MOHALI, India, 7 March 2005 — Sachin Tendulkar has amassed more than 20,000 runs in international cricket, but a small figure of 121 has assumed greater significance ahead of the first cricket Test between India and Pakistan starting here tomorrow.
The champion batsman, whose illustrious career began way back in 1989 in Pakistan when he was just 16, needs a 100-plus innings to reach a twin milestone.
A century will smash compatriot Sunil Gavaskar’s world record of 34 Test hundreds. And by scoring 121 he will become only the fifth batsman in Test history to complete 10,000 runs.
Former Australian captains Allan Border and Steve Waugh, Gavaskar and West Indies skipper Brian Lara comprise the elite 10,000-club so far.
The task is not beyond Tendulkar, who has already compiled 9,879 runs in 120 Tests with 34 centuries and 13,497 runs in 342 one-dayers with a world record 37 hundreds.
The run-up to Pakistan’s first tour of India in six years may have been be bumpy, but it will soon be reduced to mere footnotes in the history of the game if Tendulkar achieves his twin objective.
A row over venues and telecast rights will be pushed in the background as the focus shifts to cricket, especially on Tendulkar who leads a strong batting line-up against the inexperienced Pakistani attack.
The 31-year-old is keen to prove he has regained fitness after being troubled with an tennis elbow injury, which forced him to miss three major one-day tournaments and two home Tests against Australia earlier this season. Tendulkar played just one four-day domestic match in the last two months, in which he made four runs to leave fans wondering if he had fully recovered from the injury.
India, who won both the Test and one-day series in Pakistan last year, look well-equipped to maintain their supremacy over their archrivals since they are playing with a full-strength side.
Skipper Saurav Ganguly faces a problem of plenty as both Laxmipathy Balaji and Ashish Nehra have recovered from injuries to stand alongside pace compatriots Zaheer Khan and Irfan Pathan.
With spinners Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh almost sure to play, Ganguly will be forced to drop two of his four pacemen.
Pakistan expect skipper Inzamam ul-Haq to lead from the front against a full-strength Indian attack because runs alone will help them keep pressure on the hosts.
The tourists’ bowling attack appears weak on paper, especially after the withdrawal of key fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar due to a hamstring injury. But the Indian captain said his team still cannot relax against Pakistan, which looked strong in Akhtar’s absence.
“Pakistan are a good side and they have a lot of good players. We will have to do really well to win the series,” he said.
The Pakistani captain believed his players were capable of raising their game against India and should not be underestimated.
“We want to make amends for last year’s defeats,” Inzamam said and praised the hard work done by the team’s English coach Bob Woolmer. “Our coach has helped change the attitude of the boys which is more positive and professional and I think they can handle the pressure of playing in India.”
But the Test will be remembered as much for Tendulkar’s twin feats - if he achieves them - as for the result.
