An average of 114.00 with three hundreds and one fifty in three Tests, shows that SSC is among his favourite grounds

Breaking records is nothing new for Sachin Tendulkar. He has achieved almost every batting milestone in Test and one-day cricket. But even he will be keen to make this bit of history.

Despite Twenty20, Test cricket is still rated as the ultimate challenge. For a cricketer, being the highest run-scorer or the highest wicket-taker in the five-day version of the game is regarded as the ultimate high.

Kapil Dev toiled hard well past his prime just to get past Richard Hadlee's 431-wicket tally. The reward of Courtney Walsh's years and years of sweat and slog was becoming the highest wicket-taker (519 wickets). The famous moments in Sunil Gavaskar and Allan Border's career were when they hit the runs to become the highest run-getters in Tests.
 
The moment

It is this moment that beckons the Idea Cup series. Brian Lara sits on the throne at the moment with a tally of 11,953 runs (131 Tests).

Apart from helping India do well, the Indian champion will be equally keen to add the 172 runs to his kitty to dethrone the Trinidadian. Tendulkar's aggregate now stands at 11,782.

Expectations are high and there's a buzz here about the landmark. Fans are wondering whether the Mumbai Maestro will get to the mark in the first or second Test or will history have to wait till the final game.

Given the target, it will need a big hundred or two big innings to reach the mark at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Wednesday's series opener. Not many would bet against Tendulkar actually experiencing the high in the first two innings itself. A glance at his record at the SSC is good reason for that confidence.

An average of 114.00 with three hundreds and one fifty in three Tests, shows that SSC is among his favourite grounds. His form could not have been better.

Rich vein

In the tour game here, he provided enough evidence that the rich vein of form continues.

"Everyone in Lanka is keen to see him bat in real cricket and not cow-boy cricket," said Sri Lanka Cricket's president and former skipper Arjuna Ranatunga. "There are no words to describe him. One just has to look at his record. It says everything. He is the best batsman I have seen," said the Sri Lankan legend.

Ideally, Tendulkar would have preferred to achieve this feat in front of his home crowd but he can stay assured that the true Sri Lankan cricket fans will celebrate his success with as much gusto.