Sachin Tendulkar on Thursday produced one of the best innings in the history of one-day cricket. Soumya Bhattacharya, whose new book on how cricket defines India, All That You Can’t Leave Behind, will be out in bookstores next month, in the Hindustan Times:
So he made us eat our words. And didn’t we love the taste.
There we were, as India came out to bat against Australia on Thursday evening, the chaps who have spent more hours of our lives than we can bear to count watching him bat and atomising his each innings, there we were, shaking our heads and looking at the TV screens and mumbling into our coffees and saying: “No, he shouldn’t have opened the innings.”
No, Sachin Tendulkar should have left it to Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, we’d thought. He should have come in at No. 4. What were they all up to? Did they not remember the number of balls from which he had not scored in just the previous innings? Chasing a score we had never chased down, did we not want to make best use of the first ten overs?
Fans will be fans. They will always ask questions. They will tend to be unforgiving. They will ask more from their heroes than their heroes can give them. So we’ll still say that had there not been so many dot balls in Tendulkar’s innings in the game before this one, we would not have been behind in the current one-day series. Oh, well. It’s in the nature of fandom. Not much you can do about it. More:
In Cricinfo Peter English points out lessons for India and Australia following three months of controversy and drama that overshadowed some wonderful cricket
The comedian Billy Connolly jokes the Queen must think the world smells of fresh paint because everything is new wherever she visits. Until the first week in January, Australia also felt they were adored throughout their country. Crowds always roar when they play, spectators crowd them for autographs and they are pestered for interviews and corporate deals. So they were stunned when the opinions of many dissenters emerged after the dramatic and spectacular Sydney Test victory.
Following issues involving umpiring, race, catching, walking, ungracious celebrations and Anil Kumble’s claim only one side was playing in the spirit of the game, the shock self-analysis began. Australia thought about their behaviour and their results started stuttering. Ricky Ponting, who nobody seriously believed should have been sacked after the second Test, has a delicate period ahead as he balances a win-at-all-costs outlook with his desire for the universal acclaim of his nation.
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Harsha Bhogle in The Indian Express
Indian cricket has taken giant strides in the world’s toughest testing ground. Some wonderful cricket was played on the ground and it was the attitude that fuelled it as much as the ability. This might be the turning point in our cricket, though the assessment must be made a little later — every event seems momentous in the hours immediately following it.
But as far as I recall, it has been a long time since a set of youngsters took the opportunity that was offered them so spontaneously and that is why I believe the reason for this success goes beyond training on a cricket ground. It has to be symbolic of a larger force, a greater movement. Something bigger than what we saw on a cricket field is taking place in India and that is what makes the present moment so terribly exciting.
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Sachin inspires India to a historic victory. Cricbuzz has a ball-by-ball account
Clark broke the opening partnership when he had Uthappa caught by James Hopes at mid-off, but Tendulkar continued his imperious form, dispatching the Australian bowlers to all parts of the large ground with ease.
Tendulkar was finally out with the score on 204 after trying to bunt a ball away for a quick single and being caught by Ponting, 84 runs after the Aussie skipper had spilled the earlier chance.
The Indians kept giving their wickets away to innocuous bowling.
India’s hopes of breaking 300 fell away as Gautam Gambhir (15), Rohit Sharma (2) and Irfan Pathan (12) all fell cheaply.
But in the end 258 was just enough to get them home despite Hopes’s heroics.
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