…there isn’t much bowlers can do and no strategy good enough to stop this ageless wonder.
…there isn’t much bowlers can do and no strategy good enough to stop this ageless wonder, finds DNA after watching the maestro’s unbeaten 200.
Till Roger Bannister ran the mile under four minutes no one believed it was humanly possible! Till Roger Federer came along and won Grand Slams almost at will, Pete Sampras’s 14 Majors looked like Mount Everest.
Lance Armstrong won seven Tour de France titles — all in a row, Michael Schumacher has seven F1 titles — five in a row. Michael Phelps won eight golds at the Beijing Olympics, Usain Bolt runs at a pace which was thought to be humanly impossible till he came along.
Saeed Anwar had 194 to boast of. That was till the Little Master decided to break the 200-run barrier in ODIs.
He had played 20 years and 441 ODIs before he reached the landmark...One that looked impossible till Wednesday. Now, cricketers will believe that anything is possible. But that could be foolhardy on their part. Because there is only one Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar!
This was the day every bowler wished he never was one. And one every opposition skipper wants to forget.
Achieving milestones, reaching pinnacles and shattering world marks are second nature to Tendulkar. But this was truly special.
Those at the Captain Roop Singh Stadium in Gwalior will never forget this Wednesday. They got to witness history. They witnessed something special.
Tendulkar’s unbeaten and unblemished 200 off 147 balls was a treat. Anwar and Charles Coventry (194 n.o for Zimbabwe against Bangladesh) efforts don’t matter anymore.
There wasn’t any indication of something special about to happen. But the possibility of a double hundred being scored first occurred to everyone at the stadium and outside when Tendulkar completed his century inside 28 overs.
After reaching the three-figure mark, there was no stopping him. Tendulkar went over the bowlers’ head or cleared the infield several times, all with complete authority.
He seemed to be in hurry, particularly after notching up the three-figure mark. He scored his hundred in 90 balls and then he raced to 200 in another 57. The 226-minute artwork (read fireworks) was laced with 25 hits to the advertising hoardings and three towering sixes.
Carrying his bat through the innings didn’t come without pain. He was holding his back and looked in trouble. The closer he got to the 200-run mark, the more weary he seemed to be. But he didn’t let the opposition know.
But the master willower was in his elements. He defied the odds his body threatened to thrown up and conquered any doubts that popped up in his mind.
Exhibition of exquisite cover drives, delicate late-cuts, deadly hooks and pulls, wristy flicks, lethal slashes and all other shots present in the cricket lexicon not only enthralled the crowd here but also brought a nation to its feet.
None of the Proteas’ bowlers were spared on the day. Dale Steyn, the best bowler in the world was made to look like a rookie trying to find his feet in international cricket. Steyn’s figures of 10-0-89-0 is something that he would like to forget soon.
There is little one can fault Tendulkar for anymore. Actually, even before this double hundred only his harshest critics thought he had something left to prove.
They said Lara had 400 in Tests what does Tendulkar have to show? Now they will ask: Will he conquer that magic figure also? Well, nothing looks impossible for this ageless wonder. If Sachin Tendulkar continues to bat like this….
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