While all of Bollywood descended at the Wankhede to witness the World Cup final, none of those silver screen deities could have written or enacted a more filmy script than that of Tendulkar’s on Saturday. As he lined up for the national anthem with his fellow players, a legend stood on the brink of ultimate greatness — that elusive World Cup trophy, and a Hollywood-inspired walk into the sunset.

As dawn turned to dusk, the 100th 100 didn’t happen, but Tendulkar was finally rewarded for his services with a World Cup winner’s medal. Simultaneously, the wrought iron and steel fabric of the Wankhede withstood its last test of endurance.

For very long, cricket has been synonymous with Tendulkar all over India. But home is where the heart lies, and no other ground in India, or the world, could have provided a more emotional platform for the batting maestro to perform his coda. While normalcy will take very long to restore, the city dazzled through the night, bursting crackers and toasting Team India. And never again will a local train chug past the Wankhede Stadium without its passengers heaving a sigh of nostalgia, remembering every minute of the hours that Mumbai collectively held its breath. A day India won the World Cup.

Six steps to the cup

1992: His first World Cup. An unbeaten 54 and 1/37 against Pakistan helped India win and earned him Man of the Match award. Scored 81 for another MoM award against Zimbabwe, and 84 against New Zealand for an average of 41.33 in six matches.

1996: Scored more than 50 in five of the seven matches he played. Was MoM twice and the tournament’s highest run-getter (523). Made 65 of India’s 120/8 against Sri Lanka before crowd trouble stopped the game.

1999: Despite personal tragedy (his father passed away), he still managed an unbeaten 140 against Kenya.

2003: Was player of the tournament with 673 runs and three MoM awards. Hit 98 against Pakistan and finished with an average of 61.18.

2007: Got out for zero against Sri Lanka, made seven against Bangladesh and 57 against Bermuda.

2011: Scored two centuries (120 vs England and 111 vs SA), 53 against Australia and 85 against Pakistan in the semi-final.

God’s numbers

Tendulkar has scored 48 ODI

centuries, only 10 less than the total number scored by every English player put together since Sachin’s first. The next best on the centurions’ list is Ricky Ponting, with 30 — 18 less.

Tendulkar has more centuries against his name than the combined total of every team except South Africa and Australia. The current

Pakistan squad has 25 centuries in

total while the West Indies have 37 and Sri Lanka 47.

Tendulkar has hit 1981 fours in his career. The next best is 1500 by Sanath Jayasuriya.

Tendulkar has run 9019 of a total 18093 runs. In terms of total distance covered, that amounts to running

... contd.