Which Side of the Master Will We See?

Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde? Which side of The Little Master are we going to see this Test series?

He enthralled in the One Day arena, smashing the Kiwis to all parts of the ground, getting three decent innings under his belt. But is that the sign of things to come in the Test series commencing in a little over13 hours’ time? Not necessarily.

Mr. Hyde is of course the devil I do not want to see. I don’t want to see Sach grind and struggle his way to a fifty. It’s Dr. Jekyll, the real Tendulkar, smashing the unsuspecting Kiwis (whose main focus is going to be Virender Sehwag) to all corners that I want to see. Saw a big bit of Jekyll in the ODIs.

But his approach towards his last few Test series leaves me with mixed feelings and great degree of anticipation. Indeed it is one of the big mysteries of the series yet to be unfolded: Which Tendulkar will we see?

One of his finest Test series in recent times came Down Under too not that long ago. The 2007-08 tour of Australia to be precise. He was his natural flowing self, striking at well over seventy runs per hundred balls in most of his big innings. He didn’t think twice before launching into Brad Hogg, or upper cutting the likes of Johnson and Lee.

Rewind to the tour of England a few months before that, though, and you see a different batsman all together. 

In the swinging conditions of the isle (which are very similar to the conditions in New Zealand) we saw a very cautious man, one willing to prod and scratch his way to big scores, while those around him scored more fluidly, most noticeably Sourav Ganguly in the final Test. 

The performances in the series prompted the likes of Michael Atherton and Ian Chappell to write (premature) obituaries of "the Tendulkar we once knew." “Just a comic book hero,” are words that will still strike a chord with Tendulkar fans.

Despite proving both these pundits wrong, there is fear, mostly in the area between my two ear lobes, that the humid conditions, coupled with bright green pitches might trigger a cautious Sachin, the Mr. Hyde, into action.

Of course, it would almost certainly be because the entire top order would have collapsed leaving Sachin batting with Harbhajan Singh by Tea.

Well, fingers crossed! Let the real cricket begin.