Sir Donald Bradman said before he passed away that Indian great Sachin Tendulkar was the batsman who most reminded him of himself, and it could be interesting to see the two men sharing the number 99 on retirement.
Being bowled second ball by Eric Hollies in his last test innings at the Oval in England meant that Sir Don Bradman finished his international career with a test match batting average of 99.94.
Sachin Tendulkar may well find himself stranded on 99 international hundreds. Which in itself is a remarkable achievement. It was on March 12 2011 that he scored his 99th International hundred against South Africa.
Since then 143 International hundreds have been scored in Tests ODIs and T20s, 18 of which have been scored by Indian players, 6 by Kohli and 5 by Rahul Dravid.
Tendulkar has long been the darling of the Indian public, he can do little wrong, and is such a humble and polite man that he is a superb role model. However his adoring public are beginning to question how long the selectors should stick with him while his form is not of the high standard he set. It could be that India may be forced to ask him to step down before they bow to pressure and drop him, while still on 99 International centuries.
There would be a symmetry to him being stranded on 99 just as the man who said he was the one player who reminded him of him.
