Bow to a true champion and entertainer

The entire stadium was on tenterhooks, triggered by nervous anticipation of imminent history, but the man on the verge of creating history himself was the calmest, his tired but sharp mind ticking over with the precision of a Swiss watch.

It isn’t often that Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s brutal dismissal of a cricket ball is greeted with gasps of disappointment. If it was at the Captain Roop Singh stadium on Wednesday, it was because he was denying Sachin Tendulkar the strike, and therefore delaying his progress to the first double century in limited-overs history. Tendulkar himself was unflustered. Clearly, he had worked out the equation. There were plenty of deliveries left, all he needed was one run and while a monumental individual milestone beckoned, it was equally crucial to pile up team runs on a flat track and a small ground with the added possibility of dew thrown in. Having chugged along to 199 in the 48th over, Tendulkar was off strike for ten straight deliveries as Dhoni opened his shoulders and cut loose. Indeed, when Charl Langeveldt started the final over of the innings, Dhoni smashed the first ball for six, and was instantly chided by a strong gathering for whom, at least at that point, one individual was more important than the whole team. The Indian skipper quickly worked the second ball for a single and handed over the strike to Tendulkar. The buzz around the ground gathered into a deafening crescendo as Langeveldt hit the bowling crease, and when the little man deftly steered the ball towards point and scampered to an Everestesque single, the stadium erupted in undiluted joy, unadulterated celebration and unalloyed appreciation as one-day hundred number 46 became double hundred number one. Ever. There wasn’t one person at the ground who wasn’t on his feet. The spontaneous roars and the standing ovation from the stands were matched by scenes of delight and pride in the dressing room, coach Gary Kirsten and his wards lining up to acknowledge another stirring feat from the modern master with an eye – and skills -- for the extraordinary. Through it all, the man at the centre of the adulation removed inscrutable. There was no outlandish outpouring of emotion, no pumping of fists, no jumping about like an excited, excitable teenager. What there was, was a gentle and quiet acknowledgement of the appreciation of his genius as he whipped off his helmet, looked skywards in thanksgiving and threw his hands up in the air. The limited-overs game, they keep telling us, is increasingly becoming a young man’s domain. Fresh legs is the mantra but obviously, Tendulkar hasn’t heard all that. He is two months shy of his 37th birthday, and this was his 442nd one-day international, in addition to a mind-boggling 166 Test matches. 93 international hundreds and counting. Just when you think you have seen it all, Tendulkar keeps showing you new facets and exploring new territories. What an entertainer! What a champion! Runs Balls vs Venue Year 200* 147 S Africa Gwalior 2010 186* 150 N Zealand Hyderabad 1999 175 141 Australia Hyderabad 2009 163* 133 N Zealand Christchurch 2009 152 151 Namibia Pietermaritzburg 2003