![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
In January 1999, The Outlook magazine published a collector's item titled: In a Year of Gloom, One Man Gave Us Happiness. It was the annus in which we exploded nuclear bombs and subsequently became the target of political trashtalk around the world. Allies turned their back on us and others imposed sanctions. We were reduced to pariah status on the global stage. But for one man, every Indian would probably wanna forget that year. One man who didn't do much other than score 9 international centuries and pummell a team widely recognized as the world's best.
I started watching cricket when he started his career and I have watched almost every single international run he has scored. He was my favorite cricketer, he continues to be my favorite cricketer and he will always be the favorite.
I will never forget the morning my dad woke me up to watch him open the batting for the first time Down Under in 1994... when he scored 82 in 49. It took him 74 matches, or thereabouts, to score his first ODI century but now he has at least 15 more than his nearest challenger.
But who cares about ODIs... in 1999 India was chasing 270-odd against Pakistan in Chennai... my dad was in the stadium. It's a day he said he can never forget either. 5 down for 80-odd and suffering from serious back spasms, this guy put up with it all and scored one of the most painstaking but potentially matchwinning centuries of all time.
The guys who devised that system for the Top 100 centuries of all time said if India had won that game, it would've ended up in the Top 3. Given the context, it certainly fits right up there.
But if there's one thing that stands out over everything else... we must tune back to 1993. Kolkata. The citadel of Indian cricket. The Coliseum. India v South Africa. Hero Cup. Semi-final. 4 to win, final over. Kapil Dev isn't keen to bowl. Up comes this 19-year old and says he'll do it. And as they say, wow, the rest is history.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar is the most successful centurion in Test Cricket and I wish I was there to see it.
Thank you, dear sir, for the entertainment.
J A I H I N D!
I started watching cricket when he started his career and I have watched almost every single international run he has scored. He was my favorite cricketer, he continues to be my favorite cricketer and he will always be the favorite.
I will never forget the morning my dad woke me up to watch him open the batting for the first time Down Under in 1994... when he scored 82 in 49. It took him 74 matches, or thereabouts, to score his first ODI century but now he has at least 15 more than his nearest challenger.
But who cares about ODIs... in 1999 India was chasing 270-odd against Pakistan in Chennai... my dad was in the stadium. It's a day he said he can never forget either. 5 down for 80-odd and suffering from serious back spasms, this guy put up with it all and scored one of the most painstaking but potentially matchwinning centuries of all time.
The guys who devised that system for the Top 100 centuries of all time said if India had won that game, it would've ended up in the Top 3. Given the context, it certainly fits right up there.
But if there's one thing that stands out over everything else... we must tune back to 1993. Kolkata. The citadel of Indian cricket. The Coliseum. India v South Africa. Hero Cup. Semi-final. 4 to win, final over. Kapil Dev isn't keen to bowl. Up comes this 19-year old and says he'll do it. And as they say, wow, the rest is history.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar is the most successful centurion in Test Cricket and I wish I was there to see it.
Thank you, dear sir, for the entertainment.
J A I H I N D!
