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FM
Former Member

West Indies 182 and 43 for 3 trail India 495 (Pujara 113, Rohit 111*, Tendulkar 74, Shillingford 5-179) by 270 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

 

 Sachin Tendulkar walks off to a rousing ovation, India v West Indies, 2nd Test, Mumbai, 2nd day, November 15, 2013
Sachin Tendulkar walked off the field to deafening applause ÂĐ BCCI 
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India's next generation of batting talent flourished as West Indies were pummelled into submission but even the delectable strokeplay of Cheteshwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli couldn't wipe out the anti-climactic feel of much of the second day's play.

During the first hour, however, Test cricket had rarely felt so alive. With Sachin Tendulkar playing what could be his final Test innings, his legion of fans were put through the emotional wringer. This whole series has been drenched in Tendulkar nostalgia, and every vintage shot he played today only highlighted what fans are going to miss in the days ahead. Every mis-step - like two attempted upper cuts off Tino Best - caused massive anxiety. Fans were uncertain whether they wanted Tendulkar to be on strike - so they could lap up a few more of his shots - or at the non-striker's end as the tension was close to unbearable when he batted.

The assuredness with which Tendulkar played had made it seem inevitable that there would be a fairytale century in his final Test. You'd think the year-long wait for the 100th hundred would have taught Indian fans to be wary about expecting fairytale Tendulkar centuries. Clearly they hadn't, and like at the Wankhede in 2011, a slip catch from Darren Sammy cut short Tendulkar's innings on 74 and stunned an expectant crowd into silence. The mute-button was on only for a few moments though, as the crowd regained its voice to appreciatively roar Tendulkar off the field. Tendulkar muttered a few words to himself, but as has been the case over virtually his entire career, he maintained his poise after being dismissed, acknowledging the adoring crowds as he trudged off.

His partner for the entire innings was Cheteshwar Pujara, who perhaps would have been more worried about making a wrong call to run Tendulkar out and risking the wrath of Wankhede than about the challenge posed by the ineffectual West Indies attack. Pujara's every single was cheered with the fervour that usually accompanies centuries, and he remained mostly under the radar. When he played the straight drive for four, you were reminded - unfairly for Pujara - about how much more pristine and non-violent the shot was when Tendulkar played it.

Still, it was a cracking innings, full of controlled aggression. He pounced on the width routinely provided, adroitly playing the cut past point, as he kept he run-rate brisk. His one moment of fortune - thanks to a frankly awful decision from the third umpire - was when he was adjudged not out on 76, though replays clearly showed Kieran Powell's fingers under the ball as he grasped a chance at short leg.

Pujara wasn't perturbed by all the emotion over Tendulkar's dismissal, and continued his march towards his fifth Test century, underlining his reputation as a man for the big score. Of the eight times he has reached fifty in Tests, he could have converted seven of them into hundreds, but two of those innings were unbeaten half-centuries in successful chases. He was scratchy against the tireless offspinner Shane Shillingford after reaching triple-figures today and a leading edge resulted in a caught-and-bowled chance that ended his stay on 113.

Kohli, the man tipped to take over Tendulkar's No. 4 spot, began with a series of boundaries to help Pujara maintain the momentum. Like in his one-day innings, where his high scoring-rate surprises given the lack of big shots, he zipped to his half-century at nearly a run a ball almost unnoticed. He was looking untroubled but he too perished to a Sammy slip catch, undone by a straighter one from Shillingford.

If the first half of Pujara's innings was overshadowed by one Mumbai batsman, his innings will recede further in fans' mind due to an astonishing century from another Mumbai batsman. Rohit began his long-awaited Test career with a game-changing 177 in Kolkata, but there seemed little chance of him making another century in Mumbai as he was only on 46 when the No. 11 Mohammed Shami walked in.

By then Shillingford had taken his fifth successive five-for, matching a feat last achieved by Alec Bedser in 1952-53, and Sammy had equalled the record for the most catches by a non-wicketkeeper, snapping up five. India had lost three wickets in two overs either side of tea, and West Indies looked likely to have to bat almost an entire session.

