Friday, Nov 15, 2013
Mumbai: Retiring Sachin Tendulkar cracked his 68th half century and this, along with Cheteshwar Pujara’s elegant 113 runs and in-form Rohit Sharma’s unbeaten 111, steered India to a commanding position in the second Test against West Indies.
With India leading by 313 runs, the chances of them having to bat again looks unlikely considering the poor batting by the West Indies batsmen in the series. West Indies at close were 43 for 3 and hence Tendulkar may have played the final innings of his career.
Before walking away from the batting crease forever, he entertained his home crowd with the full range of his delectable shots, sweet memories which will last in his fans’ minds for years to come.
If Tendulkar overshadowed Pragyan Ojha’s five-wicket spell on the first day with a 38, his vintage shots on Friday were priceless, adding more gleam to Pujara’s knock of 113 and Sharma’s second century in a row.
As soon as Tendulkar’s 150-minute knock of 74 runs off 118 balls studded with 12 boundaries came to an end, many of the fans in the stands quickly left the ground. Being a working day, many supporters returned to their job having to take only half a day off. Most of fans had come in as early as 6am, occupying their seats by 7am, and anxiously waiting to see the Little Master play. And from the moment Tendulkar walked out to bat, they cheered for their hero.
When Tendulkar took guard, the whole stadium stood up and, when he scored his first run off Tino Best to mid-wicket, the roar shook the stadium. Some fans even prayed for him to stay on and score a century. Each and every run off his bat was welcomed with thunderous applause.
In the second over of the day, when he hit two consecutive boundaries off Shane Shillingford, the crowd could not contain their joy. Shillingford had dropped the ball short and Tendulkar cracked it off the backfoot past point to the boundary. The second four was a paddle sweep.
Tendulkar brought up his half century through his favourite shot — the straight drive — off Best. It was the shot his fans had been waiting for, and the giant scoreboard flashed the message: “Salute the legend.”
When Shillingford dropped short another delivery, Tendulkar carved out a beautiful shot going off the back foot and hit him through backward point. The giant screen showed ‘Sachin Genius’.
Best generated tremendous pace and tried to unsettle Tendulkar.Then the battle that ensued was a delight to watch.
Tendulkar cracked Best through the covers for a boundary and he responded with a 143kmph bouncer.
Tendulkar fell in the 48th over to off-break bowler Narsingh Deonarine, sinking the whole stadium into a stunning silence. Attempting to cut it fine, the ball bounced a bit extra than he expected and the thick edge went to West Indies skipper Darren Sammy at first slip, who took the catch in front of his face. The giant screen showed his mother watching him walk away from the wicket as many Bollywood stars waved at him. Every fan in the stadium stood up and watched the legend disappear into the dressing room.
Pujara then took charge and kept the scoreboard moving. Virat Kohli hit a quick 57 and Ravichandran Ashwin made 30 to swell the lead. Shillingford then produced his second successive five-wicket spell.
Sharma, with some fantastic support from last man Mohammad Shami, took his score from 46 to an unbeaten 111. The final pair put on 80 runs, the highest tenth-wicket partnership by India against the West Indies.
By K.R. Nayar Chief Cricket Writer
Gulf News 2013. All rights reserved.
