Monday, November 5, 2001

Though there is nothing faintly resembling modesty in his batting, Sachin Tendulkar is a modest man. A couple of hours after his breathtaking assault on the South African fast bowlers ended rather inappropriately, with a tame, scooped pull, he was on the boundary ropes again, earpiece and microphone in place, being interviewed by a Star-ESPN commentary team including Sunil Gavaskar and Navjot Singh Sidhu.

He accepted the compliments with good cheer, but was keener on giving credit to Virender Sehwag for his debut century. And when Gavaskar pointed out that Sehwag - whose physical resemblance to Tendulkar is striking - could have experienced nothing better than sharing a 220-run partnership with the great man himself, Tendulkar was at a loss for words. He wriggled with embarrassment, and pretended not to have heard Gavaskar at all. It would have been futile asking him how great his own innings was.

Futility is something Tendulkar is used to. Once again, the collective incompetence of his team-mates threatens to drag down the brilliance of his performance. Everyone celebrates a winner, and if India do go down in this Test, Tendulkar's effort will be remembered as one more hundred in vain. No prizes for guessing that it won't come within sniffing distance of the Wisden 100 if India lose. Pity.

Moments after Tendulkar brought up his 26th Test hundred with a clip to square leg, quizzical glances were being exchanged in front of TV sets everywhere. A truly great sporting performance has the capacity to make everyone watching it feel special. There was no doubt that the world had just witnessed one of Tendulkar's finest innings, but the question hung delectably in the air: was it the best?

We are as easily swayed by immediacy as we as are moved by nostalgia. But a day later, after the South African batsmen poured cold water over the euphoria of the first day, perspective is simpler to find. Tendulkar's 184-ball 155 is surely among his top five hundreds. Let's revisit the other four, chronologically:

119 not out v England, Old Trafford, 1990 England pile up 519 on a benign pitch and India reply with 432. England stretch the lead to 407, and though the pitch is still good and the bowling (Malcolm, Fraser, Lewis, Hemmings) not terribly menacing, India find themselves in deep water at 127 for 5 with only one recognised batsman left. And he's only 17 years old. Tendulkar battles for nearly four hours, grimly but never dourly, and ends the day with 119. India lose only one more wicket, ending up with 343. With one more session, they might even have won.

141 v Australia, Perth, 1991-92 The fastest pitch in Australia has been reserved for the last Test. India have been beaten already, only humiliation awaits. Batting first, Australia score 346. Tendulkar enters at a relatively comfortable 100 for 3, but watches the next five wickets go down for 59. Sachin is the next man out ... at 240. He has scored 118 of the 140 runs added while he was at the crease, and made them in such an awe-inspiring manner that commentators are asking themselves when they last saw an innings as good.

169 v South Africa, Cape Town, 1996-97 Batting first, South Africa make a matchwinning 529. Playing only for honour, India find themselves grovelling before Donald, Pollock, McMillan and Klusener. Tendulkar and Mohammad Azharuddin get together at 58 for 5, and start spanking the bowling as if they were playing a club game in the park. They add 222 for the sixth wicket in less than two sessions, and Tendulkar has 26 boundaries in his score of 169. Even Donald says that he felt like clapping.

136 v Pakistan, Chennai, 1998-99 Few Indian batting performances have been as heroic, or as tragic. Chasing 264 in the fourth innings of a low-scoring match, India experience a familiar top-order collapse and are sinking fast at 82 for 5. Tendulkar finds an able ally in Nayan Mongia, and rebuilds the innings in a painstaking, un-Tendulkarlike manner. After helping add 136 for the sixth wicket, Mongia departs to an ungainly pull, and Sachin's back is also giving way. Tendulkar shifts up a gear or two and starts dealing only in boundaries. But one error of judgment and it's all over. Saqlain Mushtaq defeats his intended lofted on-drive with a magical ball that drifts the other way, catches the outer part of Tendulkar's bat and balloons up to mid-off. The tail disgrace themselves and India fall short by a gut-wrenching 13 runs.

This latest century had the potential to be Tendulkar's most significant. It came on the first day of an away series, with his team in danger of surrendering even before the battle had begun. Not only had four wickets fallen, they went down just the way the South Africans expected - to rising balls. Tendulkar had a debutant for company, with another to follow. A total of 200 looked like wishful thinking.

Tendulkar took 17 balls to score his first run, but 101 came off the next 97 deliveries. It wasn't the prettiest of Tendulkar Test tons, but it was one of the most savage. The hallmark of a great innings is how quickly it dispirits the opposition and throws them into disarray. The South Africans had a plan for India, and Tendulkar made a mockery of it. Shaun Pollock knew what had hit him, but he was too dazed to react. By the time Tendulkar's innings ended, India could contemplate victory.

That victory is already a distant dream isn't Tendulkar's fault. I don't know about you, but I'd put this innings in third place - behind Perth and Chennai.

Sambit Bal is editor of Wisden.com India.

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