Frank Opinion | Nitin Chouhan
The 'Godsend' creature was approaching his chef d'oeuvre, his 50th Test hundred. And not just me but the cricket fans all over the world had their hearts in their mouth when the little champion got the touch from the middle of his bat to reach the milestone.
When we all were saluting the maestro, he himself was busy thanking his dear and near ones by uttering words while looking into the deep blue sky. Continue reading below
Though the Centurion Test will be remembered for a lot of things, Jacques Kallis' first double hundred to name one, it was Sachin Tendulkar becoming the first man in Test history to score 50 tons that will remain etched in every cricket fan's memory for a long time.
There were other brilliances too on the field. South African quicks Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel bowled brilliant spells to spark Indian collapse in each innings, Amla continued to be a thorn in the Indian flesh with another ton, AB de Villiers made a devastating hundred in one session and Dhoni played a captain's knock.
After being dismissed for a paltry 136 on the rain-curtailed opening day, it was a rearguard action from the Indian batters in their second essay that sent a message to the South African that India can fight back in the last two Tests.
But I could still not fathom the fact that why Jaidev Unadkat was picked in the first eleven. The 19-year-old kid looked like an amateur who should have been taught tricks of the trade before being thrown in the international arena. And it is also difficult to remember any one aspect of his game which has impressed any of us the most.
But it was not the only point of concern at the end of the first Test. The wayward bowling by S Sreesanth and Ishant Sharma made the already fractured-looking Indian bowling, in the absence of Zaheer Khan, more pathetic. While Ishant was bowling on both sides of the wicket too frequently, his partner was unnecessarily busy in chasing his tail by trying so many things at one time.
Suresh Raina's discomfort with the short ball was once again exposed. And though I still feel he is the most improved young Indian cricketer in the limited-over formats, the 24-year-old still has to travel miles when it comes to making his name in the best form of the game.
His position at no. 6 in the batting order will surely be up for grabs by the likes of Cheteshwar Pujara and Murali Vijay in the second Test starting on the Boxing Day.
And Indians, who are termed as slow starters while touring and who were caught on the hop early on in the series, need to pull up their socks for the engaging battle ahead.
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