Two nights of Sachin Tendulkar, in all his unbridled glory

On his 44th birthday, we recall two innings that established Tendulkar as 'God of Indian cricket'

India’s status of a ‘cricket crazy nation’ would perhaps be incomplete if the “Sachin, Sachin!” chants from a frenzied audience were not one of its epithets. Breaking and setting so many records as Sachin Tendulkar did in his international career of 24 years is certainly no mean feat. To many who grew up watching the legend play for Team India, or even those who had earlier known Indian cricket for the likes of Sunil Gavaskar, the memory of some of Tendulkar’s greatest innings still gives goosebumps!

And, the memories are many. From amassing a mammoth tally of 34,357 international runs – the most by any cricketer in the world – to a century of centuries, and the then unthinkable glory of hitting a double-century in the 50-over format of the game – the ‘Master Blaster’ gave us enough memories before hanging up his boots.

It might be extremely difficult to decide which was Tendulkar’s best one-day international (ODI) innings for India – there were so many great innings, each equally attractive. But if one were to pick the most memorable of his knocks, it would easily be his 143 against a ferocious Australian side in 1998. The famous ‘Desert Storm’ Australia-India tie of April 22, 1998 was one that saw five-and-a-half-foot tall Tendulkar towering over the giant Aussies and everything else that came in his way. It was as if Sachin Tendulkar had taken it upon himself to show India and the world that his side could win against anyone, against all odds.
 

It was a knock that saw India entering the finals of the Coca-Cola Cup in Sharjah. The Aussies had set India a target of 285 off 50 overs, which was reduced to 276 off 46 overs, with the match being curtailed after a sandstorm struck. A goal bigger than beating Australia in this match, however, was qualifying for the finals, for which India needed 237 off 46 overs. 

The storm subsided, the desert air cleared out, and the Little Master came out to bat, with an entire nation pinning its hopes on him. As was a usual sight in those days, the Indian batting order fell like a pack of cards at one end, even as Tendulkar firmly held fort at another. The master batsman, visibly in a pristine touch, hammered the Australian bowling greats like Shane Warne and others to all parts of the park.

By the time Sachin Tendulkar returned after striking five sixes in his innings of 143, sending the commentators into paroxysms of excitement, the job had been done. The present battle had been won, if not the battle – India were through to the finals. 

The innings was not one of the controlled carnage that Tendulkar had displayed so many times before; it was ruthless butchery! The straight drives were perfect, the sixes cleared convincingly, the boundaries were unstoppable. He had been relentless from the word go. He took no time to settle in and wreaked havoc right from the first ball. 

He might have said it before, and he did say it several countless times after, but that was the first time that the late Tony Greig so emphatically said: "What a player! What a wonderful player!" 

But like good old Tony spoke of the anticipated final, “these two teams are gonna do battle again, and what a battle it's gonna be”, there was another battle at hand in the final tie of the series.

Two days later, he celebrated his 25th birthday by winning the trophy for India – after, of course, putting up another one-man show. Chasing a target of 273 set by Australia in the final match, India won the match with nine balls to spare. And, Tendulkar in his own sublime form – what we now know as the ‘God mode’ – top-scored with a 134-run knock studded by 12 boundaries and three huge sixes. 

The series is not only remembered for its India vs Australia contest, but also for the famous Sachin vs Warne contest – a clash of the titans! Any true fan of the game who happened to have been watching the match cannot forget the moment in the final match when Tendulkar stepped out to a Warne delivery, took it on the bounce and whacked it out of the park. The sight remains forever etched in the memory in all its cricketing glory. That shot also was just the right way to cap the two nights of pure dominance that Tendulkar had displayed – two nights of Sachin Tendulkar, in all his unbridled glory.