Sachin Tendulkar registered his highest score in first class and Test cricket in the first innings of the Sydney Test. His 241 not out came in 613 minutes off 436 balls, his longest innings both in terms of time taken and balls faced.
His previous longest innings in terms of time taken had come against New Zealand at Ahmedabad in 1999-00 when he had scored 217 runs in 494 minutes. His previous longest innings in terms of balls faced was 177 off 360 balls against England at Trent Bridge, Nottingham, in 1996.
Tendulkar's previous longest first class innings in terms of minutes was of 565 minutes for Mumbai against Tamil Nadu at Mumbai in 1999-00 in the Ranji Trophy semi-final. Tendulkar had made an unbeaten 233 off 334 balls in that innings.
The accompanying table gives complete details of Tendulkar's 32 Test hundreds:
| Runs | Mins | Balls | 4's | 6's | Vs | Inns | Test | Venue | Season | How out |
| 119* | 225 | 189 | 17 | - | Eng | 2nd | 2nd | Old Trafford | 1990 | not out |
| 148* | 298 | 213 | 14 | - | Aus | 1st | 3rd | Sydney | 1991-92 | not out |
| 114 | 228 | 161 | 16 | - | Aus | 1st | 5th | Perth | 1991-92 | caught |
| 111 | 373 | 270 | 19 | - | SA | 1st | 2nd | Johannesburg | 1992-93 | caught |
| 165 | 361 | 296 | 24 | 1 | Eng | 1st | 2nd | Madras (Chepauk) | 1992-93 | c and b |
| 104* | 217 | 161 | 11 | 1 | SL | 2nd | 2nd | Colombo (SSC) | 1993-94 | not out |
| 142 | 260 | 224 | 22 | - | SL | 1st | 1st | Lucknow (KDS) | 1993-94 | caught |
| 179 | 414 | 322 | 24 | 1 | WI | 1st | 2nd | Nagpur | 1994-95 | caught |
| 122 | 263 | 177 | 19 | 1 | Eng | 2nd | 1st | Edgbaston | 1996 | caught |
| 177 | 462 | 360 | 26 | - | Eng | 1st | 3rd | Trent Bridge | 1996 | caught |
| 169 | 329 | 254 | 26 | - | SA | 1st | 2nd | Cape Town | 1996-97 | caught |
| 143 | 292 | 247 | 20 | - | SL | 1st | 1st | Colombo (RPS) | 1997-98 | caught |
| 139 | 397 | 266 | 16 | - | SL | 1st | 2nd | Colombo (SSC) | 1997-98 | caught |
| 148 | 320 | 244 | 20 | 3 | SL | 1st | 3rd | Bombay (Wankhede) | 1997-98 | bowled |
| 155* | 286 | 191 | 14 | 4 | Aus | 2nd | 1st | Madras (Chepauk) | 1997-98 | not out |
| 177 | 298 | 207 | 29 | 3 | Aus | 1st | 3rd | Bangalore | 1997-98 | bowled |
| 113 | 200 | 151 | 13 | 2 | NZ | 2nd | 2nd | Wellington | 1998-99 | caught |
| 136 | 405 | 273 | 18 | - | Pak | 2nd | 1st | Madras (Chepauk) | 1998-99 | caught |
| 124* | 308 | 235 | 10 | 1 | SL | 2nd | 1st | Colombo (SSC) | 1998-99 | not out |
| 126* | 397 | 248 | 14 | - | NZ | 2nd | 1st | Mohali | 1999-00 | not out |
| 217 | 494 | 344 | 29 | - | NZ | 1st | 3rd | Ahmedabad | 1999-00 | caught |
| 116 | 283 | 191 | 9 | 1 | Aus | 1st | 2nd | Melbourne | 1999-00 | caught |
| 122 | 283 | 233 | 19 | - | Zim | 1st | 1st | Delhi | 2000-01 | caught |
| 201* | 392 | 281 | 27 | - | Zim | 1st | 2nd | Nagpur | 2000-01 | not out |
| 126 | 346 | 230 | 15 | 2 | Aus | 1st | 3rd | Madras (Chepauk) | 2000-01 | caught |
| 155 | 233 | 184 | 23 | 1 | SA | 1st | 1st | Bloemfontein | 2001-02 | caught |
| 103 | 254 | 197 | 12 | 1 | Eng | 1st | 2nd | Ahmedabad | 2001-02 | caught |
| 176 | 440 | 316 | 23 | - | Zim | 1st | 1st | Nagpur | 2001-02 | caught |
| 117 | 356 | 260 | 14 | - | WI | 1st | 2nd | Port-of-Spain | 2001-02 | lbw |
| 193 | 434 | 330 | 19 | 3 | Eng | 1st | 3rd | Headingley | 2002 | lbw |
| 176 | 419 | 298 | 26 | - | WI | 2nd | 3rd | Calcutta | 2002-03 | caught |
| 241* | 613 | 436 | 33 | - | Aus | 1st | 4th | Sydney | 2003-04 | not out |
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