From the moment he faced up to Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis as a fluffy-haired 16-year-old at Karachi, Sachin Tendulkar has been destined for the top. His Test record is impressive in itself, but in one-day cricket he is peerless. Already, he has scored more runs and more hundreds than any other batsman, and during the 2003 World Cup, Tendulkar took over from the great Sir Viv Richards at the top of the Wisden 100 all-time rankings.

The Wisden 100 is a statistical analysis that rates every individual batting and bowling performance in Test and one-day international cricket. In the alltime lists, the these innings are added together and then averaged out, to give a reflection of a player's contribution throughout his career.

If there has been one criticism of Tendulkar in the course of his career, it is that he has not scored his runs when the situation is at its most demanding. No-one can accuse him of that failing any more, after a consistently brilliant World Cup campaign.

He warmed up with a record-breaking 34th one-day hundred against Namibia, and then hit top gear with a brace of 90s in two of the most critical matches of India's campaign - the first a scorching 75-ball 98 against Pakistan, the second a ominously-paced 97 against Sri Lanka.

Even before the semi-final stage of the competition, he had passed 500 runs for the second time in a World Cup, to set India on a collision course with Australia in the final. The only thing that remains is for Tendulkar to cap his tournament with a matchwinning century in the final, a feat Richards achieved for West Indies in 1979.

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd