Sachin's double ends India's day on a high

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Colombo: There is a phrase from an old Broadway musical of the 1940s, “Annie Get Your Gun” where there is a direct challenge from one character to the other. “Anything you can do, I can do better” are the words belted out in cultured baritone.

Sachin Tendulkar told Suresh Raina to relax at the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) in the past couple of days and take it easy, that he has been there before with Virender Sehwag and anything Viru did, he can do better.

After easing a debutant past the initial stages, he seemed to allow the 23-year-old to display his own style and character in an innings full of sensible strokeplay. The two batsmen also needed their own communication patterns and this is so important at Test level when batting together for the first time.

Nine years ago in soulless Bloemfontein, South Africa, Sehwag, batting at six, in the dry heat of the City of Roses, had an important role to play after the top-order had disintegrated. He had also stood at the other end and admired a very special inning from the Mumbai magician in early November 2001. The 155 that Tendulkar pulled together was a singularly impressive inning as he looked for support and found it in Sehwag, the debutant from Delhi.

Move forward nine years and in the sultry late July heat of Colombo and the buzzing SSC, Raina may have looked the more composed of the two debutants, but the experience and calming influences of Tendulkar, as he moved towards his fifth Test double hundred spread as it was over nine hours, ensured risks were kept to a minimum.

Sehwag went for 105 and as India didn’t put enough first innings runs on the board on that occasion despite the Tendulkar 155, the eventual defeat margin was by nine wickets. Here at SSC, a draw looms and questions do need to be asked whether it is because there is no Muttiah Muralitharan or Lasith Malinga that Sri Lanka opted for a flatter than normal SSC pitch. It is a bad image for Test cricket to have such stalemate surfaces.

As for batting with debutants (in this case Raina), Tendulkar considered it important to make them feel comfortable and understand their mindset.

“Remember, Raina had 98 ODI matches before making this Test debut and that has helped him overcome early concerns. And having played with him before, I knew exactly what to expect from him,” he explained. “Equally important for me to understand it (is) what a debutant needs from me when we are batting together. But the way he batted was fantastic. It did not look as if he was playing his first Test,” said the little master.

There is nothing flashy about Raina’s batting skills. Composed and articulate in his strokeplay; his off-drive off Dammika Prasad to bring up the three figures was typical stroke of a mature young man. It was the way he applied his ability that drew the early sting from the Sri Lankan bowling.

He was tested early on by Dilhara Fernando with a few bouncers and some short stuff, yet used his feet cleverly to drive sumptuously through the offside off the hard-working, yet testing off-spinner Suraj Randiv.

Raina’s solid technique and style, as well as nifty foot and handwork, ensured his Test century of 120 would not be wasted. Concentration levels were high as the pair worked on a record partnership of 256 for the fifth wicket.

As it is, there were any number of brilliant strokes, studded with magic drives and cuts.

Tendulkar's inning, spread over a mind-consuming nine hours, displayed his easy flowing style. There is nothing flashy about his batting in what is his first century on the emerald isle since 1999 and ninth against Sri Lanka. Now he becomes the holder of the highest innings by an Indian with the 203, having watched Sehwag score 201 two years ago in Galle.

Yet, he is not disappointed about failing to score a first triple century on this occasion. He admitted while batting so long in such heat and humidity is a challenge, he followed this comment with the interesting admission of “I don’t count the number of runs that I score when I am batting. But I am enjoying the way I am batting at present. It is quite fantastic.”

Tendulkar also revealed how he relaxed on Wednesday night, the midway point of his inning of 203.

With the heat and humidity as they are, he admitted how the playing conditions are tough.

“I went back to the dressing room and had an ice bath,” he explained. “Back at the hotel, I did some stretches, had an early dinner and was in the bed by 8:30."

“I relax as much as possible and I was asleep fairly early and up again early this morning. I relaxed, did some stretching exercises and prepared for the day. I find that time moves fast from the time I leave the field to when I go to the ground the next day.

“But this is what Test cricket is all about. I have been on the field for almost four days, so it becomes a bit demanding on the body. But it has held up very well,” he added.