Sachin Tendulkar
To pick out just five from a list of 50 Test tons by Sachin Tendulkar can be a herculean task and as nightmarish as axially cutting a Waqar Younis reverse swinger or defending a Jeff Thomson scorcher or picking up a Bishan Singh Bedi arm ball. Today he’s considered as the greatest batsman along with Sir Donald Bradman. Here is a brief description of his 5 best innings chosen from his box of 50.
- 114 at Perth, 1992; 3rd in Tests: This he personally feels was his best. “The ball flies” he was told as he went out to bat. And well, it certainly did fly but off his bat as McDermott, Merv Hughes, Paul Reiffel and Mike Whitney, all mean bowlers on a receptive pitch, witnessed a genius unfold on that windy day. It needed skill and courage to survive. The bouncers were dealt with comfortably and he produced shots completely square of the wicket.
- 111 at Johannesburg, 1992; 4th in Tests: A masterly crafted innings on India’s historic first tour ever on the South African land. The attack comprised of paceman Allan Donald, Craig Matthews, Brian MacMillan and Hansie Cronje. It was this contest with Donald that brought the best out of Tendulkar even though he acknowledges to date that he was troubled more by Cronje than any other bowler. The next best score in that Indian innings was just 25 runs by Kapil Dev.
- 122 at Birmingham, 1996; 9th in Tests: A complete master class innings. Despite the fact that India lost, Tendulkar won the hearts of the English spectators with the elegance that he brought to his batting. The pitch was pathetic, having everything for the bowlers – low and high bounce at the same time, with swing which could take a batsman by surprise. Chris Lewis, Dominic Cork and Allan Mulally just seemed miserable in front of Sachin. He never edged the slip fielders; the ball rarely touched his pads. A next best score of 18 by Sanjay Manjrekar showed the sufferings for the batsmen on that pitch.
- 155 not out at Chennai, 1998; 15th in Tests: When Sachin faced Warne, expectations of a regal battle grew universally. This onslaught of Warne leading to an Indian victory confirmed Tendulkar as one of the all-time greats. On a helpful pitch, Warne was repeatedly hit against the turn by the master, who was never afraid to step out. After this, Warne was never the same bowler again.
- 103 not out at Chennai, 2008; 41st in Tests: He dedicated this century to the people of India and it had come in the fourth innings. The target was 387 on the final day and the bowlers comprised of a fiery Steve Harmison, James Anderson, Andrew Flintoff and Monty Panesar. Tendulkar took centerstage and carried on further with the proceedings. He knew that he not only had to stay there but win it for India. He did that with his hunger for runs and glory even after 19 years in the International format of the game.
Tags: Cricket, Indian Sports, Master Blaster, Sachin Tendulkar, Sir Donald Bradman, Sports, Sports India
