Have you ever given it a thought that most of our first experiences – good or bad rest permanently in our sub-conscious mind.
It is not easy to forget them and the good ones are recollected vividly without missing any piece.The first birthday, the first trip, the first book, the first day of school & college, the first movie, the first crush, the first proposal, the first date, the first love and for me – my first cricket season as a fan.
When I decided to begin the first piece in the “We Miss” section of this site; I could not help but go back to my first season of viewing cricket.
The 91-92 season – started off with the Sharjah series , but what I recollect most is India’s tour Down Under.
Disaster of a tour, but a defining tour for the young lad who was only 18 years of age! We launched our site on the day this legend took birth on the cricketing field, it was only fitting that I began my post describing one of my favourite knock and undoubtedly, one of his bests knocks in the 21 years that I have seen him bat his heart out for India.
Circa – 1992 WACA Perth
Unlike in recent times where the pitch has slowed down, WACA then was notorious for its bounce and pace.
Learning my cricket from my father, I was told that India would be down and out in Perth after the disastrous performance till date on the tour. India were already 3-0 down in the 5 match series with its middle-order woefully out of form except some late retaliation by Sachin and Ravi Shastri in Sydney and Azhar in Adelaide. Perth was a the minefield that Indian batsmen had to step on, in the last match of the series.
At that time we had no cable TV; so we followed the match on radio, where I first heard my idol Harsha Bhogle narrate the match ball-by-ball.We caught up with the highlights later in the day, to revisit one of the finest knocks to be played by the young lad.
Sachin Tendulkar all of 18, riding on a fine knock of 148* in Sydney in the 3rd test walked in at 69-2. McDermott and Merv Hughes were spitting venom, well supported by Mike Whitney and Paul Reiffel, ensuring no relief for the Indian batsmen. India were reeling at 159-8 in comparison to Aus’s 346 in the first innings.
Sachin held up one end, delivering one of the best display of backfoot strokeplay. His drives in the square and cover areas, and straight down the pitch were the best anyone had seen, and the shots offered were almost orgasmic.
Imagine a 5ft4″ fella standing up on his feet and hitting the big boys all over the park. The sight can never be forgotten and remains in memory forever.
Even today if someone asks me to pick his best innings – his 114 at Perth will figure at the top of the list – not a match winning one, but one that earned him the Aussie fans for the rest of his career and proved to be a brief trailer of what lay ahead for us fans when this man would come out to bat.
I could find only one clip on YouTube of this innings. Just shows a few shots he played but good enough to tell you what the whole innings was all about.
Go watch it and tell me your memory of this inning from GOD.
