The years Sachin Tendulkar took to compete against Pakistani teams is additional remarkable highlights of the cricket history. The wars which Sachin Tendulkar had with the likes of Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Shoaib Akhtar, were the best and most exciting contests.
Sachin Tendulkar’s inning against Pakistan, in the 1999 Test in Madras, is recollected for its degree of hardship and for one’s personal spirit. In that innings one has Praised Sachin for laying down almost everything in the quest for victory.
This Test was part of Pakistan’s 1999 tour of India when cricketing relations between both nations were resumed after a near ten-year standstill. It was one such series which was laden with emotions and great expectations from both ends.
In the first innings, Tendulkar scored a duck as SAqlain Mushtaq and India managed a low total of 254.
In the Second Innings as chasing a victory target of 271, Tendulkar played a thrilling innings.
Tendulkar’s batting was brought on when the Indian score was 6 runs and 2 wickets lost. Gradually, the situation worsened encouraging more wickets for India and lowering the score to 82 runs for 5 wickets.
Helping India rebuild their innings against Pakistan’s Wasim Akram-Waqar Younis-Saquain Mushtaq’s world class bowling, Tendulkar shared a key partnership with Nayan Mongia (52).
Sachin was very calm and showed a healthy mix of both defence and attack, particularly when he was up against Saqlain Mushtaq who had dismissed him earlier in the first innings. On the contrary, Sachin was in great deal of back spasms while he was batting which made it more remarkable.
Tendulkar fought through the pressure and completed the century and put the team India on the verge of winning. He faced the bowler’s attack on a crumbling pitch for 136 runs, which was one of the classics.
With just 17 runs to win, Sachin was out to Saqlain Mushtaq, Wasim Akram catching him at mid-off attempting to drive the ball over the infield which was a big mistake. This was the turning point of the match.
Until Sachin was there, India was in a very comfortable position but after his losing they lost their last three batsmen for just four runs from 254/6 to 258 all out, thus losing the game by 12 runs.
In a viral video, raj singh dungarpur, the former bcci president who was instrumental in the early career and development of tendulkar himself and had selected him as the chairman of the selectors for 1989 tour of pakistan at the tender age of just 16 years. Sachin didn’t come to collect his man of the match award. Here is what former BCCIs president the late Raj Singh Dungarpur in a viral video shot after the Chennai Test better knows when Sachin didn’t turn up to collect his Man of the match away from his home.
Dungarpur says, “I came down to the dressing room, I think it is just that I should say that he was shedding tears like a school boy. So I kept on telling him, ‘why are you taking the whole blame on yourself, by then we had lost the match. This was such a great innings that you rendered it and he said, ‘you made the impossible, possible.’ I said ‘no sir, I have lost this match.'”
Dungarpur goes ahead and enlargees, “We were at the podium, I think, very few times do you get the Man of the Match on the losing side. He got the Man of the Match on the losing side. From the podium I gestured to Anshuman Gaekwad who was the coach of the Indian team controlling the practice of the Match and asked where is he. He said ‘not coming’. I think that is what commitment is all about.”
This match was considered as Pakistan’s best victory in matches beat and its then most important part was Saqlain Mushtaq taking five wickets in two innings including the most sought Tendulkar’s wicket. After the match at a dressing room, Tendulkar was seen in a shattered mood for hours with no other person around.
Sachin Tendulkar and the entire team lost but he scored 136 runs and that innings would be regarded as one of the finer performances. He fought the opponents as well as physical pain to take India almost inching to glory.
Tendulkar’s courage to continue playing even with excruciating pain in his back proved his commitment and fighting spirit and this knock helped construct Tendulkar as a player who can endure the worst situations in a match and play well even when the ball is delivered with venom.
Even though India lost the final of the match, Tendulkars effort remained forever monumental, in that he proved himself as well as his class in one of the most memorable test matches between India and Pakistan.
