The End of an Era
A look back at some of Sachin Tendulkar’s most significant Test innings
I could tell you about how Tendulkar’s retirement would make the world a less colourful place, how it would make food taste worse and how it would further worsen bilateral relations between India and Pakistan. But those would be lies. I have never claimed to be Sachin’s biggest fan, never worshipped his photo before going to an exam, nor switched off the TV after his dismissal. Sachin, to me is neither god nor a superhuman. He is simply what he is, the greatest cricketer of all time.
Tendulkar’s greatness for me, unlike for most orthodox cricket lovers, will always be defined by his belligerence and class in 50 over internationals. Be it my first memory of watching him dismantle Henry Olonga in Sharjah ‘98, that six off Shoaib Akhtar in WC’03, or him clipping an outside-offstump Steyn delivery for a boundary on the leg side on the way to his majestic 200*, Tendulkar’s inimitable strokemaking in India blue tends to eclipse most of his innings in the longer version of the game. That it does so, despite a career spanning 198 tests (and 2 more to go) and 15837 runs (and hopefully a few more to come) that included 51 centuries, is a testament to the greatness of the man (and my obsession with the shorter form of the game).
Better writers than me will write glowing tributes to the man while tales of his dedication and humility are best left to his contemporaries. Hence, knowing that any attempt to chronicle this 24 year long career would be futile,I’ve simply settled to write about 5 of Tendulkar’s test innings, 3 of which are my favourites and the first 2 of which are well, statistically important.
1. Debut (Karachi — November 15-20*, 1989)
For reasons not in my control, I could not watch this game live. While scrambling for information around 15 years later, I found that the highlight of this tame draw (which was incidentally Kapil Dev’s 100th Test for India) was another debutant, Waqar Younis bloodying the 16 year old Tendulkar with a quick bouncer, before Sachin recovered to score 15 runs that included 2 fours. The remaining four tests in the series were also draws and in all, Tendulkar scored 215 runs at an average of 35.83. Boring!
Click here for the match scorecard.
There were other players who also debuted in 1989, most notably Sanath Jayasuriya and Waqar Younis.
*Notice how this test spans 6 days? That’s because tests played then had a rest day between day 3 and day 4.
2. First Century (Manchester — November 9-14**, 1990)
Tendulkar’s first Test century, prevented what would have been England’s 3rd consecutive win of the series. Having made 68 in the first innings, the 17 year old came out to bat at No. 6 wearing Sunil Gavaskar’s pads with India at 109/4 having been set an impossible target of 408 to win. By the time a frustrated Graham Gooch settled for a draw with 2 overs to go, Tendulkar had notched up 119*, adding a precious 160 for the 6th wicket with Manoj Prabhakar. Sachin, however was unable to celebrate his century with some beer at a pub or even drive to it, as aged 17 years and 112 days, he was ineligible to do either (he was also the second youngest centurion in test cricket).
Click here for the match scorecard.
**This game witnessed the debut of another Indian legend, Anil Kumble.
3. 136 against Pakistan (Chennai — January 28-31, 1999)
Although this series is perhaps most remembered for Anil Kumble spinning a web around the Pakistanis at the Ferozeshah Kotla, it was also host to one of Sachin’s best hundreds. The second innings of the first test at Chennai saw India, chasing 271, slump to 82/5. Tendulkar, having taken multiple injections to counter a severe back strain, went about consolidating the Indian innings and added 136 for the sixth wicket with Nayan Mongia. Even after Mongia’s dismissal, Tendulkar kept fighting and by the time he was finally dismissed by Saqlain Mushtaq for 136, he had batted for 405 minutes, smashed 18 fours and put India within 17 runs off the target. In a sign of things to come, India lost their last 3 wickets for 4 runs and lost the game by 12 runs.
Click here for the match scorecard.
4. 241* against Australia (Sydney — January 2-6, 2004)
The crowd had come to watch Steve Waugh (who was playing in his last test), and would watch him standing in the field for the first two days. Those two days were witness however to one of Sachin’s most controlled innings. Having analyzed his dismissals in the first 3 tests of the series, Sachin decided to completely deny his fans his beautiful cover drive. During the course of his 10 hours 13 minutes innings, Tendulkar added 353 for the 4th wicket with another perennial Aussie tormentor, VVS Laxman, before India finally declared for an imposing 705/7.
Click here for the match scorecard.
5. 103* against England (Chennai — December 11-15, 2008)
The nation needed a reason for some cheer after the events of 26/11, and who better to give it to them than Tendulkar. This single innings put to rest all complaints that he never saw India through to victory when it mattered. Chasing a challenging 380, Sachin paired up with Yuvraj Singh, the match still pretty much tilted in England’s favour. A striking contrast of calm against the English bowlers who did anything and everything to rile up the batsmen, the duo went on to guide India to victory with an unbeaten stand of 163 runs. The closing stages of the match will be remembered for the wild applause with which the crowd greeted every dot ball Yuvraj Singh played to ensure that Tendulkar had time to reach his 41st century.
Click here for the match scorecard.
Regardless of whether his innings from his final test get added to the last 3 or the first 2 of my collection, Sachin’s era will be the greatest in the history of Indian cricket. As he moves onto the next 40 years of his life, only time will tell if Tendulkar turns out to have a decent innings as a politician.
Here’s a nice article which features Sachin’s teammates talking about their favourite Tendulkar 100.
And an article from The Guardian which gives a timeline ofTendulkar’s phenomenal career.
