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The Sachin Experience: Phase 2
Well this phase was marked by emergence of 2 hugely talented players in Sourav and Rahul .Both classy but of very different genre. Though Rahul took some serious time to showcase his match winning abilities, for the first time India’s batting order looked formidable with Sachin, Sourav, Rahul occupying top 3 slots and Azhar, Jadeja, Robin Singh to follow. However the weakness of our bowling attack in this period was a matter of concern and no serious fast bowling talents were emerging (Zaheer and Nehra came in phase 3.) God knows how many fast bowlers came and went. Doda Ganesh, David Johnson etc. and none were able to make an impact except for Ajit Agarkar who looked quite impressive in initial games but then people belted him all around the world and still do. This guy is probably the biggest under achiever in modern times. He just shows little sparks then fails to set the stadium ablaze frequently.
Sachin Performances
Ordinary players would normally become lackluster with such a good batting unit but then Sachin isn’t ordinary. He is talent extraordinaire. In this phase he reinforced the belief of many who hailed him as best ever and it was in this phase that sir Donald Bradman classified him as someone who played like him, the greatest compliment ever I suppose. NOTE-I would like every person who criticizes Sachin of not performing when it matters the most to go through this and cross check my findings as many times as they want and see for themselves how many finals has India won with Sachin performing (and how frequently has Sachin performed in finals) and how many times he has single handedly led India to various finals.
Centuries
#10
I have covered 5-9 centuries in phase one. In phase 2,10th century followed in no time against S.A in Mohinder Amarnath benefit match at Wankhede just before which India had beaten S.A in finals of titan cup(aus-ind-s.a) with Sachin scoring an important 67 I think, in a low scoring game and Kumble picking up 4,a MOM performance. I remember this match vividly as this was the one where Sachin being captain helped backstabber Manjrekar with Rahul performing in middle order there was no place for Manjrekar but a place was made. He opened, didn’t perform again and finally lost his place in side. The 11th century came on a trip to S.A. where in tests India was beaten 2-0 and very comprehensively being bowled out for 100 and 67 at Durban in 1st test. A test series remembered for Donald’s burst at Durban(he bowled Sachin off a beauty of an in swinger), Sachin's catch at cape town in 2nd test by Ali Bacher when he was smashing proteas all around and batting on something like 167 and Dravid's 1st test ton at jo'burg in 3rd test which ended in a draw(which India could have won had rain not played spoilsport).
#11
The 11th century came in tri series against zim at benoni when India was chasing a target of about 240 but had to get it in something like 41 over to qualify for final. Sachin came to rescue, belted zim bowling all around the park and India qualified for finals against S.A which we lost.(some of u might even remember Sachin's catch by jonty at backward point in 1st final which was replayed due to rain,1 of the best I ever saw).
#12
12th century came against black caps at b'lore in pepsi independence cup also featuring pak, We didnt make it to finals and yes this was the same tournament where saeed anwar smashed 194 at chennai and Indian bowling attack looked even worse than the one at my colony. Then in 1998 aus was on india tour at the end of which shane warne was having nightmares.(not due to his naked pics making headlines or dirty sms'ing but due to Sachin dancing down the track and smashing him over his head
#13.14.15
13th century was in pepsi cup against aus at kanpur(also featuring zim).we happened to beat aus in all matches exept in finals at delhi.(but got our revenge in coca-cola cup in sharjah-sachin series where we lost in all round robin games to aus and beat them in finals.cola surely evens it out.) then for 14th and 15th centuries ind-aus competition went to sharjah.it was the last round robin match vs aus and we needed to cross something like 254(chasing something like 280) to beat nz on net run rate and qualify for finals. There was a sandstorm stoppage (the only 1 of its kind in cricketing experience) due to which our target was revised. To win it was 275 in 46 and to qualify an accurate figure of 237. Though wickets kept tumbling at other end Sachin simply clubbed aussies single-handedly (though contributions from Mongia and Laxman were helpful) scoring a breathtaking 143 and getting us into finals. in finals it was match of the birthday boys Sachin and Damien Fleming. chasing something like 279 India lost Sourav quite early to Fleming. But then Sachin had a birthday present for Fleming. He and Mongia smashed aussies all around and even poor umpiring decisions by mr. bucknor could'nt save the day for aussies(he had given sachin lbw to a ball probably hitting the 5th stump and Azhar was also wrongly adjudged caught behind off Fleming.)but by that time damage had been done with Sachin scoring a masterful 137 to steer India home.(and also got his hands on an opel astra though I doubt it would have survived given that entire team was dancing on top of it.)
#16,17,18
16th cenury was against Kenya at eden in tri series also featuring b'desh. 17th was in the finals of akai nidihas trophy against s.l. Batting 1st both Sachin and Sourav got stuck in s.l's bowling attack, for a record 252 opening stand. Though a superb arvinda desilva 100 followed but it wasnt enough. India won the final thanks to Sachin and Sourav centuries.(and a brilliant catch by nayan mongia to get rid of ranatunga when it seemed that match was going out of the grip of Indians.) 18th was againt zim in a bilateral tournament.
