da cassino： © AFP When he stepped back and pulled Matthew Hoggard to the mid-wicket fencefor a boundary, Sachin Tendulkar left Sir Gary Sobers behind in theswirling dust of Motera, Ahmedabad
Anand Vasu13-Dec-2001
© AFPWhen he stepped back and pulled Matthew Hoggard to the mid-wicket fencefor a boundary, Sachin Tendulkar left Sir Gary Sobers behind in theswirling dust of Motera, Ahmedabad. The little master had just completedhis 27th Test ton, passing Sobers (26) while drawing level with AllanBorder and Steve Waugh. Only Sir Don Bradman (29) and Sunil Gavaskar(34) have more Test tons to their credit.”Scoring a hundred is always a great feeling. Today it was underslightly different circumstances,” began Tendulkar, speaking to pressmenat the end of the day’s play.Come to think of it, the circumstances were not all that different.India had lost early wickets, were under pressure and it was uptoTendulkar to save the day. “We had a lost a few early wickets and theyhad set a big target for us. 400 plus is always a tough ask. Webasically wanted to get as close as possible to the target. In trying todo that I got a hundred,” said Tendulkar, with a touch more humilitythan was absolutely necessary.England have adopted what they call a ‘restrictive’ or ‘defensive’strategy against the Indian batting great. Setting fields with eight menon the off side and a lone ranger on the on side might be construed asnegative by some. Tendulkar however, has no complaints. “That’s whatTest cricket is all about. Every day and every innings you are not goingto get the ball where you want. Sometimes the opposition works on yourpatience,” he began. Having countered the strategy with first patienceand then exceptional innovation, Tendulkar went on to add, “At othertimes you have to take calculated risks and make the opposition bowl toyou.”At the end of the day however, it is a familiar scenario. The tenorsaxophone of Tendulkar sends out strident notes; the Indian orchestrahowever, is discordant, flat and certainly not music to the ears. Still131 runs behind England, India are nowhere near a safe position. “It isa bit of a disappointment that we made only 291. We would have loved toget closer to their total. Unfortunately it didn’t happen. We have topull up our socks and put up a better show,” said Tendulkar.Never one to point fingers at the failings of teammates, Tendulkarsingled out the lack of partnerships as the main cause for India’s lessthan convincing showing. “Except for my partnership with Laxman, wedidn’t have any big partnerships. Partnerships are so important in thisgame. Even England were 180/5, but they managed to put together a bigpartnership. That’s where we lacked,” observed the centurion.Unusually, it was a spinner that tormented India. Ashley Giles, comingback to Test cricket after a long lay-off, bowled with great disciplinefor the best part and slipped in a few snorters to scalp 5/67.Tendulkar had this to say about the left-arm spinner. “Ashley Giles is avery experienced campaigner. He has played a lot of seasons of cricketand is a good bowler – they are all good bowlers. He proved that today.”With three days gone and the wicket playing as true as a nun’s word,India are on the mat. England have put themselves in a position fromwhich it will take serious bungling to lose. Tendulkar realises this,and yet does not rule out the possibility of a strong Indian fightback.”Cricket’s a funny old game. You never know what is going to come upnext. All we can do is try hard. England have played better than us sofar and it is up to us to try and match them. We have to go out there,try harder and hope it clicks for us,” said Tendulkar. Things certainlyhave not clicked for the Indians at Ahmedabad, and with due respect tothe batting genius, it is not for want of trying.
© AFPThe Indians, by and large, did not have a gameplan to counter the lineand length that English kept up, over after over. The abundant talent ofTendulkar was equal to the task, with Laxman (75) coming close, but noone else seemed comfortable out in the middle. Having started remarkablyslowly, reaching just 37 in 114 balls, Tendulkar accelerated afterlunch. Was this a planned? “It was not a conscious effort to go afterthe bowling soon after lunch. Those shots I played were not pre-plannedas such. I picked up the line and length early and just backed myself.”The wicket itself is the source of great debate. What England have beenable to achieve, with astute captaincy and bowlers delivering exactlywhat the captain orders, India have not. Once again it is the lack of aplan that comes to the surface. The script in the subcontinent – pile onthe runs, put fielders close to the bat, let loose the spinners and letthe wicket do the rest, has not been a reality in Motera.”To be honest it’s a good track to bat on. There’s a bit of turn, butnot much. Naturally it’s going to get more difficult to bat on, on thefifth day,” observed Tendulkar.It will be most difficult to bat on, when India’s turn comes around oncemore. The question really is, what total will they be after? That issomething only Nasser Hussain and the fourth day’s play can answer.