A phenomenon in the making Sachin Tendulkar is an all-time great that the game of cricket has produced. To identify the best innings of Sachin Tendulkar is not going to be easy, as Tendulkar has played some memorable knocks right from his debut, and has delighted the many cricket lovers all over the world. To look closely into the career of Tendulkar, and to look for the best innings of Sachin Tendulkar brings out the five greatest innings of Tendulkar in test cricket.
England v India at Old Trafford, 1990 – 119 n.o
A s a 17-year old prodigy, in walked Tendulkar, when pressure was breathing down his neck as he had to rise above the ordinary to avoid the defeat that was looming on the horizon. With India placed at 127 for 5 on the final day, Tendulkar had to carry old heads upon young shoulders to thwart defeat at the hands of the Englishmen. Tendulkar proved his mettle by batting for more than four hours in partnering with the tail to score 119 n.o as well as took India to safety what otherwise might have been an ignominious defeat, as this happens to be one of the best innings of Sachin Tendulkar. Tendulkar had notched up his first test hundred and a rare talent had arrived to delight cricket lovers.
Australia v India at Perth, 1992 – 114
Those were days when Perth was a seemer-friendly wicket, and particularly the Australian quickies would be waiting to provide nightmarish experiences to even the best of batsman with their lethal pace and bounce. Way back in 1992, the WACA was full of bouncy juice as Tendulkar scored a magnificent 114 against the likes of Craig McDermott and Merv Hughes who were left clueless even on such a wicket, as this masterly innings from Tendulkar, when he was just 19, was more that what the Australian crowd could enjoy in an opponent, and happens to go down in the annals as one of the best innings of Sachin Tendulkar.
South Africa v India at Cape Town, 1997 – 169
Sachin Tendulkar is known for many epic knocks that had come in hostile conditions, and one such condition arose when India were trailing at 58 for 5 after South Africa battered the Indian Bowling to rack up 529 as their first innings total. Tendulkar in top form didn’t walk away from the challenge as Tendulkar took the fight to the opposition camp and along with Azharuddin played a memorable knock of 169 with 26 boundaries, as the South African seemers were pasted all over the ground, and this can be ranked as one of the best innings of Sachin Tendulkar.
India v Australia at Chennai, 1998 - 155 not out
Sachin Tendulkar has produced stellar knocks only to end up on a losing note on many occasions, but Tendulkar’s 155 not out at Chennai took India to victory as it also reduced Warne into an ordinary looking bowler, as Tendulkar using his novel stroke play, his feet and his eyes danced down the wicket and pasted Warne to all parts of the chepauk stadium as Warne looked as an erring schoolboy as otherwise hailed as cricket history’s top leg spinner. Warne later admitted that this innings from Tendulkar had literally beguiled him, and the knock played by Tendulkar paved way for an Indian victory over the Australians. This certainly was one of the best innings of Sachin Tendulkar.
India v Pakistan at Chennai 1999 – 136
When India was chasing a difficult target of 271 at Chennai, and was faltering at 82 for 5, Tendulkar didn’t budge and his rock like innings of 136 will go down as one of the best innings of Sachin Tendulkar. Suffering from a back injury, the superhuman effort put in by Tendulkar didn’t end on a winning note, nevertheless, it nearly took away the game from Pakistan and is one of the best ever in the history of test cricket.
Comments
Post a Comment