Time: 3.33 pm; Date: November 14 — Sachin Tendulkar emerged from the dressing room to bat, possibly, for the last time in his career.
The good news is that Tendulkar, who became the first to play in 200 Tests on Thursday, is in fine nick and six vintage boundaries proved that. The better news is that he is unbeaten (38, 73 balls) and will be at the crease when the first ball is bowled on Friday.
At stumps, walking back to the pavilion, Tendulkar raised his bat and pointed it in reverence to the box where his family was seated. Among those present was his mother Rajni, who was watching her son play for the first time. In one gesture, Tendulkar showed that while his retirement has become a national event, it remains a personal moment for him.
It is rather unbelievable that his mother had so far not seen him play a Test live. Was he excited like a kid trying to impress his parents in a school match? Possibly. He then raised his bat to acknowledge the crowd — the day was complete.
When the match began, the turnout of nearly 25,000 did not expect Tendulkar to bat on first day after MS Dhoni elected to field on Day One of the second Test against the West Indies at the Wankhede Stadium here.
However, thanks to Pragyan Ojha’s five-for and the visitors’ imprudence at the crease, the Indian openers were taking strike after tea. Shikhar Dhawan and M Vijay added 77 at almost a run-a-ball before falling to the guile of off-spinner Shane Shillingford in the 14th over. The West Indies scored just 182.
Dhawan failed to connect a sweep and holed out to square leg. A loud cheer from the crowd. A ball later, Vijay bat-padded a catch. A deafening roar and thousands of voices boomed in unison to welcome the man of the moment. It is difficult to guess if both the openers had mentally prepared for this. It must have been unnerving. If they are sulking in their hotel rooms, you cannot really blame them.
Tendulkar arrived at the crease, with the sporting Windies, alongwith the umpires, giving him a guard of honour. He fended off a couple of sharp turners and started picking singles.
In the next over by Shillingford, he opened up with a boundary past the point and later, in the same over, he leaned forward and drove the ball against the spin with the graceful wrist-work to find the fence through the covers. He then put on display a couple more such vintage drives.
However, he saved his best for his last boundary of the day. A straight and full delivery from Darren Sammy was driven with finesse between the bowler and mid-on and the cherry went to the boundary kissing the turf all along.
At 152/2, India have a firm grip on the match. And the way the Windies imploded in Kolkata and here on Thursday, it is unlikely that India will bat again in this Test. So Friday sets up the exciting prospect of a possible century by the master in his farewell Test.
And yes, there was a lot of talk about whether Tendulkar would get out for no score like Donald Bradman did in his final Test. It is said, an emotional Bradman was teary-eyed and failed to sight the ball properly.
One cannot say for sure whether the stoic Tendulkar was teary-eyed, but his near-flawless batting on Thursday ensured that the lump in the nation’s throat will need to stay one more day.
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