20 Years of the Maestro and the double ton

20 years in International cricket. more than 31000 international runs it's quite a treat for cricket fans that the first ever double hundred in One day Internationals came from the blade of this this cricketing legend. There has not been too many men in international sporting arena( if any) who have survived the challenges for this long. This in itself is a validation of the fact that Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar is a sporting genius .



I remember the days when we, as a group of kids, used to tune off the television the moment Sachin used to get out. For us, it used to be the end of Indian innings. There was definitely something in him, which was not there in any other cricketer in the world. With due credit to the likes of Brian Lara and Rahul Dravid (the other cricketing greats), Sachin remains way ahead of all the men who have ever played the game.

It all began way back in 1989 when a school boy was out there in the middle to face the likes of Imran Khan and Waqar Younis. From there on Sachin has been a true student of the game.

From the days of Krish Srikanth to the current days of Swashbuckling Sehwag, Sachin has always tried to stay afloat and managed to create an identity of his own.

There are number of innings from the maestro which can be catagorised as quality ones, but the stand out ones will be the back to back centuries in Sharjah against Australia, one of them took India to the finals and the other won them the tournament (both the occassions did it single handedly and cleanly). The other innings are the Commonwealth Bank Series finals against Australia, The fighting Test hundred against Pakistan in chennai which almost won India the match but at the end India fell short by 17 odd runs. The next big one is 175 vs Australia at Hyderabad. The innings was the best that i have seen from the Maestro sheerly because of the perfection, authenticity and the class in which it was played. To begin with India was chasing a mammoth 350 odd runs and had lost early wickets. Thats when the master decided to come to the party. He opened up against Nathan Hauritz who was looking intimidating till then. He slowly extended his disrespect to the rest of the bowlers. With 5 overs to go, he seemed to have wrapped it up when a false stroke got him. India fell short by 3 runs but the match was a clear winner due to the master innings.
Few weeks later came the biggest of them all, the first ever double hundred in international cricket. who deserved this record more than the most committed man in world cricket. Even Saeed Anwar (who held the record for the highest score till then) was happy that Sachin broke his record.
For me the consecutive boundaries of Wayne Parnell in the first powerplay set the tone for the marathon innings. The first one was a solid cover drive and the second one a classic fick of the legs. It was one such innings where Sachin was not ready to give it up even after a hundred. He kept going on on and on and finally the moment arrived which makes every Indian proud of the little champion. It was the first ever double hundred in One Day International but the celebrations were a contrast image. When the whole of India jumped up in joy sachin was subdued, composed and calm. This for me, is what makes sachin a special person and this is what has been taking his forward for past 20 years through all the success and failures.
Hope the master continues his high times till the Suresh Rainas, Manish pandeys and Virat Kohlis of India Cricket are ready to take the pressure and burden to carry the brand of Indian cricket in their Shoulders.
I hope to see him complete 100 international centuries before he decides to hang his boots.
Sachin has indeed made India Proud.... Love you Sach.....