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23THE HINDU SATURDAY, MARCH 17, 2012CHENNAI SPORT

The 100th century was noth-ing but a number for him.

He never chased it but some ofhis critics did, using it as a plat-form to question his credibilityand commitment, forgettingthe longevity factor that markshis cricket journey. Quite char-acteristically, Sachin Tendul-kar allowed critics to have theirsay and let his bat, which hadbeen mute for some time, dothe talking.

True, it took him 24 innings,after the majestic 111 againstSouth Africa at Nagpur in thelast World Cup, to reach thatcoveted mark, but then he hadcome close on a few occasions.

Destiny?The 85 at Mohali against Pa-

kistan in the World Cup and the94 against the West Indies inthe Test at Mumbai almost car-ried him to that summit. But hewas destined to achieve it inBangladesh.

A little nudge and a con-trolled reaction, a poignantlook at the sky said it all. He wasready for the moment and didnot allow it to weigh him downwith emotions. His Test best(248 not out) is also against thesame team but Friday’s knockwas only his first ODI centuryagainst Bangladesh.

Sachin will be 39 in a littleover a month from now, but itwill be hard to find a cricketmind as young as this genius.Virat Kohli, his partner at Mir-pur during the maestro’s marchto the grand peak, was a yearand 10 days old when Sachinmade his debut at Karachi in1989, and Suresh Raina merelythree. The hostile conditions ofthat contest in Pakistan con-tributed towards making himone of the most resilient andconsistent performers thegame has ever seen.

Respects his fansHis popularity stems from

his desire to show respect to hisfans, especially the younger lot.On one occasion, at The TajPalace in Delhi, the local man-ager, a former Delhi first-classcricketer, brought some 30 kids

unannounced to Sachin’s room.We were in the middle of a din-ner when the kids rang the bell.Sachin, though caught un-awares, kept his annoyance tohimself. He coolly placed achair in the middle of his roomand invited the children in, re-questing them to do so in a dis-ciplined manner.

A queue was formed in aflash. A cute little boy, who washardly six, caught his attention.Sachin then took his time,wrote the boy’s name, drew asmiley and patted him.

The session lasted a good 20minutes and the children werevery thrilled. “I could have saidno to the manager, but the kidswould have got a poor impres-sion of a cricketer,” Sachin ex-plained later.

Sachin is worshipped bysome of his fans, but the playerhimself does not like this kindof adulation. “I am not God,” hehas said repeatedly. “I am acricketer.”

Measured responsesIn fact, he is so measured in

his responses that he does notoften come across as a greatsubject for an interview. He is

circumspect simply because hedoes not want to hurt anyone.Even in the Greg Chappell epi-sode, he had told this corre-spondent, “If he has said that(criticism) then I am hurt.” Theemphasis was on the “if” andSachin insisted it was not to bemissed.

Watching Sachin in full flowis a great experience. He has anamazing ability to read thebowler’s mind. Above all, he re-mains humble.

He would keep his sorrows tohimself and weep in solitudeafter a shattering loss, as he be-lieves that personal sufferingand pain should not be passedon to his colleagues. However,when celebrating a victory, hewants every member of theteam to join in the merriment.Sachin treats grief and joy dif-ferently. Tears for himself; joyfor the rest!

Glum nightThat glum night in 1997 at a

resort in Barbados is still vivid.India had lost to the West In-dies and Sachin was grieving inhis room. He was in tears andhis wife (Anjali) sat speechless.

Sachin’s anguish needed no

further proof. He didn’t speakfor a long time. He found it hardto believe that India had lost.Many thoughts crossed hismind — Was he not a good cap-tain? Was his team really in-ferior?

Sachin just couldn’t compre-hend the reasons for the devas-tating defeat. However, he hadthe grace to invite this corre-spondent for dinner, but Ididn’t have the heart for it.

A few days later, India againlost a one-day match at St. Vin-cent from a winning position.This time Sachin was livid, andit was a sight to see the teamdisappear from the dining areaas the Little Master emergedfrom his room on the first floor.He did not speak to any of hiscolleagues for two days.

Sachin did not blame anyonefor the defeats — he never has.He may have lost his cool a fewtimes on the field but not to theextent of hurting someone orinviting censure. He oncelashed out at V.V.S. Laxman inSharjah for responding slowlyto a call. Laxman laughs heart-ily even to this day whenever herecalls the occasion. “That wasthe only time I heard him use

Tendulkar — poetry in motionVijay Lokapally

WHEN IT ALL BEGAN… Sachin Tendulkar walks back after his maiden Testhundred against England at Old Trafford in 1990. — PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES

cuss words,” said Laxman of theincident.

Makes no excusesSachin doesn’t believe in

making excuses. Instead hestrives to correct his mistakes,and that is the secret of his suc-cess. His philosophy has alwaysbeen: “Why should I gift mywicket? The bowler must earnit.”

However, he once gifted hiswicket to Saqlain Mushtaq, inChennai in 1999, and India lostthe Test. This after Sunil Ga-vaskar had warned him not toplay the lofted shot against thewily Pakistan spinner. That dis-missal still haunts Sachin.

A private person, he is at hisbest in the company of cricket-ers. He will never miss a young-ster reaching a milestone,taking his place in the balconyof the dressing room, applaud-ing from his heart. He can joke,sing and indulge in pranks, justas any other member of theteam.

He can cook for the team,sometimes winning the heart ofthe chef, like once in Bulawayowhen he treated the team tosteaks. At heart, he remains acricketer.

Importance of Test tonHe knows the importance of

a Test century. He also knowshow it is different from an ODIhundred. A Test century iscrafted but in ODIs it happensdue to many factors.

He would not trade his bestone-day century with his worstin Tests. It is, as he once confid-ed, best left to the critics. ForSachin, a winning effort on thefield counts. Statistics form apart of the game but do not al-ways reflect the best and theworst.

Most cricket followers wouldtell you: “It’s difficult to imag-ine Indian cricket without Sa-chin.”

True, Indian cricket will notbe the same once he decides tohang up his boots. But untilthen, let us bask in the glory ofSachin, the rightful master of100 international centuries —51 in Tests and 49 inone-dayers.

DHAKA: A peak was scaled, along wait fulfilled and a glori-ous chapter was added to crick-eting lore at a packedSher-e-Bangla National Stadi-um, here on Friday.

Sachin Tendulkar’s love af-fair with international hun-dreds, which began with anunbeaten 119 against Englandat Manchester in August 1990,registered an immense statisti-cal high under the warm Dhakaskies. The maestro’s 100th cen-tury in the global arena — 51 inTests, 49 in ODIs — struckagainst Bangladesh will remaina benchmark that will hold bat-smen in awe much like Sir DonBradman’s Test average of99.94.

The momentA single off Shakib Al Hasan

at 5.05 p.m. local time led to areverberation of applause andthe familiar gestures of bat

raised to the skies, the whis-pered ‘thanks’ to his late fatherand a measured smile as Ten-dulkar allowed the moment tosink in. There may have beenmoments of doubt and prob-ably the silent prayer on 51 and89, but the stumping and run-out spectres were overcomeand destiny was on his side.

The century-drought, spreadover a year since the 111 againstSouth Africa at Nagpur and 33innings across England, Indiaand Australia, was finally over.He was eventually dismissedfor 114.

It is a hundred that may nothave the audacity of his 114 atPerth in 1992, the pathos of a136 against Pakistan at Chennaiin 1999, the menace of those‘Desert Storm’ tons againstAustralia at Sharjah in 1998, thesingular monkish zeal of notplaying a cover-drive in thatunbeaten 241 at Sydney in 2004or the ‘fire-is-still-burning’match-winning unbeaten 103

against England at Chennai in2008, but as a culmination of anincredible journey since 1989,this ton will be savouredforever.

On a 25th anniversaryFittingly, it came a week af-

ter the 25th anniversary of an-other peak being scaled in theannals of cricket and the manwho scripted that moment wasbeaming inside the commen-tary box.

In 1987, Sunil Gavaskar’s latecut off Pakistan’s Ijaz Fakih atAhmedabad helped him be-come the first player to score10,000 Test runs and it is fittingthat his successor from theMumbai school of batsmanshipis extending that legacy of bust-ing numbers.

When Tendulkar scored hisfirst century at Manchester, Vi-rat Kohli was a toddler in Delhi.Tendulkar has also battedagainst Paul Reiffel, the Austra-lian fast bowler. On Thursday,

Kohli was a key partner forTendulkar and Reiffel was oneof the on-field umpires, andthat tells a tale of how long the38-year-old has lasted, over-coming the ravages of time, in-juries and the odd dips in form.

In these days of excessivecricket cutting across three for-mats, it remains to be seen ifany other batsman can last aslong as Tendulkar has, alongwith the consistency and long-evity, despite his recent travailsin Australia.

When he started out, Ten-dulkar’s tons were the consola-tion balms amidst India’slosses. And now, as he stridesinto his twilight zone, thisknock comes at a time when thebackdrop is littered with lossesin England and Australia. Lifehas indeed come a full circle forhim, but he continues in hisown ways, oblivious to the out-side world, wearing that helmetwith the tricolour and keepingbowlers on tenterhooks.

The long wait ends… forthe Master and his fans K.C. Vijaya Kumar

COMPILED BY MOHANDAS MENON; GRAPHICS: R. RAVIKANNAN

CHENNAI: K.V. Gunasekar’spenalty strike helped bottomplaced team Chennai FC upsetSAI 1-0 in the St Joseph’s CFAsenior division football leaguematch on Friday.

Earlier in a first divisionmatch Universal and ChennaiCity Police played out a goal-less draw.

Saturday’s senior divisionmatch between TN State Po-lice and RPF stands cancelled.

Vatnani shocks KothariAt Erode, Lucky Vatnani of

Andhra Pradesh shockedPSPB’s Sourav Kothari 4-1 in apre-quarterfinal match of theJustice Sivasubramaniam me-morial all-India invitationsnooker tournament onFriday.

Even as Vatnani called theshots over his opponent, Sha-baz Adil Khan of PSPB record-ed the highest break (112) ofthe tournament. It came in thefinal frame against Faisal Khanof RSPB. Faisal did makethings a little bit difficult forShabaz midway through, butthe latter kept his nerve to win4-2.

In the other pre-quarterfinalclashes, Varun Kumar of TamilNadu pulled off a surprise 4-2win over strong contender Ra-ju Jagtiani of West Bengal,while Girish of MIG Clubcoasted to a 3-1 victory over

Vijay Nichani.The results: Pre-quarterfinals:

Aditya Mehta (PSPB) bt Girish (MIG)4-1; Lucky Vatnani (AP) bt SouravKothari (PSPB) 4-1; J. Varun Kumar(TN) bt Raju Jagtiani (WB) 4-2; ManishJain (WB) bt Rajat Kaneha (Chh) 4-3;Divya Sharma (Har) bt Balaji Reddy(Kar) 4-2; Shabaz Adil Khan (PSPB) btFaisal Khan 4-2.

ICF posts winAt Chennai, ICF defeated

host Southern Railway 21-29,29-24, 29-20 on Friday in theall-India Railway ball badmin-ton championship here.

Other results: Western bt SouthCentral 12-29,29-24,29-17; SouthEastern lost to East Coast 25-29,17-29; Western bt South Eastern 29-15,29-21; East Coast bt South Central29-24, 27-29, 29-16.

ETC-A tops groupETC-A beat Indira Nagar-A

and NTC-C by identical 2-1margins to top Group ‘A’, whileMCC ‘B’ beat Cosmo-A andPresidency-A 2-1 to remain un-beaten in Group ‘B’ in the San-mar TNTA league here.

The results: Group ‘A’: ETC-A btNTC-C 2-1; ETC-A bt Indira Nagar-A2-1; Indira Nagar-A bt Gandhinagar-A2-1; Ransa A bt NTC-C 2-1; IndiraNagar-A bt Ransa A 3-0.

Group B: Madras Club-A bt YMCAKIL-A 2-1; MCC-B bt Cosmo-A 2-1;MCC-B bt Presidency ‘A’ 2-1.

