5 times Sachin Tendulkar was denied a century by part-time spinners
It is hard to argue against the fact that Sachin Tendulkar was the best batsman of his generation. The biggest evidence of his superiority was the fact that no bowler, fast or slow, was ever able to dominate him or establish an edge over him.
No matter what the conditions were, Sachin always showed the capability to score runs and do that with style. In his career, he had to battle with a long list of great bowlers – McGrath, Warne, Walsh, Ambrose, Donald, Pollock, Akram, Younis, Muralitharan, Vaas, and Steyn.
Apart from these great names, he also faced many others who were also extremely good and in today’s cricket would be regarded among the best.
Yet, none of them, or any other was able to pin down Tendulkar. He was able to score runs against all of them in all conditions. But there was one curious anomaly in his career. While he dealt with the skills and wiles of the best in the business there were occasions when he got out to innocuous part-timers.
Interestingly, most of these happened to be spinners. How do you explain the fact that a man who mastered the greatest leg-spinner of all time – Shane Warne – and seemed at ease against the greatest off-spinner – Muttiah Muralitharan – failing to part-time tweakers.
It seems even more improbable that such things would happen when he is well set. But they did happen! Maybe, when you are as good as Sachin and well-set, some complacency sets in while facing non-frontline bowlers. This is probably why, on some occasions, Sachin became a victim to these otherwise non-threatening spinners.
Here is a list of 5 occasions when Sachin was denied a hundred by part-time tweakers.
By Mark Waugh (1996 World Cup)
Sachin looked in fluent touch before being dismissed by Mark Waugh
Sachin was ruling the world of batting when the 1996 World Cup came around. Almost every match saw him produce a good inning. In a round-robin game against the eventual runners-up Australia at Mumbai, Sachin was in full flow again.
India were given a target of 259 to chase under lights. Tendulkar was batting imperiously and playing breathtaking strokes. Bowlers such as McGrath, Fleming, and Warne were bearing the brunt of these stunning shots.
14 fours and one six came off the bat of Tendulkar, peppering every part of the outfield. Sachin raced to his fifty and looked all set to score a hundred and was at 90 off just 84 balls. Australia had, by then, resorted to part-time bowlers.
One of them, Mark Waugh, was bowling innocuous off-breaks. Then, Sachin decided to come down the wicket against Waugh, possibly with the intention of hitting a six. But the part-time offie cleverly threw the ball way outside the off-stump and the great batsman, despite his late attempts, couldn’t block it.
The ball went through to Ian Healy, the wicketkeeper, and he promptly stumped the little master. The crowd was silenced and Sachin not only missed a century but also had to watch his team lose the match.