Tendulkar takes India to new heights

India has always been fascinated by numbers and statistics ever since the country set foot in Test cricket. And why not? India has been the land of batsmen, whose numbers have always kept fans in awe. How many hundreds did they score? How many in winning causes? How many in a year? From Polly Umrigar to Sunil Gavaskar to Sachin Tendulkar, these legends have held a plethora of batting records till they called it a day. The Bronze Age:Umrigar, initially held records most Indians would have only dreamt of. Be it most runs by an Indian, most hundreds, most number of matches, the first Indian to score a double ton or registering the highest Test score by an Indian, Umrigar was the holder of several enviable records and for quite a long period as well - 1962 to 1978. The Silver Age:Sunil Manohar Gavaskar came along in 1972 and after taking a few years to establish his status as one of the best opening batsmen in the world, he went about breaking a few records himself. The fearsome West Indian fast bowlers of his time did not stop Gavaskar, whose records included most runs, most number of centuries and he was the first to cross the 10,000-barrier in Test cricket. The Golden Age:The Little Master made way for the Master Blaster, who turned out to be modern cricket's best and possibly, the best batsman ever to have played the game. Tendulkar's unyielding love for the game and his desire to churn out big numbers meant that after an unimaginable career that lasted for nearly 25 years, he finished with a plethora of records that look close to insurmountable.Comparison of Ages:Here's a look at the career stats of these three players, who made India proud with their contributions to the game. Interestingly, all three are Maharashtrians who played for Mumbai (Umrigar also represented Gujarat) in first-class cricket.