The Billion hearts skipped their beat as the batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar missed his 100th international ton at Wankhade stadium in his home town Mumbai.
But, the devotees of the “God of Cricket” can draw comfort from the fact that the batting maestro sets a record even when he misses a record!
This was the 24th time that Sachin got out in nineties, a record in itself! He could have surpassed the “century of centuries” milestone long back if he had not succumbed to the nervous nineties. But then,
as Australian cricketer and former Indian coach Greg Chappel says, no other player in the world carries so much burden of expectations on his shoulders.
Every time Sachin goes out to bat, the billion-strong nation expects him to put up a big score and set new records. It is as if the nation seeks re-assurance of its identity whenever he pads up for a game.
There was a collective sigh of despair among the home crowd as Sachin was dismissed for 94 on day four of the third test against West Indies. The Nervous Nineties got better of him as he mistimed a ball
from Ravi Rampaul and West Indies skipper Darren Sammy made no mistakein the second slip in catching the ball.
Thus ended yet another campaign by the Indian legend to reach the ultimate summit where no batsman in the history of cricket hasreached. Already, he is the first player in the history to score over
15,000 runs in Test cricket.
He has so far scored 51 centuries in tests and 48 in one-dayers. He recorded his 99th century in March during the 50-over World Cup. Perhaps the most complete batsman and the most worshipped cricketer in the world, Sachin holds just about every batting record worth owning in the game, including those for most runs and hundreds in Tests and ODIs, and most international runs.
The best compliment for Sachin came from Sir Donald Bradman, the greatest cricketer ever. Don had confided in his wife that Sachin’s batting reminded him of himself!
Following were the occasions when Sachin was dismissed in his 90s:
Test matches:
94 vs West Indies at Wankhede (Nov 2011)
91 vs England at The Oval (Aug 2011)
98 vs Australia at Mohali (2010)
97 vs South Africa at Mumbai (2000)
96 vs Sri Lanka at Bangalore (1994)
94 vs Pakistan at Mohali (2005)
92 vs West Indies at Barbados (1997)
92 vs England at Trent Bridge (1994)
91 vs England at Trent Bridge (2007)
90 vs England at Bangalore (2001)
One Day Internationals:
90 vs Australia at Mumbai (27 Feb 1996)
91 vs Australia at Brisbane (4 March 2008)
91 vs England at Sharjah (11 Dec 1997)
99 vs England at Bristol (24 Aug 2007)
94 vs England at The Oval (5 Sep 2007)
95 vs Pakistan at Dhaka (14 Jan 1998)
93 vs Pakistan at Hobart (21 Jan 2000)
98 vs Pakistan at The Centurion (1 Mar 2003)
95 vs Pakistan at Lahore (13 Feb 2006)
99 vs Pakistan at Mohali (8 Nov 2007)
97 vs Pakistan at Gwalior (15 Nov 2007)
93 vs South Africa at Nagpur (19 Mar 2000)
99 vs South Africa at Belfast (26 Jun 2007)
93 vs South Africa at Belfast (29 Jun 2007)
93 vs Sri Lanka at Dhaka (1 Jun 2000)
97 vs Sri Lanka at Johannesburg (10 Mar 2003)
93 vs Sri Lanka at Nagpur (25 Oct 2005)
96 vs Sri Lanka at Cuttack (21 Dec 2009)
