Sachin Tendulkar's (yet another) Everest moment

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7th March 1987 - Sunil Gavaskar reached 10,000 runs in test cricket - he remarked on the occasion saying that there will be many more batsmen who will scale the peak but everyone will remember who scaled the Everest first.

24th February 2010 - The ODI Everest of double-century in an innings was scaled by Tendulkar. The 200 mark will be breached again in the age of T20s but everyone in the cricketing fraternity (players, viewers, non-believers) will remember this moment.

And what a moment it was!!! It took me one full day to scale back my emotions after I saw the match (on highlights sadly). The shot-making was wonderful, to say the least. Any number of adjectives are less for the legend.

Following the match on Google (with the 'Latest' trending - showing the twitter updates with the word 'cricket' on) - was quite interesting - more 'colorful' than Cricinfo, in fact.

One point to note in the followers was that after the first few runs scored by SRT, the followers were in fact, expecting the double century from Sachin!!! What a prediction? And how correct it turned out to be!!!

Prem writes about other tweets of mention in his article today but those were just the tip of the iceberg. The observations that the Twitverse came up were really enjoyable. It was similar to watching the innings with a 'live' crowd.

In other sites, John Stern (Wisden Magazine) thanks SRT for his knock yesterday. Nasser Hussain in fact, went ahead and told Sky Sports News he believes Sachin Tendulkar may be even better than the great Don Bradman. 


What else can I say? The man seemed to be playing his shots from memory but still doing the math in his mind to find the gaps in the field. The shots, especially the ones where he turned a ball outside off to the square-leg during the Batting PowerPlay, were incredible.


The fact that he was on the field after playing 50 overs was a sign of his endurance. The stroke-play he matched Yusuf Pathan was testimony to his shot-making. The passing of the baton (of score-making) in the climax yesterday to MS Dhoni showed that he was not interested in statistics alone. In fact, he wanted to play another innings for 50 overs (as he told Ravi Shastri after the match) - talk about intensity.



A 175 against Australia and this 200 against South Africa is clear that the man can hit against all the top-sides today and no less competitive. It is a good sign that he has been rested for the final ODI - this tactic will ensure that he remains fresh for the significant battles ahead. The way he has been overcoming all the black-marks (if there were any) in his career means that India will win the 2011 World Cup next year - Let us hope it is true.

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India on path to victory in Kolkata Test, weather permitting

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The Indians have shown themselves of worthy of being the No.1 test team in the World - the way the seniors have put their hands up and delivered is remarkable. Not only the batsmen, but the bowlers on the first day as well. If yesterday was the day of the Master and Blaster, today it was the Comeback Veteran and the Challenged Skipper. For long, VVS Laxman was always the fall guy - if anyone had to be made the scrapegoat for making way for the younger players, the name of VVS would be the first one on anyone's mind. MS Dhoni, after suffering his first loss at Nagpur, must be feeling good after his century (his ascent to the captaincy has increased his century list)

What this series has done is to remind the Indian public not to be so fickle-minded (and short-sighted). These legends have given their best for so long (and continue to do so). The replacements are not ready to replace them - just because their age is 35+, it is not mandatory for the Fab Four to retire. The youngsters have to prove themselves (provided the legends fail). As WV Raman suggested the other day, batsmen like Vijay, Badri have to be sent on an 'A' series to Australia, South Africa and England - only then they will improve. But, is it the Board's priority - not at all. IPL3 will be here in less than a month's time - how can anyone not play the prestigious tournament of the Board?

It is also fitting that South Africa should not reach the No.1 slot, going by their strategy today. Their approach has been 'safety first' throughout the series. Even while the pace bowlers are doing their bit, Harris goes on and on, bowling into the batsman's negative line. Yesterday and today as well, there was no rough for him to do any trick - this made him susceptible to the Indian batsmen. This negative attitude has been their bane even in ODI cricket - for this is the exact reason why they do not win any tournaments in T20/ODIs. Only if they come out of this approach and be aggressive, things will turn around for the team.

By the way, the match is not over. The pitch does not hold any demons (so far). But, the pressure that will be on the minds of the South African batsmen will cause few wickets to fall. This is where Kepler Wessels and the coach Corrie van Zyl will have their hands full. The weather will also play a crucial role in ensuring the Indian win and a series draw. Harbhajan, with his wicket-haul in the first innings, hopefully will play a big role in the looming victory.

All said and done, I expect a finish to the match by lunch on the final day. Let us see how things pan out in this test match.

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Even stevens at Eden

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India made a dramatic comeback in the 3rd session to negate the great start that South Africa had because of their debutant, Peterson and Hashim Amla.

Zaheer Khan made the customary breakthrough by bowling Greame Smith - he is definitely a bunny of the left-handed pacer. And, the best part is, he has no idea of how to tackle Zak. He was on the back-foot in the first test while here, he was on the front-foot. No matter which foot, the dismissal was the same.

Hashim Amla continued his good form in the series by scoring another century today. He guided the young debutant to score his maiden century and take South Africa to a position of strength.

