'The supreme right-hander on the planet'
We round up the best of the web on Tendulkar - the batsman and bowler
05-Nov-2013
Tendulkar averaged over 95.25 in first-class matches on the 1996 tour of England • PA Photos
When South Africa were readmitted to international cricket in 1991, their first engagement was against India in Kolkata, now the venue of Sachin Tendulkar's penultimate Test. Allan Donald, then 25, took 5 for 29 on debut, including the wicket of Tendulkar for 62. In 2002, after playing his last Test, Donald recalled that match and his other famous battles with Tendulkar. He told ESPNcricinfo:
Cricketers always talk about his amazing balance, even the Aussies. I've seen tapes of Sunil Gavaskar and if you split the screen between him and Tendulkar, they look virtually identical. I have never seen a man with such immaculate balance - it is freakish…
… Your margin for error against him really is marginal. If you get him on a flat track, when he is, say, 50 not out off 24 balls, then you know that you have a very long day ahead and the situation can be very, very demoralising. The best knock I can remember him playing was at Newlands in 1997, when he was just unstoppable. We only got him thanks to a blinding catch by Adam Bacher off a hook shot, otherwise he would have gone on and on.
Under Hansie Cronje we studied hard for a Tendulkar weakness. We thought he might be vulnerable, especially early in his innings, to the ball that is bowled from wide of the crease, coming back in off a good length. He might then be bowled through the gate, or be lbw, especially on English wickets. We also tried peppering him with short balls - not many top-class batters like that - but it didn't really seem to bother him. The one thing that might rattle him is being restricted. He loves scoring, and scoring quickly, and if he is frustrated, sometimes he goes out and looks for the big shot.
On his second tour of England, in 1996, Tendulkar was prolific, making 762 runs and averaging 95.25 from nine first-class matches. He made two Test hundreds, and Wisden called his 122 in the first Test at Edgbaston a "century of rare brilliance". He was named one of Wisden's Five Cricketers of the Year in 1997. The Almanack called him the "supreme right-hander on the planet".
Tendulkar averages over 50 in Tests and is the supreme right-hander, if not quite the finest batsman, on the planet. He is a focused technician, who offers a counterpoint to Brian Lara's more eye-catching destruction, fuelled on flair and ego. He has, it seems, been around for ever. In the Third Test at Trent Bridge last summer, he scored 177, the tenth century of his Test career and his second of the series: yet remarkably, at 23, Tendulkar was younger than any member of the England team, with only Dominic Cork and Min Patel born even in the same decade. His figures have been achieved despite a lack of Test cricket, particularly at home. Seven of his centuries had been scored before his 21st birthday, a unique record.
In the Hindu, Vijay Lokapally remembers Tendulkar the bowler, and the famous final over he delivered in Hero Cup semi-final in Kolkata in 1993. South Africa needed six off the last over and Mohammad Azharuddin surprisingly threw the ball to Tendulkar.
He had the option of using Kapil Dev or the wily Manoj Prabhakar. Wicketkeeper Vijay Yadav whispered into his ears, and Azharuddin looked towards Sachin Tendulkar, who jumped to grab the chance, having eagerly lurked around the group that held the discussion on the pitch.
So, Tendulkar it was to be. And, winner he emerged, the Eden a joyful theatre of wild celebrations as India squeezed home by two runs in the Hero Cup semifinal.
In the course of that over, he bowled leg-spin, off-spin, medium-pace, varied his line and innovated with length, tying up Fanie de Villiers, Brian McMillan and Allan Donald in knots.
It was an over that earned Tendulkar cult status in Kolkata. He made an entry into the collective consciousness of a nation with a reputation that grew with time and made him one of the most revered sportsmen in the country, especially in these parts.
Also read ESPNcricinfo's account of the over in the 50 Magic Moments series.
… with Vijay Yadav providing plenty of advice and encouragement from behind the stumps, Tendulkar reeled off three successive dot-balls. Donald managed to scamper a single off the penultimate delivery, and McMillan was left needing to wallop four for victory. Azhar took his time setting the field, and with the noise building to an ear-splitting crescendo, Tendulkar gambolled in. McMillan had an almighty heave but didn't connect cleanly, and though the batsmen ran a single - McMillan chastising himself furiously - it was the Indians who raised the roof.