Monday, February 22, 2010

Tendulkar's dive

Yesterday, India won the one dayer against South Africa by one run! It was cliffhanger of a match when the South African’s needed only 10 runs of the last six balls to win. The combative medium pacer Praveen Kumar who has the ability to swing the ball both ways was trusted with the ball by the Captain M S Dhoni to bowl the final over of six balls. The first ball was placed for a single. None runs to win with five balls to go. The second ball was runless. The third ball was dispatched for a four. Five to get and three balls to go. Fourth ball was bowled and the batsman swept pulled the ball which sped towards the boundary. All appeared lost when Tendulkar, who was fielding deep, ran some thirty yards and flung his 37 years old body at the ball and stopped the ball crossing the ropes thus conceding three but saving one run. Two balls remaining and Kumar in his anxiety to avoid the bat bowled a wide ball with the visitors needing only two runs to win. The next ball was flicked towards the leg side and the batsmen ran a single and attempted the second. The not very accurate throw from the deep was gathered and the stumps were put down by the captain wicket keeper MSD with the batsman short. India won the match by one run!

Had Tendulkar played safe and not dived risking serious injury India would either have tied the match or in all probability lost this thriller of a match. It was an extra ordinary feat considering he has been plagued by injury issues throughout his carrier and no one would have blamed him had he not dived like he did on the rough and hard outfield risking serious injury. But Tendu dived and won the match for the country!

3 comments:

Unknown said...

If Tendulkar's boundary save the other day helped India win the match, yesterday's classic double hundred sealed the fate of the Proteas in the ODI series. Kudos to this humble cricketing giant from India,Sachin Tendulkar! What a great player.

jk said...

Even after 20 years at international cricket, he still has a child like enthu and passion for the game.Blessed with talent, his commitment is unquestionable. May his tribe grow. After reading this posting, I have found that you are multi-talented too. You could easily be a cricket commentator. One more facet of your personality discovered:}

Anonymous said...

This chap Sachin, wow what a guy,what a sportsman! See the way he is going about playing in the IPL III season. He is thoroughly enjoying the game and it can be seen by his performance. Even guys like Anil Kumble,Rahul Dravid & Kallis(over 34 + )are performing so well in what one thought T20 was a 'young' man's game. Kudos to these great gentlemen cricketers!
Yes Dr. you seem to write on a variety of sports. You play shuttle too I hear. So one can expect a post on it I guess! (What with Saina shining)