Baptism by fire as 17-year-old Tendulkar saves the day for India

Manchester: India saved the second Test match against England, thanks to the young sensation called Sachin Tendulkar. The Indian batsmen looked a perplexed lot in the way they batted. The youthful energy of Tendulkar came to their rescue and in the end, India managed to draw the Test match. Tendulkar showed tremendous skill and maturity to deny England a victory. He, along with Manoj Prabhakar, were involved in an unbroken seventh-wicket stand which denied England from winning their second Test match on the trot.

Tendulkar’s first Test hundred is certainly going to be one of the many hundreds the world is going to witness. He was 17 years and 112 days old when he registered this century, becoming the second youngest Test centurion after Mushtaq Mohammad. Tendulkar walked into the middle after Dilip Vengsarkar was dismissed with the scoreboard reading four wickets down for 109, with plenty of overs remaining. He saw captain Mohammad Azharuddin and veteran Kapil Dev fall to off-spinner, Eddie Hemmings. Tendulkar’s resolve was so strong that these dismissals did not bother him and he continued to be positive. He found an able ally in Manoj Prabhakar, who looked at ease facing the English bowling.

Tendulkar was battling the moving ball. Angus Fraser, Devon Malcolm, Chris Lewis and Eddie Hemmings could not breach his defense once Tendulkar was set. Tendulkar offered Hemmings a simple chance when he was batting on 10. India was precariously placed at five wickets down for 130 runs. After this moment of madness, Tendulkar committed himself to the task of playing out and also dispatching the loose deliveries. The diminutive, five foot five inches tall Tendulkar rotated the strike regularly which was praiseworthy. The England bowlers resorted to short-pitch bowling when Tendulkar reached his eighties. Tendulkar had already missed a hundred against New Zealand at Wellington, when he was dismissed off 88 runs. He was patient.

At 98, Fraser bowled a snorter to Tendulkar which made the young batsman look awkward. Tendulkar ducked under the bouncer but failed to keep his bat down. The periscope shot went to fine leg and gave Tendulkar one run, but that was just a minor hiccup for a man who was on a mission.

Tendulkar presented the full face of his bat and off-drove a Fraser delivery, which gave him three runs. It was Tendulkar’s first Test match hundred. England could not dislodge the seventh-wicket partnership even after taking the second new ball. India had saved the match. Tendulkar was adjudged Man of the match for his valiant effort.