The master and his class act

By Rajadhyax

Reams have been written about Sachin Tendulkar. His balance, his power, his timing, his shot selection, his hand-eye co-ordination, his fearless attitude, his love for the country and practically everything has been discussed on countless occasions by numerous experts. Just when one gets the feeling that everything has been said he comes out with another unbelievable innings and makes us write more. It’s just too tempting not to do so. The other day playing against Australia at Hyderabad and facing the daunting task of chasing 351 for victory on a crumbling wicket, he came up with a blistering innings of 175 that nearly got the team an improbable triumph.

For any cricket lover that inning was a treat to watch. He took the attack to the opposition and took the team so close to the target that the Aussies looked more than perturbed. Ricky Ponting, supposedly a thinking captain, looked evidently clueless. The bowlers were at their wit’s end and only a quirk of the pitch, rather than a bowler’s skill got the great man out. The fatal ball bounced hardly four inches more than Sachin’s expectation. Had it risen as per his estimate, it would have gone sailing over the short fine leg fielder for a boundary.

Guys who caught the ‘live’ action that day were just plain lucky. The Master was out to show his whole range of shots. And the repertoire was an exhibition of shot selection as only Sachin can put up. The timing was simply exquisite. The power of most of the shots was so much that a couple of half stops also went to the boundary line. His balance on that day was something the younger lot should emulate. He found the gaps at will, scored singles, hit fours and blasted three brilliant sixes. By far the only error came on two occasions when he misjudged singles and could have been run-out had the fielder hit the stumps directly.

He drove through the covers, he flicked through the mid wicket region, he cut balls to the deep point and belted lofted shots that were a treat to the eyes. Not a single bowler seemed to come even close to beating his bat after his first twenty runs and no one actually got through his defence. Whenever a fielder was taken fine, he would push the ball square of him and when the fielders got square he sliced the balls fine to avoid them. In short everyone in the Australian team had to just stand and admire as the master had taken over complete control of the game.

At the end of the game of course there were petty comments, as you always get. Someone commented that Brett Lee wasn’t bowling, as if he could have stopped the Sachin onslaught. Sanjay Manjrekar brought everyone’s attention to the fact that though it was a great innings, the master had failed in taking India home to a victory. An England team fan told me that everything said and done, he did not look as powerful in his shots as Kevin Petersen. And everyone conveniently forgot that the man, now 36, batted on a crumbling pitch, under lights, against the Aussies and was targeting a mammoth score of 351. They also forgot that the man was battering the Aussies after loss of early wickets and still keeping a strike well in excess of 100. That India eventually lost the match is now on the records and undeniable. That he took us to within 19 runs of the score is remarkable. And that the last six batsmen, put together could not muster a collected effort of 20 runs is the unshakable truth that men like Manjrekar should perhaps consider. It is probably only in India that its greatest achievements are derided or decried by its own men. Its only here that we don’t actually enjoy the fruits of our success with unadulterated joy and a pure sense of achievement. The way petty comments were made after India’s 1983 World Cup victory and the more recent triumph in the T20 World Cup are the testaments of the fact. Sad that even a Sachin Tendulkar gets the same treatment.