Tendulkar's best 100?

[honestbharani]

It may not go down in the books as a great innings because it was a bore draw on a pretty flat wicket but I thought Tendulkar's 200 this year at the SSC was a very good and crucial knock in the context of the series.. just to get some momentum going our way in a series that SL were completely dominating at that stage. Remember we were still 400+ behind and 4 wickets down and the threat of follow-on was very much present.

It was a knock which should his resoluteness, for me.. Comparable to the 241 in Sydney...

 

[Cevno]

lol.. what I meant was that he had more than enough support to get to his 100 and to get within striking distance of the deficit so that RSA could at least bat again.. Bad example to show for an innings played with no support.. The Perth knock that I am talking about or the 116 in Melbourne are a much better illustration.

And what would have that achieved? Nothing.

He was still not out in the end and if he had more support he could have saved the match ,not just made to bat them again.

 

[Cevno]

If you haven't seen it, don't say it.. I watched both knocks.. The chennai one live and it was NOT difficult batting there.. Difficult to score runs in, yes, to an extent but the attack with Wasim and Waqar well past their peaks and only Saqlain being threatening does not even compare to what he faced as an 18 year old in Perth.. It was a great and a gritty knock, made special more by the circumstances than for actual quality. For sheer batsmanship alone, Perth and Bloemfontein over any of his other knocks, for me... And the 116 in Melbourne was a bit of a masterclass but it was just so obviously in vain...

I did see the Chennai knock live too and also have seen highlights of the Perth Knock.

I am pretty sure the Chennai conditions were tougher to bat on and Wasim and Waqar were still pretty handy back then.
And they were not easy by any means,so i am not sure where you are getting that from.
Besides Saqlain Mustaq was at that time the best off spinner and he was bowling on a pitch which was
crumbling and aiding finger spinners like him. Even an ordinary finger spinner would have made life tough on that pitch. Saqlain was virtually unplayable.

The Perth knock was great because of the pace it was scored at,and his age plus the fact that Indian struggled there, but for me that Chennai knock was just something else and slightly better than the Perth Knock.

 

[Cevno]

lol.. 3 fifties and a 40 from the other batsmen, one of whom managed 90, juz 20 off Sachin and that counts as no support?

No it wasn't enough compared to the task they had.

Specially considering the first innings too ,where he looked the best but had no support too.

If he had more support i am sure batting just 1 and a half session more or even less would have saved the Match for India.

 

[Cevno]

yeah, juz to clarify, all things considered, I do think the Chennai knock was amongst his best... Pressure, the team being so dependant on him, his own injury and stuff made it great... The point was that I wanted to talk about his best in terms of sheer batting talent and strokemaking on display and there, I think Perth and Bloemfontein are the best..

In terms of strokeplay the 1998 series against Australia was his best -

In the first match at Chennai he made 155 not out at a strike rate of 81 -

1st Test: India v Australia at Chennai, Mar 6-10, 1998 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo


In the second match at Kolkatta he made a 79 at a strike rate of 92 .

2nd Test: India v Australia at Kolkata, Mar 18-21, 1998 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo


In the third match at bangalore he played a supreme innings of 177 out of a team total of 414 at a strike rate of 86 -

3rd Test: India v Australia at Bangalore, Mar 25-28, 1998 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo

 

[Cevno]

Another innings which probably wasn't his best but certainly deserves a mention was his first test hundred at Old Trafford in 1990 to save the match and almost win it with Manoj Prabhakar -

2nd Test: England v India at Manchester, Aug 9-14, 1990 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo

In his debut series in England, Tendulkar all of 17 years and 112 days scored a Test century at Old Trafford. The century knock staved off English efforts for a victory in the Test. At 186-6 India awaited yet another Test loss away from home, but Sachin had plans of his own. In rear-guard action that would have made the original 'little master' Sunil Gavaskar proud, the teenager pulled his team towards the safer shores of a draw. Sachin finished with an unbeaten knock of 119 runs. This was Sachin's first century and the beginning of many more.

 

[honestbharani]

No it wasn't enough compared to the task they had.

Specially considering the first innings too ,where he looked the best but had no support too.

If he had more support i am sure batting just 1 and a half session more or even less would have saved the Match for India.

Looking the best is one thing... If that is the case, there is a lot of 30s by a lot of batsmen when they have gotten out as the last specialist batsmen...


