As the master blaster gets set to play his 200th and final Test, we pay a tribute to his glorious career by looking back at his top ten Test centuries
136 at Chennai, January 1999
The setting: This was the first Test of the two-Test series between India and Pakistan. Back in the 90s, relations were extremely tense between the two rivals, just like it is today. And there was massive pressure on both sides as they headed into the much-hyped Test series in India. There was some opposition from political parties to Pakistan’s arrival in India, and some members of a party outfit even dug up the pitch at Feroz Shah Kotla. But, the series went ahead in spite of all the tension.
Teams:
India: Sadagoppan Ramesh, VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Mohd Azharuddin (captain), Sourav Ganguly, Nayan Mongia (wk), Sunil Joshi, Anil Kumble, Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad
Pakistan: Saeed Anwar, Shahid Afridi, Ijaz Ahmed, Inzamam-ul- Haq, Yousuf Youhana, Saleem Malik, Moin Khan (wk), Wasim Akram (captain), Saqlain Mushtaq, Nadeem Khan and Waqar Younis.
The Tendulkar factor: By the late 90s, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly were a permanent fixture of the Test side, but they were yet to establish themselves as match winners. VVS Laxman, who played in this Test, was also frequently in and out of the Test team owing to his struggles while opening the innings. All this meant, Sachin Tendulkar was continuing to fight the lone battle for India most of the times. This particular Test against Pakistan is a classic example of his one-man show.
India were chasing 271 to win in this Test, and had crumbed to 82 for 5. Ramesh fell for 5, Laxman a duck, Dravid 10, Azhar 7 and Ganguly 2. All hopes of a victory again rested on that man Tendulkar. But, the master blaster was being troubled by a severe back injury. However, not only did Tendulkar come out to bat, he even stroked a marvellous hundred against high-quality Pakistan attack. Occupying the crease for over 400 minutes, Tendulkar hit 18 wonderful fours to bring India right back on track. In fact, his knock put India in a winning position.
Tendulkar featured in a wonderful partnership with Nayan Mongia, who himself contributed a fighting half-century. Tendulkar and Mongia took India’s score from 82 for 5 to 218 before an extremely rash stroke from Mongia ended his innings for 52. Indians still had a decent chance of winning as long as Tendulkar was at the crease. But, on 136, Tendulkar was caught by Akram off Saqlain’s bowling. At the point of Tendulkar’s exit, India needed only 17 runs to win with three wickets standing. However, the Bangalore trio of Kumble, Srinath and Joshi fell for the addition of just another four runs, and India agonisingly lost the Test by 12 runs.
Tendulkar’s back would have been hurting, but his heart would have been bleeding after the result. In a consolation, Kumble’s all-ten ensured India won the second Test at Delhi and squared the series 1-1.
--By A Cricket Analyst