Instead, Rohit scripted a masterclass in batting with the tail to inflate the total by 80 runs, and joined an exclusive club with two hundreds in their first two innings. Shami is not the worst No. 11, but Rohit skilfully farmed the strike, so much so that in the first seven overs Shami only faced seven deliveries. Even when the partnership was close to 50, Shami was still on 0.

West Indies were desperate to get Rohit off the strike. In the 99th over, when Rohit gently tapped the final ball past the closely packed field for a single, West Indies' dispirited fielders weren't keen on chasing it down though it wasn't going to reach the rope. Briefly, Rohit contemplated whether he had time to take three.

In between protecting Shami, Rohit unleashed a blizzard of strokes which he commonly shows off in limited-overs matches. His one moment of panic was when he holed out to deep midwicket when on 85, only to be reprieved when the replays showed Shillingford had overstepped. Soon after, he reached his hundred with a six over long-on - it had taken him only 118 deliveries, and Shami had only made 1 in a 64-run stand.

The innings finally ended on when Shami whipped a catch to deep square leg, and the lead was a massive 313. West Indies had about an hour to bat out, but even in that short space lost three wickets to the spinners. Once again, R Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha had the ball spinning and turning, and on the evidence so far, West Indies will do well to stretch this game as long as the end of the third day.

Siddarth Ravindran is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

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Replies sorted oldest to newest

Originally Posted by Rev:

* Looks like the WI will lose in 3 days like they did in the 1st test.

 

* Sachin missed out on his 52nd hundred---he made 74

 

* Shiv needs 78 runs to reach 11,000

 

* CAN SHIV GET TO 11,000 TONIGHT ?

 

* That's all that matters!

 

Rev

Rev,

 

Shiv can do it but the pressure put on him by his deadbeat team mates is tremendous to bear. The Tiger has been carrying the "burden" of WI team laziness for years. The WI is ZERO without the great Shiv. I wish Tiger well.

 

He makes us all proud. 

 

Shiv has to be very careful after this series since Richards who has been called a racist by some  WI cricket fans is envious of Shiv. They might want to blame Shiv for WI failures and replace him with a deadbeat.

 

Interesting times ahead.

FM

yuji:

 

If there is one thing the Tiger has proven over the past 20 years---it is he can handle pressure.

 

THE NUMBERS DON'T LIE

 

150 tests---10922 runs---51.89 average---28 100s---61 50s

 

There will be no pressure on the Tiger tonight----the West Indies are guaranteed to lose this test----he should just go out there and have some fun---and hopefully score those 78 runs that will take him to 11,000.

 

Rev

FM
Originally Posted by yuji22:
Originally Posted by Rev:

* Looks like the WI will lose in 3 days like they did in the 1st test.

 

* Sachin missed out on his 52nd hundred---he made 74

 

* Shiv needs 78 runs to reach 11,000

 

* CAN SHIV GET TO 11,000 TONIGHT ?

 

* That's all that matters!

 

Rev

Rev,

 

Shiv can do it but the pressure put on him by his deadbeat team mates is tremendous to bear. The Tiger has been carrying the "burden" of WI team laziness for years. The WI is ZERO without the great Shiv. I wish Tiger well.

 

He makes us all proud. 

 

Shiv has to be very careful after this series since Richards who has been called a racist by some  WI cricket fans is envious of Shiv. They might want to blame Shiv for WI failures and replace him with a deadbeat.

 

Interesting times ahead.

This is so off the wall, it's ludicrous...what does Richards have to do with any of this?? Also, I follow many cricket forums...no one has mentioned anything about blaming Shiv...you are too taken up by racism...you need to get out more and meet people different from you...geez!

FM
Originally Posted by raymond:

Why would Richards be envious of SHiv anyway...SHiv is not even in Richards class

 

I love SHiv...great player, but Richards was a master blaster

 

Shiv must never be compared to any other cricketer---Shiv is Shiv---he has masterfully created his own niche---his own, unique brand---there will never be another Shiv.

 


Listen!

 

* Shiv is to poking what Viv is to blasting!

 

* In other words, Shiv is a great poker; Viv a great blaster.

 

* Both poker Shiv and blaster Viv put up great numbers.

 

* But when it comes to style of batting---poker Shiv and blaster Viv are day and night.

