Sachin, page 23
Every match and every innings since Tendulkar’s 99th hundred had become a source of agony for Indian cricket fans. As India lost a Test series in England 0-4 and another to Australia, also 0-4, Indian cricket followers sought consolation in the ‘hundred hundreds’ from Sachin Tendulkar. But even that was not forthcoming. Time and again, the master came close, only to falter in the final stages.
In 11 Tests and 12 ODIs since his last century, Tendulkar had made six fifties in Tests and two in ODIs. Twice he was dismissed in the nineties (91 and 94) in Tests and once he had been dismissed for 80. He was also dismissed once for 85 against Pakistan in the World Cup semi-finals at Mohali. On two other occasions, in Tests, he had been sent back while in the 70s.
RELIVING THE CENTURY
In the time since his 99th century at Nagpur against South Africa in the World Cup, Sachin Tendulkar had played at virtually every historic ground in India, England and Australia - Eden Gardens, Wankhede, Chepauk, Mohali, Lord’s, the Oval. Yet, it was at Mirpur, a venue that no one could have imagined for an occasion like this, that he scored his century of centuries.
The tension was showing on him. Towards the end, the runs came in a trickle, and ultimately, it was a single that brought up the hundred that everyone had been waiting for.
After so much hype, the most awaited century in cricket history was a bit of an anti-climax. It was not one of his best knocks. He was subdued and clearly tense. He reached 80 of 102 balls, but then needed another 36 balls to reach the landmark.
Put in to bat, India lost Gautam Gambhir early before Tendulkar and Virat Kohli, the new star of Indian cricket, took over. They put on 148 runs, of which Kohli made 66. Tendulkar soldiered on in Suresh Raina’s company as the latter threw his bat around during an innings of 51.
Tendulkar’s century finally came in the 44th over and then in the 47th, he and Raina were dismissed of successive deliveries. With that ended one of the most anticipated innings in cricket history.
The euphoria of the century was washed away quickly. Despite a formidable target of 290, in one of their finest batting displays, Bangladesh beat India for the first time ever in the Asia Cup.
Did you know…
» This was Sachin Tendulkar’s first ODI century in Bangladesh.
» It was in Bangladesh, at Dhaka, that Sachin Tendulkar had equalled Sunil Gavaskar’s record of 34 Test centuries.
PARALLEL LIVES
Viswanathan Anand: In the early part of the year, Anand was quiet, though he did make a brief appearance at the Chess Bundesliga in Germany. It was clear that his focus was going to be the World Championship match against Boris Gelfand at Moscow in May. Three times earlier, in 2000, 2007 and 2010, he had won the title and now he was looking to extend his lease over it.
Leander Paes: Like Sachin Tendulkar’s appetite for runs, Leander Paes’ appetite for titles seems insatiable. The 38-year-old finally achieved a career Grand Slam of men’s doubles titles when he partnered Radek Stepanek to win the Australian Open doubles in January. At the Australian Open, he also came close to adding a second title, before losing in the mixed doubles final where his partner was Elena Vesnina of Russia.
Paes opened the year on a winning note, annexing the Chennai Open ATP title for a record sixth time. This time his partner was Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia.
Just as Tendulkar continues to set new records, Paes, who became only the second man after Rod Laver to win Wimbledon titles across three decades, achieved his 600th doubles win when, partnering Stepanek, he beat David Ferrer and Albert Ramos in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open on 12 March 2012 in Indian Wells, USA.
THIS ALSO HAPPENED IN 2012
On 28 February, the Indian men’s hockey team qualified for the Olympics, wiping out memories of missed chances in 2008, when they failed to make it to the Olympics for the first time since 1928.
Towards the end of January, a series of co-ordinated bombings in Kano, Nigeria resulted in 185 deaths. The attacks were said to have been carried out by an Islamic group. In the same week, the European Union formally adopted an embargo against Iran in protest of their continued efforts to enrich uranium.
On 6 February, England marked the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s accession to the throne and the 60th anniversary of her becoming the head of the Commonwealth.
On 13 March, an era came to an end as Encyclopaedia Britannica announced that it was discontinuing its print editions, 244 years after it first began publication.
The year was still young.
AT A GLANCE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am grateful to my mother Jaya Viswanathan, who prayed for each one of Tendulkar’s centuries, for allowing me to turn our house into a library of sports books during my childhood.