GENERAL

Chennai FC upsets SAI

Cricket: TNCA I div. league, 11thround, second day, Aruna vs. GlobeTrotters (MRF-Pach ‘A’), Vijay vs.Falcon (RKM-Viveka), India Pistons vs.Grand Slam (CPT-IP, Turf), ICF vs.IOB (ICF), Indian Bank vs. Jolly Rovers(IIT-Chemplast), UFCC (T. Nagar) vs.Young Stars (SRMC, Turf), 9.30 a.m.. ;V div. ‘B’, Milkyway vs. Tiger (AM Jain‘A’), Shivaji vs. Grand Prix (Areva T&D‘A’), Nelson vs. St. Mary’s (UniversityUnion), Chennai P&T Audit vs. ICI(SRMC-MAT), Nungambakkam vs.Ranji (Areva T&D ‘B’), Amar vs. YouthCentre (MIT), 9.30 a.m.; India-Pakistanbilateral series for blind, valedictoryfunction, Vishal, Actor, chief guest,SPIC YMCA grounds, Nandamnam, 3p.m.; Prince of Arcot tournament, 8a.m. & 1 p.m., Amir Mahal.

Football: St. Joseph’s-CFA league,1st div., DBYC Kilpauk vs. SC-STEDSVyasarpadi, Nehru Stadium, 2.45 p.m.

ENGAGEMENTS

CHENNAI: Left-arm spinners R.Raguram of UFCC and RahilShah of Vijay bagged six-wickethauls on the first day of the 11thand final round of the TNCAfirst-division cricket league.

Raguram took six for 35,while V. Subramania Siva re-sisted with a 98-ball 71 n.o.(9x4, 1x6), but Young Starscould make only 147.

Rahil (six for 72) was instru-mental in Vijay dismissing Fal-con for 262 at RKM-Viveka.

Wicketkeeper M. Kamalesh(63) and all-rounder K. Sriram(81 n.o.) contributed half-cen-turies for Falcon.

Grand Slam and Jolly Roversrequired recovery acts in theirmatches after top-order col-lapses. Grand Slam was on 117for five against India Pistonsbefore captain Hemang Badani(48) and wicketkeeper R. Rohit(84 batting) added 111.

J. Gowjith Subhash (64) andN. Ajay Kudua (94 batting)steadied matters after IndianBank’s left-arm seamer V. Raji-nikant had rattled Rovers withthree early wickets. X. Thalai-van Sargunam’s 77 at the tophelped Globe Trotters score258 for nine against Aruna.

The scores (11th round, dayone): At SRMC (turf): Young Stars147 in 52.5 overs (V. Subramania Siva

71 n.o., R. Raguram six for 35) vsUFCC (T. Nagar) 103 for four in 37overs (M.K. Sivakumar 41). At RKM-Viveka: Falcon 262 in 86 overs (M.Kamalesh 63, K. Sriram 81 n.o., RahilShah six for 72) vs Vijay one for noloss in one over. At MRF-Pachaiyap-pa’s: Globe Trotters 258 for nine in 99overs (X. Thalaivan Sargunam 77, P.Sakthi four for 64) vs Aruna. At IIT-Chemplast: Jolly Rovers 189 for fivein 90 overs (J. Gowjith Subhash 64, N.Ajay Kudua 94 batting) vs Indian Bank.At CPT-IP: Grand Slam 292 for six in90 overs (Hemang Badani 48, R. Rohit84 batting, M. Ashwin four for 55) vsIndia Pistons. At ICF: IOB 266 forseven in 90 overs (D. Pramod Doss60, Robert Fernandez 54, R. RajeshKumar 61 batting, S. Padmanabanfive for 98) vs ICF. Vinoth shines

K. Vinoth Kumar (84) helpedDRBCC Hindu defeat Jaya Artsand Science by 38 runs and en-ter the final of the TDCA-inter-collegiate T20 tournament.

The scores: DRBCC Hindu Col-lege 169 for six in 20 overs (K. VinothKumar 84, M.S. Sudheesh 29, Mani-kandan three for 19) bt Jaya Arts andScience College 131 in 19.3 overs (R.Rajkumar 42, R. Mohan 42, J. Pra-soon Kumar four for 18); St. Peter’sEC 131 in 19.2 overs (S. Rohit Srivat-sava 61) lost to Jaya EC 132 for two in18.4 overs (M. Vimal Kumar 50, C.Chandrasekar 36).

Six-wicket hauls forRaguram and Rahil

The Union Budget for2012-13 has allocated Rs. 741crore for sports, an an increaseof Rs. 41 crore over the budgetestimate of last year and a hikeof Rs. 132 crore over the revisedestimate. Of that, SAI has beenallocated Rs. 288 crore.

VERY BRIEFLY

TH Chennai/ CITY Sports_02 User: cokrs 03-17-2012 00:20 Color: CMYK