Mark Ramprakash, pictured scoring his second and final Test hundred against Australia, believes Sachin Tendulkar will reach his 100th international century sooner rather than later

Mark Ramprakash believes the Little Master will reach his 100th international century

Surrey batsman Mark Ramprakash believes that Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar will achieve the milestone of 100 international centuries sooner rather than later.

The 42-year-old has scored 114 First Class centuries, with two of those in Test cricket and believes the milestone will be a distraction to Tendulkar.

The Little Master has scored 51 centuries in Test cricket and 48 tons in One Day Internationals but has been without a century since the 2011 World Cup.

“I got to 98 and 99 quite quickly and then all of a sudden there seemed to be more spotlight on me trying to achieve this feat in first-class cricket,” Ramprakash told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“Of course with Sachin Tendulkar it’s on an international scale I suppose. He first played for India when he was 16 and he’s been playing international cricket for about 22 years.

“He’s used to the spotlight particularly representing a country with over a billion people. He’s used to the pressure but this is a special milestone.

“He will be the first person to get 100 international centuries and possibly the last.

“I think it was on my 10th attempt. A hundred takes a long time to string together. One mistake and you’re gone.

“Tendulkar seems to be batting really well but he has also missed out. He got 90 odd against England and 94 recently. He just hasn’t quite made it over the finishing line.”

India could do with a Tendulkar century in Sydney to save the second test against Australia, with the hosts leading by 291 for the loss of only four wickets.

History is in his favour though, having scored 241* at the SCG in 2004.