Tendulkar turns back the clock
MUMBAI, India — The scorecard from day one of the second Test between India and West Indies will reflect a batting collapse and some great spin bowling.
It will say that the need of the hour for the visitors was to bat well, using the bouncy pitch at the Wankhede stadium to good effect. But they failed, to build a good first innings and despite talking about application, were bowled out for a meagre 182.
It will, however, not say that skipper Darren Sammy who talked most about discipline in batting in the build-up, played the most irresponsible shot of the lot.
That same scorecard will tell us that Pragyan Ojha and R Aswhin like hunting together. On a bouncy pitch, they bowled out the Windies for far lesser than what MS Dhoni would have hoped for, after he put them in to bat. It will indicate that India are in a strong position after three sessions in the match.
It will not say that Sachin Tendulkar, batting in his 200th and final Test match, bamboozled the crowds in the last one hour of play. That he rolled back time, and brought out groans of disbelief, as one after the other his trademark shots came out.
One hour into the post-tea session and Murali Vijay was out caught bat-pad. But the umpire made him wait, and made the crowd wait restlessly. Perhaps no Indian barring Vijay himself wanted the decision to be given not out. No one wanted to watch him bat, well almost. Duly then, he was given his marching orders. The next batsman, India’s number four, was in.
Sachin walked down the steps, repeating his routine from the past 24 years. Around him, the mass delirium reached a new level. The crowd, on their feet, chanted his name, did so again, and then again, and again, and they never stopped until stumps on day one. Meanwhile, the West Indies players, the two umpires and non-striking batsman Cheteshwar Pujara formed up a guard of honour. This could be his last innings, and everyone knew that.
Maybe even he knew that too for he was in his element from the word go. This wasn’t the Sachin from past two years, struggling for touch and feet movement, stealing runs. This was a different batsman, of whom we have seen only glimpses in recent times. He seemed intent on making it a grand last hurrah, at least better than the one Sir Donald Bradman gave himself. Calmly then, he got off the mark.
The Windies bowlers started taking turns to bowl at him, looking for their Eric Hollies moment. Fame beckoned, a mark etched in cricket history forever. But they were denied, by Sachin who was scoring and doing so briskly.
The shots were beginning to flow. He brought out a cracking cut off the back-foot to signal the coming barrage. Then came out the big cover drive with the perfect follow-through. It was almost stopped, or maybe that was a feeble attempt to stop it. The end result was the same. Four runs.
Sachin was moving briskly. He was cutting loose, was scoring freely, without any burden. He just wanted to bat, without proving a point. There is none left to prove any way. So, came another cover drive, followed by a little adjustment of the sight screen. Then he moved to the off-stump, but not before deftly playing the ball to fine leg for four. He was dancing now, nimbly off the back-foot, almost in the air, as he cut away for another boundary.
The shot of the day came later, very close to the end. It was a punch down the ground, resulting in an on-side boundary, the toughest shot to master. The one he plays with consummate ease. Then he shut shop, and remained unbeaten on 38, leaving a nation to pray.
Pragyan Ojha summed it up nicely. “I am happy to be over-shadowed by Sachin. This is his match. The team wants him to bat as long as possible and get as many runs as possible. None of us moved from our spots in the dressing room, sitting or standing, while he was batting.”
A billion other people won’t be moving either, on today.