Indian cricket lovers would have slept peacefully last night. Their hero, Sachin Tendulkar announced his comeback to international cricket with a century of such splendid strokes all round the wicket to dispel any lingering doubts about the state of his fitness.
True, he was tentative at the start but that was to be expected since he was playing international cricket after six months and so would have been a bit nervous himself. But once he hit that front foot down and straight drove the fast bowler, it was clear that he was mentally at peace with any doubts, his own mind may have had.
A couple of those trademark straight drives hit the stands at the bowlers end but that hardly deterred him as he began to expand the arc of his scoring graph. But the shot that would have gladdened every Indian cricket lover’s heart was the inside-out shot over extra cover. He played it quite regularly, especially after getting his 40th century and that shot showed that there was nothing wrong with his left elbow. Remember, it was the leading arm that takes the pressure when the inside out shot is played and by playing it and hitting the ball into the stands too, it was clear that the tennis elbow is a thing of the past and that is great news indeed.
Apart from the range of shots that he displayed he was as usual running brilliantly for his partner’s runs as well and there’s no doubt that the century he got in the warm-up game in the heat and humidity of Chennai had done wonders. That would have removed any cobwebs he had in his legs and lungs and that’s a huge factor when one is making a comeback for no matter how much training and practice one does, it’s actual match play that lets one know whether one has regained fitness or not.
The little champion had a good opening partnership with the skipper, Rahul Dravid and then with Irfan Pathan, who also batted superbly to get a quick half-century. The worrying aspect was the pitch because the bounce was uneven with the odd ball keeping very low and the odd one taking off from good length and threatening to take the head off. Both Dravid and Tendulkar were hit painful blows on the left hand as the ball climbed unexpectedly and hopefully there won’t be any serious injuries in this tournament that would rule players out of the Champions Trophy that follows soon after.
Sehwag looked lost at the new number in the batting orders for him and it was left to Raina to hit a few hefty blows to take India past the 300 mark.
The West Indians were aware that they had to get off to a brisk start if they were to get close to India’s total. They would also have been keeping an eye on the clouds for if play was stopped after 20 overs then the D/L method would come into play. The important thing was to ensure they didn’t lose wickets for that would change the target score for them. Lara came in with positive intent not just because he had to get his team ahead on the D/L method but having seen the little champion score such a fabulous century he didn’t want to be lost in comparison.
It was not the result India were looking to start their campaign with, but at least India knows that their cricketing heart is beating strongly and that is what it needs in the long run.
