Sachin glory road has SL running on empty

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Colombo: Forget the hype and hyperbole. Neither side are currently worthy of Test rankings in the top four. But that is the state of the current cockeyed ICC Test regulation system. Reality is more to the point and Sachin Tendulkar has achieved just that, yet again in his remarkable career.

This is Test century number 48, and the ninth against Sri Lanka. Just another milestone on the way to what will one day become 50 Test three-figure totals.

It has been marvellous to watch as well at times, along with what has been his first ton in Sri Lanka since 1999, a period that covers two tours covering during 11 years, being ruled out if the 2001 tour with an injury. Thereby hangs a tale of trial, fitness, form and tribulation, which have often haunted him on the emerald isle.

Back in 2005, when Tendulkar crossed what Indian media were labelling the “final frontier”, he smiled and shrugged at the euphemism and suggested at Ferozshah Kotla that windswept December Saturday evening there were more milestones to set. It was a day he surpassed the Sunil Gavaskar record of 34 Test centuries, and many were awestruck.

Tendulkar wasn’t. It was just a figure, and when he went past that number, the wide-eyed cackle made you wonder about this “final frontier” chatter. It was as though there was no life left after 34. Now, how ironic, considering today’s performance, the 2005 opponents were Sri Lanka as well.

When he was here two years ago, he was attempting to go past the Brian Lara record number of Test runs. He was battling with form and a Phantom Menace called Ajantha Mendis. Then, everyone was struggling with Mendis, whose type of bowling, far from unique - although many liked to think so – did create problems. Treat him as a seamer and it solved the problem.

Okay, so it is back to reality. While this second Test is not yet safe for India, it is Tendulkar’s discipline and ability to dictate to the bowlers has helped it through an afternoon of circumspection. And this is where the Mumbai Magician has created his own opportunities. He is now 35 runs short of a thousand in Sri Lanka, and considering this is only his 11th Test, it is not a record to ignore.

It was an innings typically Tendulkar. It is the type of batting where he dominates and the bowler struggles with line and length and starts thinking about how easier it is to bowl to the other batsman. In this case, a big mistake. The other batsman in this case is Suresh Raina.

It is doubtful when Raina announced to a bemused, sceptical media late Monday afternoon that India had a solid batting line up to counter Sri Lanka that he was going to help the cause and with Tendulkar take hold of the Sri Lanka bowling and make Mendis look puny with no answers and a captain in Kumar Sangakkara who didn’t know what field to set.

It is the left and right-handed combination, and as a pair, they complemented each other as did the Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene on the second day. The difference here is that Raina is making his debut and at time showed the ability to take over the Rahul Dravid metaphor mantle, The Wall at sometime in the future. He approached the role with a discipline that once settled, Sri Lankan bowling was easy to handle.

It was also a day of missed opportunity and mistakes that proved costly to both sides at the Singhalese Sports Club. What this achieved on day three of the second Test also in part laid the ghost of India’s nemesis of the 2008 tour, Phantom Menace Mendis. And as Tendulkar, with typical modesty, admitted he has in worked a plan to overcome the Mendis threat, which is the sort of admission few would offer with such confidence.

But that is Tendulkar, confident and knowing without being conceited as he knew how India needed him to pull an innings together that counted.

And paying tribute to Tendulkar’s skilled batting technique and style is Sri Lanka’s off-spin debutant, Rajiv Randiv. He is the man who bagged Virender Sehwag’s wicket with a doosra delivery dismissal that will haunt the Delhi Dazzler for weeks to come.

That reckless, charge when on 99, was a typically Viru over-ambitious “six or nix” slog that ended in an embarrassing walk to the pavilion the rest of the day to think about what should have been.

As for the Tendulkar technique, as Randiv admitted, he is a batsman who so often dictates the length that the bowler delivers the ball.

“It is very difficult to get line and length to him. He sometimes plays forward, and sometimes he is going back, so hitting the correct length and line is not easy,” he said.

“I thought I bowled well to him, but because of his footwork, it is not so simple,” he added with a thoughtful grin. “There are also the cuts that he plays. Whether the late cut, the nudge or the way he gets over the ball, he works the ball so very well. So it is very difficult to get the correct line and lengths to him.”

Sri Lanka missed the chance to dismiss him when he had 29 and the total was 225for three when trying to cheekily work the ball over the wicketkeeper’s head off the bowling of the beanpole Dilhara Fernando. Just what Prasana Jayawardene was thinking at the time only he can offer an opinion, but he is still probably trying to work that one out as well.

As Jayawardene discovered, no team can afford to miss a chance to dismiss Test cricket’s leading batsman. The Mumbai Magician just shrugs it off and gets on with the job. Just why he attempted such a risky shot with the team in so precarious a position is a question only he can answer.

With Sehwag dropped by Thilan Samaraweera when 89 (the fieldsman was later replaced yet again by one of the substitutes for the remainder of the day), the Sri Lanka fielding went into semi-decline and the captain Sangakkara, seemed reluctant to take chances. In fact, he seemed to have run out of ideas.

This is more noticeable the way he was setting fields to Tendulkar, and when Raina joined him at a crucial stage of the innings at the fall of the fourth wicket the partnership between the 23-year-old debutant and prospered, reluctant to take chances. It was relying on the batsmen to make errors, and that sort of strategy plays into the hands of someone far too street wise such as Tendulkar.

While early on, the Sri Lanka bowlers made things happen when batsmen took chances, so far eight wickets have fallen for 1024 runs in nine sessions of play, and unless Sangakkara is prepared to gamble, the Test will end in a draw. With no Muttiah Muralitharan, welcome to the new era.

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