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.
155 at Chennai, March 1998
The setting: This was the first Test of the three-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy played at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, better known as Chepauk. These were early days in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The rivalry had kicked off back in 1996 with a one-off Test at Delhi under Sachin Tendulkar’s captaincy. That game is remembered for Nayan Mongia’s only Test century. The 1998 series was expected to be a closely contested one. India had the upper hand being the hosts, and having a strong team for the conditions. But, Australia had a reasonably good side as well, with some high-quality players.
Teams:
India: Nayan Mongia (wk), Navjot Sidhu, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Mohd Azharuddin (captain), Sourav Ganguly, Anil Kumble, Javagal Srinath, Rajesh Chauhan, Harvinder Singh and Venkatapathy Raju
Australia: Mark Taylor (captain), Michal Slater, Mark Waugh, Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting, Greg Blewett, Ian Healy (wk), Paul Reiffel, Shane Warne, Gavin Robertson and Michael Kasporwicz
The Tendulkar factor: The series was being billed as a battle between two legends – Australia’s spin wizard Warne and India’s batting genius Tendulkar. The first game of the series was fascinating in this very context. India batted first having won the toss, and Warne drew first blood, having Tendulkar caught for 4 as the latter attempted for a big shot early on in his innings. Mongia, Sidhu and Dravid got half centuries in the innings, but India were restricted to 257, Warne picking up four wickets. Australia managed 328 in reply courtesy Healy’s 90 and while Kumble picked up four wickets for India.
With Australia slightly ahead, it was imperative for India to bat very well the second time round. And this is where the genius of Tendulkar came to the fore. Tendulkar came to the crease with Sidhu having departed having made another half-century, and India well placed at 115-2. However, this was a similar situation to the first innings, where India collapsed after Tendulkar’s dismissal. How Tendulkar would handle the situation was the most intriguing aspect of the contest. And, the innings the Mumbai master played under the conditions was nothing short of sensational.
Tendulkar attacked all the bowlers, but was particularly severe on Warne, who got him out in the first innings, slog sweeping him against the spin time and again. It was a high risk shot, but not once did Tendulkar mistime the shot, when he attempted the same. The most amazing aspect of the stroke was that Warne pitched the ball into the rough, and Tendulkar still managed to smash the leggie into the ropes. The secret of his success was revealed later – Tendulkar practiced the shot a lot in the nets against local spinners, digging up the area around the leg stump, and asking the bowlers to bowl to him in the rough. The hard work paid off for Tendulkar.
Such was the impact of the knock on that hot day at Chennai that Warne could never dominate Tendulkar again.
--By A Cricket Analyst
