“We will try to make life difficult for Sachin Tendulkar,” said Darren Sammy on the eve of the first Test between India and the West Indies. There was more hope than conviction in the comments of the rival skipper.
Stopping Tendulkar from reaching the much-anticipated milestone would be as easy as halting Roger Federer at Wimbledon — mighty difficult, if not impossible. This West Indian side is not known to shake mountains.
Everything about Sammy’s statement was right except the timing. Tendulkar has scored a century in every 3.5 Tests and he’s not had one in the last four. Logically, a century should be round the corner. Logic aside, Tendulkar is looking menacingly serious, determined and focussed. The much-awaited century might come on Sunday itself. Who knows!
At the nets on Friday (on Saturday, he had a knocking session), the Little Master looked like a Ferrari on the racetrack — smooth, fluent and fast. And unstoppable. With half of that fluency, he could get to the milestone in the Test. Few West Indian bowlers would be capable of stopping him in Indian conditions - Fidel Edwards, Kemar Roach and Devendra Bishoo or not. It is just a matter of when in this series, rather than whether.
“It is bound to happen,” averred Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Saturday. “We are eager to celebrate the feat.” The celebrations have been on hold for too long, unusually. But the conditions here are not English. And Edwards & Co aren’t as lethal as Jimmy Anderson and his ilk were during the English summer.
The impending landmark has brought alive an otherwise dozy series. With only four players with an experience of 20 or more Tests (Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Marlon Samuels, Denesh Ramdin and Edwards), the series, otherwise, is a mismatch of the highest order. To say India are the favourites would be a gross understatement.
India have too many strengths to be resisted. They also have the fierce will to put behind the English debacle. An Indian reprisal looks evident. The West Indies will have done well to force India to bat twice in the Tests. Five days may be too long.
Mismatch apart, the other factor that could raise doubts over the Test going the distance is the wicket. The Feroz Shah Kotla has a record of turning dangerous for the players and there have been conflicting reports about its preparation for the Test. Dhoni, however, rubbished any apprehension over the strip. “I’m hoping this will be a better wicket than before,” the India skipper said.
“The pitch looks good. It does not look like it will turn from the first day. But as the match progresses, it will aid turn. I am looking at my spinners getting turn from third day onwards.”
The other point of interest could be the Indian line-up. Dhoni has indicated that there will be two new players, but refused to name them. Conventional wisdom says one of them could be an off-spinner which means R Ashwin is set for his Test debut. The other place could be a toss-up between Varun Aaron and Umesh Yadav. Rahul Sharma, the promising leg-spinner from Punjab, may have to wait for his turn.
Comments: 1