My best friend and wife Mohua Lahiri, my brother V. Swaminathan and my sister V. Vijayalakshmi have always been a big source of strength to me in every project. My son Anand, nephew Vidhwat, and nieces Arundhati and Ananya kept me focused on the book by asking before each match if this was the one where Sachin would get his 100th hundred and I would finish the book. Their queries were finally answered in Mirpur.
My special thanks to Rahul Dravid, Ramakant Achrekar, Kalpana Achrekar, Amrit Mathur, Vinay Naidu, Clayton Murzello and Midday.
I am also thankful to Ashwin Krishnan, Shipra Gupta, Hardev Sanotra, Praveen Chand, statisticians Kesavan Krishnaswamy and H.R. Gopalakrishna Ramaswamy.
This work would not have seen the light of day but for Binoo K. John, who was a big motivator, and V.K. Karthika, who showed tremendous patience in supporting me through the past year.
There were several others who contributed in different ways to make this book possible, including other sports journalists and websites such as espncricinfo.com, and my thanks go out to all of them.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
V. KRISHNASWAMY was born in Kolkata and brought up in Delhi. He has been a sports writer and commentator for 30 years. He has travelled to almost 50 countries to cover sport since 1982 and attended the last five Olympic Games besides seven Asian Games, five Commonwealth Games and numerous regional events. He has followed cricket tours to various countries and written extensively on the sport as a sports reporter with the Times of India and then as the sports editor of the Pioneer and the Indian Express.
He has attended more than 100 international golf events, and has authored two books on golf besides four sports quiz books for young people. He is also a regular guest on sports shows on major TV news channels including Times Now, NDTV, Star News and Doordarshan, as well as All India Radio.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
There is no pleasure greater than watching a genius at work. As a sportswriter for the last 30 years, I have been fortunate many times over, for one half of my 50 years on this planet have been spent following, reporting and savouring the exploits of Sachin Tendulkar, Viswanathan Anand and Leander Paes.
Statistics and mere numbers can never do justice to this trio, whose achievements will always remain awe-inspiring: a hundred centuries for Tendulkar; a baker’s dozen in Grand Slams for Paes; six Chess Oscars and a world title in every format for Anand. If these aren’t measures of greatness, what is?
Many other Indians have achieved extraordinary sporting success. Milkha Singh, P.T. Usha, Geet Sethi, Kunjarani Devi, Mary Kom, Abhinav Bindra: the list is not insignificant. But even in this elite company, the Sachin–Anand–Leander triumvirate stands tall – for sheer longevity and the ability to stand atop the peak for so long.
The cricket fraternity had been shifting its gaze from venue to venue in search of that ultimate century. From Lord’s to Trent Bridge to Edgbaston and the Oval. The search continued at home from Ferozeshah Kotla to the Eden Gardens to Sachin’s own home ground, the Wankhede. When the milestone finally came, it was in the neighbourhood: the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium at Mirpur, Dhaka.
A year ago, as Tendulkar approached his landmark moment, Leander Paes was on the threshold of achieving a career Grand Slam in men’s doubles, and Anand was on the verge of a hat-trick of world championships in the classical and traditional matchplay formats, after having won in the knockout and round robin formats.
It made sense then to examine Tendulkar’s achievements alongside those of the other two greats. Also, to see them in the context of the changing environment: the sometimes invisible, often overt connections between sport and politics, sport and technology, sport and culture, and yes, sport and violence.
Just over a year ago, when I began work on this book, a search for ‘Sachin Tendulkar’ yielded about 9 million results on the Internet. On the day I wrote this piece, a week after Tendulkar’s century of centuries, the same search yielded 27 million results. The astonishing popularity of the man is also a burden he must carry around. This is true of both Paes and Anand too. The world closely watches everything they do and the marvellous thing about all three is that they have never let themselves or their sport down on even a single occasion.
So, apart from all the statistics and joyful memories of games well played – sometimes won and sometimes lost – this book is a celebration of the sporting spirit and of our champions.
V. Krishnaswamy
First published in India in 2012 by Harper Sport
An Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers India
Copyright © V. Krishnaswamy 2012
ISBN: 978-93-5029-999-9
Epub Edition © December 2012 ISBN: 9789350295106
V. Krishnaswamy asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this book.
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Krishnaswamy V, Sachin
