wondering if this is finally the high on which Sachin would like to call it quits.

The year-long wait that began precisely on March 12, 2011, at Nagpur against South Africa, culminated with a 138-ball century against Bangladesh.  This was Sachin's 49th ton in ODIs; he has 51 centuries in Tests.

Here are a few significant numbers about this century :

370 - Tendulkar waited 370 days to reach the milestone. During this time his average was 32.9 in 33 innings. And he twice fell in the ‘nervous’ 90s.

33 – The drought was 33-innings-long. And when it finally ended, Sachin became the first batsman to ever hit 100 international centuries.

51– He has scored 51 centuries in 311 Test innings and 49 tons from 451 ODIs.

42— Of his 100 centuries have come at home.

41— Tons have come while playing away;

17— Centuries have come at neutral venues.

The long wait

During the 370-day-long hiatus, voices calling for Tendulkar’s retirement had grown louder as he played (and by his colossal standards, failed) while playing Tests against England, West Indies and Australia. He also featured in the Tri-series Down Under and came perilously close to getting his 100th ton on a few occasions.

Life after Sachin

Youngsters like Rohit Sharma, Abhinav Mukund and Ajinkya Rahane look like the most probable benefiters when Sachin hangs up his boots in the near future. And while they will have huge boots to fill — that of Sachin Tendulkar’s — a billion pairs of cricket-crazy nation will scrutinize every move they make.

While volumes has been devoted to Sachin in his 23-year-long career; whenever the impending retirement is announced, it will be followed by a resonant din of a billion hearts breaking in unison.