SACHIN Tendulkar’s sparkling 76 secured India’s five-wicket victory in the first test against West Indies on Wednesday while prolonging his agonising wait for his 100th international century.
Statistically the greatest cricketer with 33,000-plus runs in international cricket, Tendulkar, who passed 15,000 test runs on Tuesday, looked set for the triple digit mark before leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo trapped him leg before.
The 38-year-old batsman departed after a fluent 148-ball knock, studded with 10 crisp boundaries, but not before laying the foundation for a much-needed win for India, who lost their top test ranking after a 4-0 whitewash in England.
Vangipurappu Laxman (58 not out) also chipped in with a half-century as India, resuming on 152 for two wickets, chased down the 276-run victory target just after the lunch break with the loss of five wickets.
Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was named man of the match for his nine-wicket haul in his debut test, while left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha finished with seven wickets.
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was naturally delighted with the performance of the team’s relatively inexperienced bowling unit.
“It was not an easy wicket to get the batsmen out. Ojha bowled really well in the first innings and Ashwin in the second innings,” he said.
“It was not that Ashwin got a lot out of the wicket. It was his variations that helped him.”
After the close of play, West Indies captain Darren Sammy promised to salute Tendulkar when he reaches the milestone – providing it comes against another side.
Tendulkar was so keen to get to the mark that he even declined a leg bye, prompting Sammy to plot his dismissal.
“When I saw him turning down the single, I went to Bishoo and told him ‘let’s try to go round the wicket and force him to sweep off the rough’.
“But Bishoo asked to give him two more balls from over the wicket and he got him out! Sachin really wanted to get the hundred but unfortunately for him…
India will travel to Australia in December for four Tests, to be followed by two Twenty20 Internationals and a tri-series also involving Sri Lanka.