 

BOTTOM LINE:

 

Both Shiv and Viv were outstanding servants of WI cricket---both put up great numbers---but memories of pokers always fade---while memories of blasters stay with you.

 

What do you folks say ?

 

Rev

 

 

FM
Originally Posted by Rev:
Originally Posted by raymond:

Why would Richards be envious of SHiv anyway...SHiv is not even in Richards class

 

I love SHiv...great player, but Richards was a master blaster

 

Shiv must never be compared to any other cricketer---Shiv is Shiv---he has masterfully created his own niche---his own, unique brand---there will never be another Shiv.

 


Listen!

 

* Shiv is to poking what Viv is to blasting!

 

* In other words, Shiv is a great poker; Viv a great blaster.

 

* Both poker Shiv and blaster Viv put up great numbers.

 

* But when it comes to style of batting---poker Shiv and blaster Viv are day and night.

 

BOTTOM LINE:

 

Both Shiv and Viv were outstanding servants of WI cricket---both put up great numbers---but memories of pokers always fade---while memories of blasters stay with you.

 

What do you folks say ?

 

Rev

 

 


Agreed. However, Runs is what counts for Batsmen and THe TIGER is way ahead of Sir Viv.

Nehru
Originally Posted by Nehru:
 

 Agreed. However, Runs is what counts for Batsmen and THe TIGER is way ahead of Sir Viv.


* In terms of runs, Shiv now has 10922 runs---Viv only scored 8540---also Shiv(51.89) has a higher average than Viv(50.23)---Shiv has now played 150 tests; Viv played in 121 tests

 

* Only 7 batsmen in history have scored more runs than Shiv

 

* And once Shiv makes 6 more runs---he'll move ahead of Steve Waugh---that means only 6 batsman would have scored more runs than Shiv

 

* And once Shiv(10,922) gets to 11954----he'd be the highest run scorer in WI history---overtaking Lara---and then only 4 batsmen in history would have scored more runs than Shiv.

 

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/...results;type=batting

 

BOTTOM LINE:

 

THE NUMBERS DON'T LIE

 

Shiv is an ordinary, simple man who has put up great numbers in his chosen profession.

 

Rev

FM
Originally Posted by Rev:
Originally Posted by raymond:

Why would Richards be envious of SHiv anyway...SHiv is not even in Richards class

 

I love SHiv...great player, but Richards was a master blaster

 

Shiv must never be compared to any other cricketer---Shiv is Shiv---he has masterfully created his own niche---his own, unique brand---there will never be another Shiv.

 


Listen!

 

* Shiv is to poking what Viv is to blasting!

 

* In other words, Shiv is a great poker; Viv a great blaster.

 

* Both poker Shiv and blaster Viv put up great numbers.

 

* But when it comes to style of batting---poker Shiv and blaster Viv are day and night.

 

BOTTOM LINE:

 

Both Shiv and Viv were outstanding servants of WI cricket---both put up great numbers---but memories of pokers always fade---while memories of blasters stay with you.

 

What do you folks say ?

 

Rev

 

 

In Major League baseball there is a statistic like batting average in the last three innings of a one-run ball game. That separates out the Jeters (whose hits count) from the A-rods (whose hits may not have the same impact).

 

In cricket you can look up Shiv's numbers (and the same is true for Kalli as well) such as runs as a percentage of the team's total that (a) staved off a defeat, or (b) led to a narrow win. Viv is a great batsman and on a poor team would have made an impact. However I can only go by the empirical evidence. On the teams that Viv played on Greenidge and Hayes so demoralized the bowling that coming in at #3 or #4 for Viv was like taking candy from a child. All those double centuries and big hundreds came a lot when WI racked up 600 for 4 or such like scores. Shiv and Kalli's 90s came when the team total was 135 or so.

 

That's putting greatness in perspective. Yeah, A-Rod has over 600 home runs, but look at Jeter's home runs in the playoffs and in pennant races.

Shiv and Kalli need to be recognized for substance and not so much style. Sachin rises above all that because he made the game so easy. He was fluid and was a security blanket - like Shiv and Kalli, though they were not blessed with Sachin's ease.

 

Just my 2 cents.