Until Zaheer Khan reappeared. Of course, Ishant showed signs of his past form by bowling fast and short to Amla - the batsmen obviously did not like the stuff directed into the rib-cage, finally edging one from Zak to MS Dhoni.

Harbhajan decided to make his presence felt in the match then - multiple wickets after tea meant that the Indians were on par with the Proteans.

The pitch seems to be having bounce for those who hit the deck hard - so, it is not that the Indians have taken a big advantage in the match. They have restricted the first innings score (hopefully, the tail will not wag in the morning tomorrow) and Kirsten was happy with his bowlers today. Petersen meanwhile was confident about his bowlers during his post-day conference.

The post-tea session might be crucial in this test match - tomorrow a similar pattern would mean that the Indian top-order has to make the best of conditions while it lasts. Steyn and Morkel are awaiting their turn on this ground...

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India look forward to the Eden for revenge

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Eden Gardens - the first memory of this ground was the 1987 World Cup Final that was held at this very ground - a brand new stadium was released to the public who occupied every inch of it during the final even when the match did not feature the host country.

The next memory of course, is the 281 of VVS Laxman - no Indian would probably forget this match for the determination, guts of the Indian fightback. VVS has made this ground his second home - his stats at this ground better than any other in India. Harbhajan will also like coming to the ground where he made magic against the visiting Aussies during the same 281-series.

Thanks to the politics that is common-place within BCCI, the test matches have been a very rare occurrence at this ground. One-day matches have returned and one is happy to see that a test match is played after 3 years. The last match was played recently between India and who else, Sri Lanka - Gambhir and Kohli scoring centuries each as India chased down a 310+ score successfully.

So, what can one expect to see in the 2nd (and strangely, the final test) match of the series? Ex-coach John Wright suggests that VVS be pushed to the No.3 slot - a good move which will have the best batsmen of the team occupying the first four spots in the lineup. With MS Dhoni coming in at No.7, the 2 relatively younger players (most probably Vijay and Badrinath) will occupy 5 and 6. So far, so good but what India will hope is for the players to fire all guns blazing. Win the toss, bat first and chalk up a big score in the first innings to put pressure on the Proteans.

Then, the bowlers need to come to the party. Zaheer and Sreesanth will have to swing the ball in conditions that might help them (the wind in the afternoon thanks to the Hooghly river might make things interesting for both sides). But, it is Harbhajan who has to come to the party in this test. He has to make a difference to the team with incisive spin - Pragyan Ojha seems set to make another replacement of Amit Mishra.

Last year matches at this ground saw huge scores being put up in the Ranji matches with no result at the end - Bengal playing against Saurashtra and Baroda. Will this test go that way as well? Do not think so. Spin will come to play during the 3rd and 4th day of the match - hopefully, India will take the steps required (as suggests their No.1 spot) to win the match and draw the series. Then, only can they claim to be rightfully No.1 team.

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Nagpur Post-mortem

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An interesting link on the day when India lost the first test at Nagpur against South Africa, while browsing hit my attention - especially this block of text

Winners become sinners when confidence turns into complacency and arrogance. They over-estimate their own invincibility and under-value mundane disciplines. Whenever someone feels on top over a long period of time, they are tempted to neglect the very fundamentals that helped them succeed in the first place. They might even start to feel that the rules don't apply to them.

The article was about Toyota's current issues but I felt that the Indian team would do well to read this article as well as introspect. If anyone thought that the Indians could face the No.2 ranked side in the world (having the No.1 ranked bowler), they needed to check their head first. The Indian think-tank also probably under-estimated the strength of the South African team (did they not remember the fact that India was all out for 76 in the last series in 2008) - If they did not forget, why did they not prepare for Steyn? One cannot plan against such a bowler - agreed. But, did they think they could get away with the practice they had prior to the test series?

Not to say that this was the only reason for the loss against South Africa. There were plenty of others as well.

• Luck - VVS being added to the team was not luck - it was bad planning. How come a player who was 50-60% fit on the eve of the match added to the fifteen?  Rohit Sharma getting injured on the morning of the match was purely bad luck. No one can dispute that!!! Saha must be thanking his stars that he was lucky to play one test match - something that many players in the yesteryears were not so fortunate.
• Injuries - The injury to Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman obviously played a big role in the test match. The middle-order had no or minimal experience. Badri played a good innings in the first innings but gave it away in the second. Vijay had played well in the opportunities he had received so far - this was his first failure. This lad deserves another one or two chances.
• Bowling - Because of the attention Steyn received, the Indian bowlers might not face the heat but the truth was that the bowling was downright bad. Harbhajan and Amit Mishra bowled well in patches but not well together to take wickets. Ishant could not get any wickets at all - surely Sreesanth must be back in the next test match.

Will the Indians prepare a track for the South Africans like last time? Will we see the pitch of Eden Gardens take turn from the first session? Time will tell if the Indians draw the series to retain No.1 or go down to No.2.

So far, the selectors have changed their team by calling up Raina, Sreesanth and Dinesh Karthik - the best option to shore up the batting would be to hope VVS is fit again.

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