Ever since he marked his first-class debut with a hundred as a 15-year-old, Sachin Tendulkar has been hailed as the King of Centuries. And the legendary cricketer reached the three-figure mark in the shortest version on this day at the Wankhede Stadium, on this very day four years ago.

On April 2, 2011, Tendulkar had enjoyed the greatest moment of his career when he was carried on the shoulders by his Indian teammates on his homeground, after India beat Sri Lanka in the World Cup final. And his first visit to the holy ground was marked with his only century in Twenty20 cricket.

The world expected Tendulkar to raise his 100th international century in the biggest match he played for India. What the master batsman couldn’t achieve then, he did it two weeks later in the other Blues that he had been proudly donning.

Having emerged as one of the highest scorers in the World Cup, Tendulkar was anyway in form. And he had carried that form into the fourth edition of the Indian Premier League, having scored unbeaten 46 and 55 not out in the Mumbai Indian’s first two games of the 2011 season. Once the team returned to Mumbai after playing back-to-back games in Delhi and Bangalore, there was widespread expectation among Paltan to see yet another Tendulkar magic.

And the master, like he had been doing it for well over two decades, didn’t let his fans down. His first scoring shot against Kochi Tuskers Kerala, a gentle push off RP Singh in the first over down the wicket that raced to the boundary behind the bowler, hinted that it could be a special day. But with Ambati Rayudu matching the master, shot for shot, a century looked improbable, with Tendulkar batting on 82 at the end of the 18th over of the innings.

Then came a four and a six off Thisara Pererain the penultimate over. It raised hopes that the inevitable was to happen. An over throw off the last ball of the 19th over helped Tendulkar run a couple and cross his previous IPL best of 89 not out.

Rayudu gave back the strike to Tendulkar off the first ball of the last over. A dot ball was followed by a fuller delivery with a slinging action by R Vinay Kumar, but it raced through covers to the boundary.

Six runs off three balls was the ‘target’. Rayudu sacrificed his wicket while attempting a second run off the next. That was followed by a boundary behind the wicket. And then the all-important single, a push to covers off a low full toss that fetched the milestone moment of Tendulkar.

That single made Tendulkar only the second Indian to have scored a century in each of the game’s three formats. Unfortunately, the night didn’t have a happy ending as Brendon McCullum and Mahela Jayawardene took a cue from the master and helped Kochi Tuskers chase down a huge total of 188.