When Tendulkar brought up his 34th Test ton in the first Test against Bangladesh in Dhaka, it was also his 58th first-class hundred in his 214th match since his maiden ton on debut for Bombay in 1988. Unsurprisingly, Gavaskar leads the Indian pack with 81 hundreds in 348 matches from 1966 to 1987.

Both men now share the tonnage record, so where do they differ? Gavaskar only played against six countries, while Tendulkar has enjoyed the luxury of playing against nine.

While England have often borne the brunt of Tendulkar's blade  - he averages 76.5 against them - Gavaskar was never one for British bowlers, averaging just 38.20. And while the master blaster has only notched up 600 runs against arch-rivals Pakistan, Gavaskar enjoyed milking 2,089 runs off Imraan Khan and company.

Both men reaped the rewards of batting on the sub-continent. For Gavaskar it was in Pakistan where 11 Test gave him an average of 59. Sri Lanka appears to be a real paradise for Tendulkar as six Tests for an average of 111.66 testifies.

Australia have witnessed Tendulkar notch up seven Test tons against them, including that unbeaten 241 in the drawn Sydney Test against Australia that nearly ruined Steve Waugh's farewell appearance.  Gavaskar hammered an incredible 13 hundreds against the Windies.

So who has these two legends' numbers? Given that he played against England the most, Gavaskar was dismissed the most times by Derek Underwood. Yet despite getting him on 11 occasions, legendary Windies pace machine Michael Holding couldn't stop Gavaskar from averaging almost 66 against a team who were in their prime at that stage. Trinidad was a popular hunting ground for Gavaskar, amassing close to 800 runs for an average a shade under 100.

And Tendulkar? Three Tests and 498 runs sees him average a eye-popping 249 in Sydney, although his 102 in Chennai isn't too bad either. Jason Gillespie has taken his wicket six times, while former South African skipper Hansie Cronje's medium pacers accounted for him on five occasions.

Both men have records that speak for themselves. In 125 Tests, Gavaskar amassed 10.122 runs for an average of 51.12. Before Dhaka, Tendulkar had racked up 9595 runs in 118 Tests to average 56.11.

He may still be behind Gavaskar, but it won't be for much longer and with all those many centuries, the little master remains a benchmark for contemporary batsmen.

By John van Straaten