Sachin Tendulkar being shorter than the average batsman has to look up to see the ball, and requires sightscreens to be higher than normal © AFP Enlarge
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The Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club authorities have accommodated Sachin Tendulkar's request for a higher sightscreen at the Air Force Flats End, but not without a cost. The sightscreen at the end in question is shorter than the one at the Press Block End, and usually sports two permanent advertising hoardings above it. Tendulkar is shorter than an average batsman, and he has to look up to spot the ball, and because of the angle created he is believed to have found that the sightscreen didn't completely cover his view.

On Sunday, two days before the match, Tendulkar was seen having a long chat with Anurudda Polonowita, the curator, gesturing towards the sightscreen, and pointing towards the height issue. The next day MS Dhoni explained why Tendulkar wanted the height of the sightscreen increased.

"We have requested the screen to be increased in height," Dhoni said, "because Sachin is quite short and when you have a taller bowler bowling to him at an angle, at times the hand crosses the sight screen. We have requested before the game so that no complications arise later."

No complications arose as far as the game is concerned. By 7.30pm, the sightscreen had grown up by about 15 feet. "We did it like that," said Tone Perera, CEO of Tamil Union, snapping his fingers. "We were under pressure because the match referee had asked us for this."

Other senior club officials, though, had to suppress their disappointment at financial losses that covering the hoardings would incur. The hoardings advertised a bank and a milk product company. The bank sponsors the club team too, which according to the officials, is a main source of their revenue. The officials said that the sightscreen had always been similar and no one had made such a request until Tendulkar did.

Tendulkar, though, is known to be a perfectionist when it comes to everything around his batting. More famous among his requests for sightscreen heights to be increased are Mohali, 2005 and Karachi, 2006. In an unrelated chat, on the eve of his becoming the most capped Test player in the world, Tendulkar spoke about his preparations. Even during the SSC Test, where he scored a Test-saving double-century, Tendulkar asked for advertisements above the sightscreen to be covered.

"I am not saying cricket is simple, but everything around it, if you keep simple, it becomes relatively easy," Tendulkar said. "For that, the pre-match preparation is extremely important. In that factor, I feel I have always been prepared. Sometimes I was able to achieve results, sometimes I wasn't, but my preparations were always there."