This November, Sachin Tendulkar completes 20 years of international cricket. These twenty years can very well be divided in two halves. The first half between 1989-1999 wherein almost every time this champion batsman walked on to the crease, a 100-crore population stopped breathing. Their desires, demands and all other concepts of economics started and ended with his stay at the crease. Numbers say that for the first time in the history of Indian cricket, India touched a win-loss record of 50 per cent during this tenure. I would not say who all were the protagonists but for sure Sachin was the lead actor.
Thursday's scorecard would have made someone go back radically to the same years. It seemed Indian cricket was struck in a time-warp and not much has changed in the last twenty years for a nation where almost all feel cricket to be their own forte. It was a similar tale of Tendulkar being the one-man army belting the opposition under the most challenging circumstances. But didn't he prove what mettle he is yet again! The miracle was almost pulled off but then history repeats itself and Chennai 1999, a wound which was still green was rubbed again. Tendulkar once again got out at the threshold of a resounding win and the rest choked, falling short by three runs with two balls still to go. Then in Chennai he had left the last three wickets with 18 to get. Tonight he left them 19, script though after him didn't change for the better.