#19,20,21
19th was the special one. It was the inaugural ICC knockout championship in b'desh. India faced aus in knockout round and Sachin again belted 141 to get India home. However we lost next match to West Indies and s.a got their hands on their 1st major odi trophy under cronje. In 1998 itself sachin had smashed 4 major centuries against aus. It was the aus vs Sachin year. 20th century was in sharjah against zim in round robin stages. Surprisingly in this tri series s.l did not reach the finals. Just before the final zim also happened to beat India with a MOM spell by olonga(also accounting for sachin's wicket) then in finals it was time for 21st century. Olonga was brought back to ground in no time with Sachin smashing him all around the stadium.
#22
22nd century for a very emotional one for Sachin against kenya in 99 wc. With India losing a close match at home to s.a and zim beating us in absence of Tendulkar. This match winning performance against kenya brought our wc cup campaign on track however with s.a and zim qualifying in super 6 along with India it was certain that advancing further was a real daunting task with India having 0 pt. at start of super 6 stage and requiring to win all its super 6 matches. A loss to aus knocked us out though it was followed by a consolation win against arch rivals and finalist pak.
#23,24,25
The 23rd century came in a match winning effort against s.l in aiwa cup also featuring aus. However we failed to qualify for the final of this one. 24th marked Sachin's highest individual score, a mammoth 186 against nz at Hyderabad in a bilateral series. 25th was again a match winning effort against s.a in a bilateral series. Sadly however this series marked by uprooting of match-fixing scandal by delhi police. From India Azhar, ajay jadega were charged with match fixing allegations along with hansie cronje,gibbs and boje of s.a. What was even more hurting was that this incident marked end of career of a great captain in hansie cronje(whom I believe to be the greatest in 90's).
End of Phase II
Then in 2000 the 3rd phase began with icc knockout championship in kenya. In aus vs ind, sachin grabbed bull by its horns scoring a fluent 38 and taking attack to McGrath and co. This match saw emergence of a new generation of Indian cricketers who knew no fear, with help of which a cohesive team unit was formed. In this specific match yuvraj smashed a brilliant 80 odd and site of zaheer hitting the middle stick of steven waugh delighted every Indian. However this wasn’t enough to break icc knockout jinx of India and we lost the finals against nz after beating aus,s.a(2 favorites) in the tournament. Further this was followed by emergence of players like shewag, kaif, nehra etc and India for the 1st time could boast of a cohesive team unit with decent fielding standards at least in infield and this lead to fruitful results which i would talk about in phase 3.
NOTE-except for centuries 16 and 18(1 of which was against Kenya in finals) all his centuries had significance attached. Further commenting on a few centuries in this phase against zim, this was their best team ever esp. in 1999 with likes of olonga, streak in late 1990's and eddo brandes, streak etc in mid 1990's. Most of his centuries in this phase have been against aus,s.l. I hope I have been able to revive some experiences of u cricket enthusiast along with presenting a clear picture for those who believe that Sachin doesn’t perform at big stage just by listening to people like sanjay manjrekar etc whose only crave for media attention without considering the fact that being a former player it is their duty not to spread misinformation.
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WOW!!
Feels like as if its all happening again in front of my eyes. Vivid, lively and with "cola", quite humorous.
I think we are all are very lucky to have been in Sachin era. As a matter of fact, in a era in which sport has seen some of its greatest icons. Lara, Sampras, Schumacher, Federer, Woods to name a few.
Coming back to the "sachin experience", I would really like a phase for the year 1998 - "Phase 98 - The Dominance". I think this it was the most eventful year for him. He got the record of most centuries in ODIs to his name, scored maximum number of runs in a calender year.
After all this, the eagerness to see Sachin in IPL has increased a lot more.
Good stuff dude.. Felt so good reading the whole thing
Get the next phase soon... keep it coming!
surely will
Our featured Article of the day.
Keep up the good work dude
Still waiting for phase 3 and 4 and 5
Dude!
*Thumbs up*
awesome work.
You got me reliving those glorious sachin days once again. Especially those sharjah escapades! I still remember that innings of Sachin wherein he hit consecutive hundreds. Also one of the reasons of my watching the repeat telecast is that apart from Sachin's breathtaking innings it was Tony Greig's commentary.
Tony Greig's commentary in that particular match was of the highest class. It was a perfect amalgam a class innings and extraordinary commentary. That is probably reason that Ten Sports has telecasted that innings hundreds of times but still nobody is fed up watching that.
" Its high ! Oh what a six ! What a six ! Its on the roof ! " (for sachin's six of Kasprocwicz in Sharjah)
" He's hit that one ... He has HIT that one!! ... its going .. going .. ON TO THE ROOF! ... WHAT A PLAYER!! ... superb player!! "
" It's highh ... oh there's a fielder under it ... Is he gonna take it? Yes he's taken it ... that's the end of Sachin Tendulkar ... OH he's dropped it ... he's dropped it !! Damien Martyn has dropped SACHIN TENDULKAR !! "
" Oh! It's high, it's high, it's gone all the way for a six. "
Tony Greig: " Well, Sachin Tendulkar has decided that he wants to win this match. "
Ravi Shastri: " He is a champion and he needs a challenge, and he can´t have a bigger challenge than that. "
(As Tendulkar hit a boundary over extra cover of Damien Fleming after the great man had qualified India for the finals )
Sad, he doesn't play often nowadays, because of injuries.