MCC vs ROW XI: Sachin Tendulkar's final innings
On 5 July, 2014, Lord’s, The Home of Cricket, celebrated its 200th anniversary by hosting a game between the MCC XI and the Rest of the World XI. The MCC XI was led by Sachin Tendulkar, while the Rest of the World XI was captained by Australian spin legend Shane Warne. Both teams had a galaxy of great players, and so it wasn't wrong for those watching the match to expect a mouth-watering contest.
The Rest of the World XI batted first and put up 293 runs on the board, thanks largely to a 134-ball 132 from Yuvraj Singh. Saeed Ajmal picked up 4 wickets for 45 runs in his 10 overs.
Sachin Tendulkar was greeted with applause from everyone as he made his way down the Long Room and into the middle with Aaron Finch. This was the Master Blaster’s last ever innings, and everybody expected something special from him.
That expectation only grew by a few notches when the 41-year-old, early on in his innings, scored two boundaries courtesy of his trademark backfoot punch. He also hit a delightfully timed cover drive off Peter Siddle. But the best shot of his innings, and possibly of the match, came when Tendulkar smashed a perfect straight drive past Siddle’s feet, reminding every one of the Tendulkar of old in the process.
However, just when it looked as though he was set for a big one, he was castled for 44 by that old fox Muttiah Muralitharan. Like on so many occasions, the dismissal was followed by a stunned silence from the crowd, and, then, the realisation that this was it took over, and the whole stadium stood up to applaud the great man for one last time.
The MCC XI went on to win the game, but it won't be wrong to say that the crowd went home slightly disappointed about not seeing a hundred from the Little Master.