And for your other point of it achieving nothing, the same can be said of Sachin's innings then.. What did it exactly achieve for the team? NOTHING..

 

[honestbharani]

And what would have that achieved? Nothing.

He was still not out in the end and if he had more support he could have saved the match ,not just made to bat them again.

Exactly what makes you think he didn't have support in the first place? By that reckoning every guy who has made runs in the 4th innings (Yuvi's hundreds?) would have been match winning.. I mean, lets now just blame Sachin for not giving enough support to help Yuvi win the matches... This is juz stupid reasoning. IN an innings where 5 batsmen get 50+ (maybe it is 4, but Dravid had 40), it is absolutely stupid to say a batsman got NO SUPPORT.. which is what you posted.

 

[honestbharani]

I did see the Chennai knock live too and also have seen highlights of the Perth Knock.

I am pretty sure the Chennai conditions were tougher to bat on and Wasim and Waqar were still pretty handy back then.
And they were not easy by any means,so i am not sure where you are getting that from.
Besides Saqlain Mustaq was at that time the best off spinner and he was bowling on a pitch which was
crumbling and aiding finger spinners like him. Even an ordinary finger spinner would have made life tough on that pitch. Saqlain was virtually unplayable.

The Perth knock was great because of the pace it was scored at,and his age plus the fact that Indian struggled there, but for me that Chennai knock was just something else and slightly better than the Perth Knock.

Fair enough. Personally felt Waqar was something near pathetically poor in that series but to each his own

 

[subshakerz]

Fair enough. Personally felt Waqar was something near pathetically poor in that series but to each his own

True, Waqar was at his worst and simply a good new ball bowler, but Wasim was still very difficult to play, just at reduced pace. He did quite well in that series.

 

[Teja.]

In terms of pure strokeplay, I haven't seen a better knock than the famous 143 in the Sharjah ODI against Oz. God, The HLs must have been have been shown on TV a million times till 2004 or so.

 

[honestbharani]

In terms of pure strokeplay, I haven't seen a better knock than the famous 143 in the Sharjah ODI against Oz. God, The HLs must have been have been shown on TV a million times till 2004 or so.

Was this the knock that got us to the final or the one that won us the cup? Can't recall which was which but I do remember that the knock that got us to the final was just so blindingly good.. The knock in the finals was very good but not really that great.. I think Azhar got 50 odd as well and felt that we were always in control of that match, unlike the desertstorm knock.. That was a bit of a masterclass in batting in a SC ODI.

 

[Blaze 18]

143 was the one that took India to the final.

 

[robelinda]

Never understood the big deal about the Perth ton- the pitch was not fast at all and the bowling was hardly threatening or even quick. None of the Aussie bowlers were close to 140k's. Was a good innings, especially for an 18 year old, but nowhere near as good as the Joburg 1992 ton against some serious pace from Donald which he handled so easily.

 

[honestbharani]

Never understood the big deal about the Perth ton- the pitch was not fast at all and the bowling was hardly threatening or even quick. None of the Aussie bowlers were close to 140k's. Was a good innings, especially for an 18 year old, but nowhere near as good as the Joburg 1992 ton against some serious pace from Donald which he handled so easily.

Might just be because I never got to see the Jo'burg 100..


But honestly, he was so well and above his team mates in Perth that it really made this knock stand out..

 

[Furball]

Was this the knock that got us to the final or the one that won us the cup? Can't recall which was which but I do remember that the knock that got us to the final was just so blindingly good.. The knock in the finals was very good but not really that great.. I think Azhar got 50 odd as well and felt that we were always in control of that match, unlike the desertstorm knock.. That was a bit of a masterclass in batting in a SC ODI.

Ok, Sachin's good, but he can't move continents ffs.

 

[sachin200]

Rob, You have put 111 Joburg ton in youtube.. . pls do it for perth one too so that we can compare

 

[honestbharani]

Ok, Sachin's good, but he can't move continents ffs.

jeez.. read it as "SC like" if you have to.. Cant a guy be understood over here without having to type out things 100% correct..

 

[Blaze 18]

Might just be because I never got to see the Jo'burg 100..

All hail Robelinda

 

[LJMJ]

Never understood the big deal about the Perth ton- the pitch was not fast at all and the bowling was hardly threatening or even quick. None of the Aussie bowlers were close to 140k's.

Any chance you'll upload this innings, robe?