When the pressure situation gets to the batsman

There is many a slip between the cup and the lip, goes the saying. In cricket, there is many a slip between 217 and 236 as Sachin Tendulkar will testify. Even as the crowd egged him on, and even as he had the target clearly in mind, Tendulkar played a perfectly executed pull shot off a short ball from Vettori and even as eyes raced to the boundary, the flow of the ball was suddenly arrested by an outstanding effort by Dion Nash at mid wicket, who dived low down to his left and plucked the speeding ball from the air. A great catch ended a great innings. Tendulkar was stupefied. He is not known to be a person who betrays his emotions in public. But whether it was because of the incredible catch or because he felt disappointed at missing out on a mark he had obviously set himself up to conquer, Tendulkar seemed loath to leave the crease and it was only after a few seconds that he headed for the pavilion.

Even as Tendulkar reached his first double century in Tests at Ahmedabad shortly before tea on the second day of the third Test against New Zealand on Saturday, the conversation drifted to the Indian captain getting past Sunil Gavaskar's record Indian score, made against West Indies at Chennai 16 years ago. Run by run, he got nearer to the all important landmark until only the top ten scores between Sanjay Manjrekar's 218 and Gavaskar's 236 not out remained to be conquered. And then came Nash's acrobatic act that suddenly terminated an innings that held promise of going on and on. The agony of the crowd was there for all to see, even though they recovered their composure to give him a standing ovation. And Tendulkar, though he did his best not to show it, must have been very disappointed.

Ever since Gavaskar scored that unbeaten 236, at least three times there have been instances when it has been a case of so near and so far for an Indian batsman. In 1989 against Pakistan, Sanjay Manjrekar, one of the most technically equipped batsmen and certainly not one to throw away his wicket at any time, built his innings, run by run, brick by brick and got to 218. So assured, so correct was his batting, and so perfect was the pitch that nothing it seemed would prevent the 24-year-old son of master technican Vijay Manjrekar from going past Gavaskar's record. He had come in when the score was one for one in the second over and a second wicket fell at 5. But Manjrekar was associated in century stands first for the third wicket with M.Azharuddin (77) and then for the fourth wicket with Ravi Shastri (61). By this time Manjrekar had reached his double hundred and there was already talk of him getting past Gavaskar. In the company of Manoj Prabhakar he edged towards the all important mark before his stay at the crease was ended at 218 - by a run out. Manjrekar batted 511 minutes, faced 401 balls and hit 28 fours. But he fell short by 19 runs and about the only consolation he had was that his score was the highest by an Indian against Pakistan.

It was not until 1993 when Gavaskar's record came under threat again. In the third Test against England at Mumbai, Vinod Kambli playing in only his third Test, was at his dazzling best. The 21-year-old left hander flayed the England bowling to reach first 100, then 200. In the process he and school chum Sachin Tendulkar (78) shared a third wicket stand of 194 runs. Naturally enough, chief interest now lay in whether he could go past 236. Kambli was not as technically proficient as Sanjay Manjrekar but had the ability to play free flowing strokes and overhaul Gavaskar's record in a matter of minutes. Excitement grew to fever pitch as Kambli crossed 220. Surely it was now only a matter of time. And yet when 224, he was caught by Gatting off Lewis. Kambli who had come in at 109 for one, was eighth out at 563. He had batted nearly ten hours, faced 411 balls and hit 23 fours. Only eleven players scored more in their maiden Test century and it was the highest score ever for India against England. But the all important mark eluded him.

Missing one chance was disappointing enough. But within a month - in the following Test match in fact - Kambli was to get another opportunity to overhaul Gavaskar. At New Delhi in the off one Test match against Zimbabwe, Kambli was again at his daring best. Coming in at 19 for one, he shared century stands for the second wicket with Sidhu (61), for the third wicket with Tendulkar (62) and for the fourth wicket with Azharuddin (42). Joined by a fourth parnter Amre, Kambli proceeded past 200 and at the end of the second day, was unbeaten with 207. He had already emulated Bradman and Hammond as the only others to have scored double centuries in successive Test innings.

All over the country, cricket fans had only one obvious topic for discussion. Surely, he could not miss a second chance at getting past Gavaskar. Kambli must have been under some pressure, being just 30 runs away from surpassing the all important figure of 236. He got past 210, went to 220, surpassed the 224 he got in his previous Test against England. But again the all important mark eluded him. For at 434, with his score on 227, he gave a return catch to that crafty veteran Traicos. And Gavaskar's record had to wait for a future challenger.

One wonders the pressure really gets to the batsmen in these circumstances. Even Vinoo Mankad's 231, which stood as a record for 28 years till Gavaskar surpassed it, came close to being obliterated on a few occasions. At Port of Spain in 1971, Gavaskar got 220 before, after over eight hours at the crease, he was bowled by Shephard. At the Oval in 1979, Gavaskar got to 221 in 490 minutes before he was caught by Gower off Botham. And at Chennai in 1982, Gundappa Viswanath batted 10-1/2 hours for 222 before he was bowled by Willis. Ultimately - and some would say fittingly - it was left to Gavaskar, who took 644 minutes for 236 not out to set the new mark. That it was his 30th Test century - surpassing Bradman's long standing record of 29 hundreds - gave his knock the complete story book finish.

If anything, the pressure situation is not confined to Indian batsmen. Probably the most famous recent instance of a batsman succumbing to the pressure over overhauling a famous record is Sanath Jayasuriya's. Against India at Colombo in 1997, he was batting on 326 on the fourth evening. The whole cricketing world it seemed had eyes only for him on the fifth morning. Would he get the 50 runs needed to break Brian Lara's world Test record? The pressure took its toll and and the Sri Lankan left hander, after batting for well over two days, succumbed with his score on 340.