November 15, 1989 marks the day when Sachin Tendulkar made
his Test debut against Pakistan at Karachi. At just 16 years old, he only managed
15 runs in his debut innings being bowled out by fellow debutant Waqar Younis,
but was noticed for how he coped with abundant bodyline deliveries by the
Pakistani pace attack. It is November 15, 2013 and it looks as if he has played
his last innings as West Indies seem to lack that hunger for one big cohesive
effort to put up a competitive total on the board. It’s time to relive few of his most
cherished test innings.
Not many know this but it was John Wright who prevented
Sachin from becoming the youngest batsman to score a test match hundred at
Napier in February 1990. His first century did come later that year at Old Trafford
which coincidentally is the same ground where Shane Warne produced that ‘Ball
of the century’ to dismiss Mike Gatting in 1993. On January 6, 1992, he scored 148
not out against hosts Australia at the SCG in the match which marked the
arrival of Shane Warne. This particular innings of his was very much
overshadowed by the double hundred scored by Ravi Shastri.
Sachin's good form persisted and in the 5th match of the
same series against Australia, he slammed one more hundred, this time at the bounciest
pitch in the world at WACA Ground in Perth. Two striking things came to the
fore during the course of this innings of his. First, very rarely you would see
a batsman from the visiting team scoring a hundred at Perth. And secondly, he adjusted
beautifully from the lower bounce at SCG to the higher bounce at WACA. Many of
his team mates regard this innings of 114 at Perth as his best knock.
Sachin was made the captain in 1996 and by now he was
leading Team India from the front and was setting examples for all and sundry.
Without showing the burden of captaincy, he scored 169 runs against the Proteas
at the Newlands Cricket Ground in Cape Town on January 4, 1997. Tendulkar and Azhar
got together at 58 for 5 and began smacking the bowling as if they were playing
a club game in the park. Perhaps he was inspired by meeting Nelson Mandela
during the lunch break.
A year and a bit later came another gem from Sachin's bat on one
of his happy hunting grounds. He appeared to be at the peak of his career
during this phase and scored an unbeaten 155 against Australia on March 9, at
the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. He took the attack to Warne and
company in such brutal manner that the great leg spinner could never recover
enough from this assault. He unleashed a series of slog sweeps to counter the
vicious turn and bounce being extracted from the rough. He turned the match on
its head by that scintillating knock and allowed his skipper to declare the
innings in time to bowl out the Aussies on the last day of the match.
Sachin produced another beauty at the same venue against
Pakistan in the year 1999. He scored 136 runs in the second innings at the Chidambaram
Stadium against the likes of Akram, Waqar and Saqlain. In a low scoring affair,
he finds his team in a precarious position at 82 for 5 chasing 271. His battle
with Saqlain especially, was a treat to watch for cricket lovers. He kept on
going in spite of being handicapped by back spasms in searing heat of Chennai. India
fell short by 13 runs in a close contest.
In the year 2004, we witnessed a different Sachin at SCG
when he scored epic 241 undefeated against mighty Australians. It might sound
strange but this particular innings of his was devoid of any covered drives. He
kept getting out to this shot prior to this Test match and had decided to do
away with it. It just shows the mental strength and the tenacity. This was his
highest Test score yet.
Subsequent to the terror attacks on Mumbai, India played
England in Chennai. And the master turned it into a memorable one. He made
unbeaten 103 runs chasing down a stiff target of 387 on a wearing pitch on the
last day and dedicated his 41st ton to all his countrymen. This innings came
just few weeks after India faced one of its worst terror attacks. With
Tendulkar’s ton, India smiled again.
And in 2010-11 tour of South Africa, he showed why he is
known as a genius. He mastered the way to negate Dale Steyn’s out swingers bowled
at more than 140 kph by standing outside of the crease. This innings of 146 at
Newlands, was by far the best innings from his willow after he recovered from
the Tennis elbow injury. Sachin, the bowler, has contributed too in achieving
victories for his country. The two most famous ones being the 3 wickets on the
last day at Eden gardens to beat the Aussies after that mammoth innings of 281
from VVS Laxman, and the 2 wickets at the Adelaide Oval which helped India bowl
out Steve Waugh’s men for a small total to register an India victory after many
years on Australian soil. His part time leggies bamboozled many including Moin
Khan who got bowled by Sachin’s googly in one of the test matches in Pakistan. All
we can say is that an era has ended with his retirement and it will be apt to
say that he has passed on the baton to the next generation of batsmen like
Pujara, Kohli and Sharma. Congratulations are in order for the little master
for a fabulous career.
