CA's Trophy That Was Never Handed To Tendulkar

MELBOURNE: Sachin Tendulkar's much awaited ton-of-tons has not only left his fans world over in anticipation, but it has also made Cricket Australia to wait arduously, as it intended to present the Indian batsman with a memento on reaching the historic feat.

CA planned to present the batting legend a nice little memento after he scored his 100th international hundred during the just concluded tour Down Under, the 'Australian' reported.

Cushioned in a metal box, the trophy, featuring a golden Kookaburra ball on a plinth, criss-crossed Australia and followed Tendulkar at every venue only to fail to find the intended recipient.

"Cricket Australia said the Sachin Trophy was en route from Brisbane, where India played their last tri-series league match, to Melbourne (the venue of first tri-series finals), perchance India made the finals," the newspaper said under the headline 'Sachin gives us a Godot moment'.

Tendulkar, however, received a special presentation from the South Australian Cricket Association (SACA) at the Adelaide and was also presented with a sculpted bust of Don Bradman in Sydney.

Interestingly, the plaque on the bust presented to Tendulkar read "in whom Sir Donald Bradman saw something of himself", the newspaper said.

While Tendulkar raised hopes of getting to the elusive feat during the Test series against Australia, with a fluent 73 in the series opener at Melbourne and another 80-run knock during the second Test at Sydney, he looked a distant shadow of his self in the ODI tri-series that followed.

Tendulkar scored 143 runs in seven outings in the tri-series at an average 20.42 with his highest being the 48 against Sri Lanka at Perth.