When the going got tough at Chennai
© AFP It had never happened before, despite every Indian fan wanting to witness it and every team fearing it
Anand Vasu
26-Jan-2002
In 283 limited overs matches, Tendulkar has had a good many opening
partners, but surely only one that looked like him, walked like him and,
yes, at times, hit the cover off the ball like him. For the best part of
the time, when the field restrictions applied, the duo ignored running
between the wickets with the disdain of a staunch vegetarian in a fish
market and dealt exclusively in crisp hits that scorched the turf and
dented the advertising hoardings. Boundaries flowed, with Tendulkar
finding the fence nine times and his stunt double striking five in the
first fifteen overs.
It was a very special session for fans at Chepauk, with Sehwag and
Tendulkar taking the excitement of limited overs cricket to its logical
conclusion. Having creamed a 69-ball ton against the hapless Kiwis in
Sri Lanka when he opened, Sehwag found the role very much to his liking.
One of Sehwag's greatest strengths is his ability to recover ever so
quickly from a rash stroke or a moment of indiscretion. Time and again,
he was beaten outside the off, shuffling and having an airy swat at the
ball, only to play a copybook cover drive off the very next ball. Andrew
Flintoff's frustration knew no limits and the burly Lancashire allrounder might have invited himself to tea with the match referee when he
told Sehwag a few things after getting him to nick one.
There was no playing and missing for Tendulkar however. Leaving
restraint aside for a change, Tendulkar went after anything that was
wide. When the ball was just short of a good length and on the stumps
though it was treated with the respect it deserved. Anything marginally
outside the off, however, was cut away with keenness. There were drives,
flicks, pulls and even a one-handed swat that made its way to the
boundary ropes. With the platform the pair had so effortlessly
established and the total not being large enough to pose a serious
threat despite India's best attempt at a middle order collapse, the
match played itself out to a practically standard format one-day finish.
Tendulkar (68) and Sehwag (51) took India to 130 in 26 overs before
handing over the proceedings to the supporting cast.
One couldn't help but let the mind wander back to the last time an
international was played in Chennai. Australia had India on tenterhooks
as a humdinger resolved itself in India's favour in five days. The
Indians seemed keen to revisit that day and recreated as much of the
tension as was possible. Losing three wickets after some unconvincing
batting, India played into Hussain's hands. Pulling every stop, Hussain
applied immense pressure, singling out young stumper Ajay Ratra for
treatment that could only be described as childish. The pugnacious
stumper, however, showed great character, letting his cricket do the
talking in an unbeaten innings of 29 that took India home.
In the second one-dayer, it was third umpire MR Singh who was
overworked, constantly being called up to make decisions. Here at
Chennai, it will be match referee Dennis Lindsay who takes a long, hard
look at things before summoning the England captain. One wonders what
defence Hussain will put up for the actions of himself and his team, and
indeed what the outcome of Lindsay's meeting would be. One thing is
certain though, on the day, it wasn't 'One team that was the loser, but
the game itself.' Heard that line somewhere recently Nasser?