Until Steve Bucknor, who has gradually assumed the role of a Prince of Darkness in the Sachin Tendulkar story, extinguished the lights, the master was proceeding resolutely towards what might have been a career-defining innings

For many Indians, he remains the cherub-faced boy who refused to be bullied by the fearsome pace of Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram, and the guileful menace of Imran Khan

For many Indians, he remains the cherub-faced boy who refused to be bullied by the fearsome pace of Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram, and the guileful menace of Imran Khan

An outstanding 109 from Kamran Akmal and a dogged 71 from Abdul Razzaq ensured that Pakistan saved the first Test at Mohali

Inzamam-ul-Haq and Yousuf Youhana produced defiant and beautiful innings, while Asim Kamal reprised his first-innings heroics with an assured 48, but by the end of the fourth day, Pakistan were still staring at an ignominious defeat, 53 runs ahead

Virender Sehwag's thrilling 173 gave India the ideal platform to bat Pakistan out of this Test match, but those that followed him showed a strange reluctance to put the boot in, as Pakistan's bowlers - led most admirably by the tireless Danish

Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir lit up a grey Mohali afternoon with some iridescent strokeplay as India made a mockery of conditions that appeared to be tailormade for swing bowling

Asim Kamal's gutsy knock of 91, after India's mediumpace bowlers had accounted for the top order, helped Pakistan to 312 before they were knocked over by India

A year on from an epochal Test series across the border, India and Pakistan will commence the latest episode of the most storied rivalry in all of sport

A dour series characterised by safety-first tactics and lack of initiative exploded into life on a Chinnaswamy Stadium pitch that might have been prepared by Pol Pot's henchmen rather than a curator

One of the most abused clichés in sport is the one about the game, ratherthan a team or individual, being the winner

Almost two decades later, Javed Miandad, the scrapper who knew not how to throw in the towel, would confess to having almost done just that

Almost two decades later, Javed Miandad, the scrapper who knew not how to throw in the towel, would confess to having almost done just that

But for the Apartheid-era isolation, Ray Jennings would probably be remembered as one of the world's great wicketkeepers

Indian cricket took in more peaks and troughs than the average submersible on the sea-bed in 2004

Nayan Mongia, the former Indian Test wicketkeeper, has announced his retirement after being dropped by Baroda

To say that taking runs off Bangladesh is as facile as misappropriating a toddler's candy is to seriously underestimate a little one's resolve

There's a macabre inevitability to the Bangladeshi batting that reminds you of the trashy tomato-ketchup-and-spray-paint Friday the 13th movies

Like Sunil Gavaskar, his predecessor as the holder of India's batting flame, it took Sachin Tendulkar just 119 Test matches to notch up his 34th Test century

The mixed bag of results this home season could prove to be a spur in the long run, a gentle reminder to the team that though much distance has been traversed, there are many more miles to go