Team India made a disasterous start on the third day of the first Test in Bangalore against Aussies, with both openers Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag departing in quick succession.
Gautam Gambhir was the first man to go after Brett Lee trapped him in front of the wicket. Gambhir's lbw was the execution of a brilliant plan as before the start of the over Lee had a prolonged chat with skipper Ricky Ponting. Lee came round the wicket and seemed to gain quite a bit of swing as Gambhir fended off the first ball, but failed to do anything as the second ball struck him in front of the stumps.
Next to depart was his opening partner Virender Sehwag who edged a Mitchell Johnson delivery straight to Matthew Hayden in the slips. Sehwag was clearly in an aggressive mode as he flashed outside his off-stump but only to his peril as he fell short of yet another half-century.
Soon, local boy Rahul Dravid and Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar came to the crease hoping to steady the Indian innings. But, adding only thirteen runs, Sachin failed to create history today, as he fell prey to Mitchell Johnson stunning the large crowd gathered at the Chinnaswamy stadium.
Sachin Tendulkar was 77 runs short of surpassing Brian Lara's record of most Test runs scored. However, the Master Blaster's wait continues as he just chipped the ball to Cameroon White at short cover.
Johnson rolled his fingers over a slower one, pitching it full just outside off and Tendulkar was deceived into pushing the ball to the man brought in to that position the over before after he drove four through the covers.
Soon after Sachin's departure, VVS Laxman made his way to the crease, but did not last long as he was caught behind by Haddin, without troubling the scorers. India would have hoped for the pair of Dravid and Laxman to recreate their magic against the Aussies, but it was Mitchell Johnson again who gave yet another blow to the Indians.
Sachin 64 short of creating history
He has been the backbone of Indian cricket for decades, as he scripted many a famous win for Team India. With the fight of their lives kicking-off in a grand style, the countdown for the Little Master began, who is on the verge of creating history.
India's run machine is 64 runs away from joining the elite few and topping the chart of the highest run scorers in Test cricket and join the likes of Brian Lara, Allan Border and Steve Waugh.
However, for Sachin Tendulkar himself, it is more than just those runs. Sachin earler said, "The focus is on the series and playing well. If record comes along it will be great. I am just hoping for good outing."
It is a feat that has eluded the Master for a long time now. And the Aussies will make sure they do everything to deny the Little Master the feat. Oz skipper Ricky Ponting said, "We hope he does not surpass the record against us."
He added, "Sachin Tendulkar has been a great batsman and a true champion of the game. He is one player whom we know that we have to try and get the better off, if we have to win".
A look at the numbers and this confession from the enemy camp comes as no surprise. The Master Blaster's record agains the mighty Aussies is unmatchable with an impressive average of 56. Sachin has played 25 Test matches and has scored 2352 runs with 241 not out being the highest.
With Sourav Ganguly calling it a day and pressure mounting on the 'fab four', Tendulkar will still be itching to set the record straight.
0 comments:
Post a Comment