Published: Mar 10, 2011, 12:05 PM (IST)
Edited: Jul 06, 2014, 11:41 AM (IST)
By Suneer Chowdhary
Sachin Tendulkar has been playing the game for so long – and so brilliantly as well – that hardly a game goes by without the great man passing a milestone or creating new records. On Wednesday, in the match against Netherlands, Tendulkar did not score much. But even in that fleeting tenure he managed a new milestone: The first man in the history of World Cup to score 2000 runs.
In these times of punishing schedules, it is a wonder that Tendulkar has managed to play six World Cups. Interestingly, amongst those who have scored more than 1000 runs in World Cups, Tendulkar’s average of nearly 57-plus is second to Vivian Richards.
Tendulkar’s journey in World Cup cricket started in 1992, when, as a precocious 18-year old, he was tested on the quick, pacy tracks of Australia and the windy, swinging ones of New Zealand. Given that he had yet to begin his foray as an opening batsman – he batted at four and five throughout – he did a decent job in falling only 17 short of 300 @47.16. He finished 14th in a list dominated by Martin Crowe, who had arguably played his best cricket ever in that championship.
By the time the next World Cup had come around, two major things had changed. India were one of the co-hosts and only a year earlier, Tendulkar had volunteered to open in the ODIs. Both were to play parts in equal measures in propelling Tendulkar to the top of the pile in the tournament.
That India were knocked out in the semi-final was a definite dampener. Not a dampener enough though, for Tendulkar’s 523 runs in the tournament at a whopping 87.16. There was a century against Kenya as starters, a scratchy 70 versus the West Indies, a sublime, missed-100 at Wankhede against the Aussies, followed by one of the best-crafted hundreds in the games against Sri Lanka.
Zimbabwe got him out early, but against Pakistan he was the one half of the 90-run opening stand that laid the foundation for Ajay Jadeja to explode later. Tendulkar was also the second-highest scorer in the entire semi-final game against Sri Lanka with a 65. Not too many of the batsmen lasted after he was gone as India’s hopes in that fateful Eden Gardens game ended in an unprecedented manner.
Loss of his father in the middle of the 1999 World Cup meant that while Tendulkar was very much a part of the tournament, the focus was probably and understandably elsewhere. There was one unforgettable innings – an unbeaten 140 against Kenya that came immediately after he returned back from India after paying his final respects to his beloved father. Barring that innings, with no other score of more than 50, it was easily one of his not-so-good World Cup tournaments thus far. This was before the 2007 edition of the tournament eclipsed it.
In 2007, Tendulkar had been pushed back to the No 4 position in the order. In fact, this was a surprise given that Tendulkar, who had battled at that position in the time leading up to the 2003 edition, was then shuffled up again. There was probably a rightful realisation dawning between Sourav Ganguly and John Wright – the then-captain and coach respectively – of the value of the mere presence of Tendulkar at the crease.
Nothing of that sort happened in 2007. Or in fact, Tendulkar and Team India weren’t afforded a chance to experiment, if that is indeed what was the plan. Three games into the tournament and India had been knocked out by Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. In the game against Bangladesh, Tendulkar batted at four, pottered around for 25 balls, made seven before being dismissed. Against Sri Lanka, he scored a duck.
And between these two games, there was an interesting one against Bermuda, which saw Tendulkar bat at the No 6 position – his lowest position ever in 14 years!He made his only half-century of the tournament against the woeful Bermudian bowling, an unbeaten 57 off 29 balls, before the side was blown away. Going back to 2003, it was probably Tendulkar’s best. One, it was played in South Africa, not a country where most Indian batsmen hold a great record. While Tendulkar does not fall in the category of ‘most Indian batsmen’, adjusting to those tracks was always going to be the key. And he did with great aplomb. Two, Tendulkar ended with the most runs – yet again.
In 1996, when Tendulkar had ended with the most runs in the tournament, Mark Waugh had finished second, only 47 runs behind. In 2003, it was his own team-mate, Sourav Ganguly but the one phrase that one cannot use here would be ‘pipping him to the post’. Tendulkar made 673 in the tournament to Ganguly’s 465 and Ricky Ponting’s 415 (140 of which came in the one vital innings in the final) Tendulkar’s 81 against Zimbabwe avenged the loss in the 1999 World Cup, before a big 100 against Namibia and a half-century in the England game followed. However, arguably Tendulkar’s best-ever World Cup innings came against Pakistan in 2003.
Chasing 274 for a win against Pakistan, the oft-heard adage, ‘the quicker the opposition bowled, the faster it went to the fence’ rung true that day. His 98 came off 75 deliveries, and there was enough time in it for him to get 54 of those in boundaries.
A rare failure against Kenya was followed by 97 to plot Sri Lanka’s rout. This was followed by 83 in the semi-final against Kenya. The 2003 final was probably the start of the disappointments, leading to the 2007 tournament. Chasing a near-impossible 360 for a win, Tendulkar was that lone, thin, beacon of hope of getting the side close. His innings had lasted all of five balls and he had been dismissed by one of his all-time nemesis, Glenn McGrath.
(Suneer is a Mumbai-based cricket writer and can be contacted at suneerchowdhary@gmail.com and Tweets here: @suneerchowdhary)