Kari
Originally Posted by Kari:
Originally Posted by Rev:
Originally Posted by raymond:

Why would Richards be envious of SHiv anyway...SHiv is not even in Richards class

 

I love SHiv...great player, but Richards was a master blaster

 

Shiv must never be compared to any other cricketer---Shiv is Shiv---he has masterfully created his own niche---his own, unique brand---there will never be another Shiv.

 


Listen!

 

* Shiv is to poking what Viv is to blasting!

 

* In other words, Shiv is a great poker; Viv a great blaster.

 

* Both poker Shiv and blaster Viv put up great numbers.

 

* But when it comes to style of batting---poker Shiv and blaster Viv are day and night.

 

BOTTOM LINE:

 

Both Shiv and Viv were outstanding servants of WI cricket---both put up great numbers---but memories of pokers always fade---while memories of blasters stay with you.

 

What do you folks say ?

 

Rev

 

 

In Major League baseball there is a statistic like batting average in the last three innings of a one-run ball game. That separates out the Jeters (whose hits count) from the A-rods (whose hits may not have the same impact).

 

In cricket you can look up Shiv's numbers (and the same is true for Kalli as well) such as runs as a percentage of the team's total that (a) staved off a defeat, or (b) led to a narrow win. Viv is a great batsman and on a poor team would have made an impact. However I can only go by the empirical evidence. On the teams that Viv played on Greenidge and Hayes so demoralized the bowling that coming in at #3 or #4 for Viv was like taking candy from a child. All those double centuries and big hundreds came a lot when WI racked up 600 for 4 or such like scores. Shiv and Kalli's 90s came when the team total was 135 or so.

 

That's putting greatness in perspective. Yeah, A-Rod has over 600 home runs, but look at Jeter's home runs in the playoffs and in pennant races.

Shiv and Kalli need to be recognized for substance and not so much style. Sachin rises above all that because he made the game so easy. He was fluid and was a security blanket - like Shiv and Kalli, though they were not blessed with Sachin's ease.

 

Just my 2 cents.

I am with your analysis. Great points. In the end, everyone has there own opinion.

Nehru

READ WHAT THE GREAT ROHAN KANHAI SAID ABOUT SHIV RECENTLY:

 

Kanhai, who played 79 Tests between 1957 and 1974, praised Chanderpaul for his ability to bat for long periods and never get flustered.

 

“I first saw him playing years ago in Guyana and was always impressed. Back them he was a raw youngster with bundles of talent and immense concentration. He has blossomed to become one of the great cricketers of the world,” Kanhai said.

 

“He has a unique style of batting and it works well for him. He continues to show he has the great powers of concentration and likes to bat for long periods and the most important thing is he never gives his wicket away.

 

http://www.shivisgreat.com/wes...rpaul-on-150th-test/

 

 

If Kanhai says Shiv is great---then Shiv is great. End of story.

 

Rev

FM
Originally Posted by Nehru:
Originally Posted by Kari:

In Major League baseball there is a statistic like batting average in the last three innings of a one-run ball game. That separates out the Jeters (whose hits count) from the A-rods (whose hits may not have the same impact).

 

In cricket you can look up Shiv's numbers (and the same is true for Kalli as well) such as runs as a percentage of the team's total that (a) staved off a defeat, or (b) led to a narrow win. Viv is a great batsman and on a poor team would have made an impact. However I can only go by the empirical evidence. On the teams that Viv played on Greenidge and Hayes so demoralized the bowling that coming in at #3 or #4 for Viv was like taking candy from a child. All those double centuries and big hundreds came a lot when WI racked up 600 for 4 or such like scores. Shiv and Kalli's 90s came when the team total was 135 or so.

 

That's putting greatness in perspective. Yeah, A-Rod has over 600 home runs, but look at Jeter's home runs in the playoffs and in pennant races.

Shiv and Kalli need to be recognized for substance and not so much style. Sachin rises above all that because he made the game so easy. He was fluid and was a security blanket - like Shiv and Kalli, though they were not blessed with Sachin's ease.

 

Just my 2 cents.

I am with your analysis. Great points. In the end, everyone has there own opinion.

Thanks Pavi, I am yet to hear the "statistics" man comment on the qualitative aspects of the quantitative statistics he present. Then again that might be an intellectually challenging exercise for the self-styled Rev.

Kari

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