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ShareAhmedabad: In India, a fledgling sports reporter and an aspiring cricketer are driven by the same inflammable ambition: to make it to a Test match. On my debut --the first Test of the 2009 series against Sri Lanka at Motera -- I achieved what all cricketers fantasise about but few manage to claim, to be part of a game that updates history.
Motera, justly celebrated as the cradle of international records, was the fitting venue to inaugurate the series because Sachin Tendulkar, the peerless Indian hero for two decades, was beginning his 21st year in international cricket.
So as I stepped into my debut ground on the first day of the Test, I knew it was going to be an unforgettable site in my personal history. But just four days later, Sachin scored his 30,000th run, registering his 43rd ton and helping India save the match. And Motera became the stage for a feat that only another history-challenging hero can match. My career is only six years old, but the annals of the game show that such figures are very rare.
That is why I can say that having being at Motera, I will not miss too many epochal events for a long time.
Curiously, the match had begun with India's decision to bat first backfiring in just half an hour. India was in a shambles at 32/4. Even Tendulkar disappointed everyone. However, Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh held the innings together, along with Dhoni, taking India past 400 runs.
Watching the batting of Dravid, my cricket hero, was a privilege. He scored 177 on first day, demonstrating his usual unfussy flair. Forgetting that I was a reporter, I stood up to applaud him when he reached 100. And when he crossed the 11,000 career-runs mark, the whole of Motera added another record in its catalogue of immortal moments.
But over next days, Sri Lanka butchered India. However, as a reporter, I enjoyed the batting. The Jayawardenes -- Mahela and Prasanna -- eclipsed the 72-year-old record for the sixth-wicket partnership. The record (351) was previously held by the great Don Bradman and Jack Fingleton. Another record was broken, but I have 30,000 other reasons to remember Motera.
