A Tribute: My top 101 memories of Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar: My top 101 memories of Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar

March 2003, Centurion – ICC ODI World Cup, India v/s Pakistan

Sachin 98 (75b, 12*4s, 1*6s)

Ask any Indian about the proudest legacy of Indian cricket in ODI World Cups, there will be just one answer to it; “We have never lost to Pakistan in the ODI World Cups”. The clash of the neighbors has always been an emotional affair. The excitement, anxiety and the adrenaline rush that these encounters generate among the players & fans is unparalleled. It strokes the ego of every Indian that record books reads a score-line of “5-0” in their favor when it comes to ODI World Cups. All these times, there has been one man whose performance in these encounters has been exemplary; Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar has played all 5 of these matches and been the Man of the Match 3 times.

The World Cup of 2003 didn’t start too well for India. We narrowly escaped an upset against Netherland and succumbed to an embarrassing defeat to the all-conquering Aussies. Nationwide agitation among the fans brought the ugly side of the Indian cricket out. It was a time for damage control. The team management asked Sachin to address the nation and calm them down; in a country where his popularity is unfathomable, it was expected to have an assuring effect on the aggrieved fans. Sachin’s message to the supporters was “We will give our best”, and they did it in some fashion. India beat Zimbabwe, culled Namibia and rolled over England with some panache. In the last round robin match, India was to face Pakistan. India’s progress to the next round was more or less confirmed but an encounter against Pakistan is oblivious to such petite things.

In SuperSport Park, Waqar Younis won the toss and decided to bat first. The “Usual Suspect” Saeed Anwar stood firm to score another century against India and the remaining batting line-up of Pakistan rallied around him to post a daunting total of 276. With bowlers like Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Shoaib Akhtar and Shahid Afridi, Pakistan was in good steads to win the match. But “The God” had different plans. On regular days, Sachin refrained from taking the strike first up, but this was no regular day. Sachin took the guard and from the other end, Wasim charged in. First couple of deliveries were shighters but the third one was not. From round the wicket, Wasim bowled a short of good length ball, shaping away from the right hander. Sachin took his front foot towards the ball, then rocked back on to the back foot and punched the delivery through the covers for an elegant four. ‘The little man’ was on his way. In the next over Shoibh came in hustling and bustling. He cranked up some serious pace but was hopelessly wayward. Sachin had a look in and waited for his chance; it came pretty soon. The fourth ball of the over was a short pitch delivery outside the off-stump; Sachin slashed it over the third-man boundary for a huge six. The controversy prone pacer fired in the next ball; it was fuller and angling in to the batsman. Sachin had anticipated this compensation in length; he shuffled across the stumps and wiped the ball through square-leg for a four. Rawalpindi Express flinched and fired in the next one straighter; the ball hit the broad bat with a ‘MRF’ logo and raced into the mid-on fence. Just 2 overs into the innings, Indian chase was on its way, fans were pumped up and Rawalpindi express stood derailed.

Sachin and Sehwag helped India to reach 50 in 5 overs. But then familiar India Pakistan turn-around happened. India lost Sehwag and Dada on consecutive balls to Waqar. Mohammad Kaif walked in and the instructions for him were clear, "Hang in there". But on the other end, Sachin was in no mood to mellow down. He played a lofted drive off Wasim in the very next over and Abdul Razzaq fluffed a difficult chance at mid-off. Razzaq hoped only if the earth would open-up and swallow him down; maybe that would have saved him from an earful from Wasim. Pakistan were made to pay for their mistake soon. Sachin hammered back to back boundaries of Waqar in the very next over and executed a picture perfect back-foot cover drive of Wasim.

The Pakistani’s had realized that match was slipping away and were feeling the pressure. Sachin also started manipulating things to make it worse for the fielders; He dabbed one to the on-side and ran for a quick two while calling out loudly for the same. The fielder on the on-side panicked and an over-excited throw went for another 4 over-throws; Sachin pumped up his fist in delight. It was chaos and there was this small man in the center orchestrating it. This brainless piece of cricket by the fielding side took Sachin to his fifty; it came off just 37 balls with 7 hits to the fence and a maximum. He finished that over with another exquisite cover-drive off Waqar; he stood up tall to a good length ball and stroked it through the covers. This was a mesmerizing performance by the little champion.

India was sailing smoothly towards the target, but then the heat of Centurion got to Sachin. He started having cramps. Realizing that his body might not hold up for too long, he started scoring swiftly. Abdul Razzaq and Afridi were taken for some free-flowing boundaries. A sweetly timed on-drive off Afridi went crashing into the long-on fence and helped Sachin to complete his 12,000 ODI runs.

But the master class was cut short when Shoaib bowled a well-directed bouncer into the body of Sachin; suffering from multiple cramps, Sachin could not sway away from the ball and lobbed it to gully. Sachin scored 98 off 75 balls with 12 boundaries and one six. India required another hundred runs after Sachin’s departure, which Yuvraj and Dravid compiled without much of a fuss. This was India’s fourth win against Pakistan in as many World Cups. Sachin was adjudged the Man of the Match for the hitting extravaganza. Till date, this knock is considered as one of the best innings ever played in the ODIs.