April 1998, Kochi – 1st ODI of Pepsi Triangular Series
Sachin 10-1-32-5
Most people recognize Sachin Tendulkar as this world beating batsman. But there is more to this dynamic sportsman. He is a very safe fielder and a perfect ‘All in One’ bowler. He bowled leg breaks, off spins and seam ups with equal ease. There is a very interesting story about Sachin when he was very young. Sachin went to a camp in Chennai organized by MRF Pace Academy. He met the legendary Denis Lille in the camp. He told Lille that he wanted to be a fast bowler and Lille explained to him that he lacked the physical stature to become a fast bowler. He advised Sachin to concentrate on his batting and Sachin obliged. But the boy who wanted to do crazy things with the ball was always there in his heart. And that fine afternoon at Kochi, he let that boy out.
After
pounding the Kangaroos in the Test series with the bat, Sachin was expected to
carry on his form into the ODI series too. India squared up against the
Australians at Kochi in the first match of Pepsi Triangular Series. But this
was one of those rare occasions when he failed. But Ajay Jadeja and Hrisikesh
Kanitikar filled in for him and on a flat pitch India asked the Aussies to
chase 310 in 49 overs.
Australia replied
with intent and looked on course with 110 runs to go in last 18 overs. Michale
Bevan and Steve Waugh were accumulating the runs at a steady pace. Bevan
carried this reputation of being the best finisher of the games in limited overs
format and Indian skipper Azhar had all the reasons to be worried about. He
tossed the ball to Sachin to bowl the 32nd over. Sachin always had
this knack of breaking crucial partnerships with some part-time bowling. Sachin
decided to test Bevan with some off-breaks. The idea was to take the ball away
from the left hander and not to allow him to plunder easy runs on the on-side.
Bevan changed ends with a single off the second ball. That bought Steve Waugh
to strike. Sachin flighted one to him and Waugh stepped out at the glimpse of
it. Waugh being a right hander was expecting the ball to break into him and
hence he was ready to flick the ball through the mid-wicket region. But his
worst fears came to haunt him when the ball pitched just in front of his bat
and started to turn away from him. He edged it back to Sachin and Sachin
accepted it with glee. In celebration he started to juggle with the ball as if
mocking the batsman that he got him. Waugh left but the danger man Bevan was
still there.
Encouraged
by the turn that Sachin was getting, Azhar persisted with him. And it paid of
in the 36th over. A sliding off spinner from Sachin caught Darren
Lehman low on the pads, plumb in front of the stumps. Two quick wickets made it
a “even money bet”. But every Indian was aware of the threat that Bevan possessed
and hence the tension was palpable among the Indian supporters. But then Sachin
was on fire. In the last ball of the 40th over, he tricked Bevan to
step out to a tantalizing faster one which was sliding into him. Bevan was
shaping up to loft this one on the off-side. But this one kept on coming in to
Bevan and he was cramped for room. He missed the ball and Nayan Mongia wiped
the bails in a flash. The last hope of the Australians was foxed and one could
almost hear out the phrase ‘April fool’ from the demeanor of Sachin at that
moment. It was more about delaying the inevitable from there on.
But Sachin
was in no mood of relenting. In the first ball of the 42nd over,
Sachin bowled a classical leg spinner, pitched at a good length spot. Tom Moody
made a pre-meditated heave and missed it all together. The waiting gloves of
Mongia did the rest. Sachin was on a hat-trick now. He was turning the ball
square and Shane Warne walked out to witnessing the drama on the pitch himself.
I bet he would have envied what the “Little Genius” was doing with the ball. Things
were a little interesting now. Shane Warne was facing Sachin to negate the
hat-trick ball. Sachin sent down a loopy leg break and Warne went for a square
cut. He edged it and Mongia snatched at it. The ball bounced out of the gloves
of Mongia and went down. Sachin grimaced a little but ran back quickly to his
bowling mark. The next four deliveries would have made Warne proud; if not for
the fact that he was at the receiving end. Sachin finished the rout with the 5th
wicket of Damein Martyn, who played a nothing shot to lob one down the long-on’s
throat. Sachin ended up his full quota of overs with 5 for 32 and a maiden to
go with it. It remained the best bowling performance by the legend in ODIs.
With this effort he won the match for India and piped the centurion Ajay Jadeja
to become the Man of the Match.
That day he left me with no doubt that if Dennis
Lille would not have advised him otherwise, he would have become a great
bowler.
This one is so cool :)
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