A rare treat from the modern Masters of the game

Unfortunately, it was lost on the Lankan masses. The value-based innings of Tendulkar and Azhar, however, brought intrinsic benefits to Indian cricket. Tendulkar’s century was a timely return to kind of form that does credit to his lofty stature in the international arena.The Indian skipper came into this Test with scores of 21, 28, 53 (all in the Asia Cup) followed by 32 and five in the three-day game against the Sri Lankan Board XI. His confidence was low and his miseries high.

Tendulkar’s batting returns have dipped since he took over the reins of leadership from Azhar — a batting average of 37.15 as Test captain hardly flattering to his abilities. But it would only be fair to say that he has been experiencing wretched luck, getting out to some unbelievable catches –like the one taken by Gary Kirsten and Adam Bacher in South Africa — and poor umpiring decision. The umpiring error came when he was given out on 92 when TV replay clearly showed that the bowler Ian bishop had delivered a no ball.In his four innings prior to his 143 today, Tendulkar scored 88, 92, 4 and 83 in the West Indies. Had those big scored been converted into hundreds, Tendulkar would have been hailed as a hero.

Tendulkar’s batting was pure magic today. And right from start it was an innings of pristine purity. The carpet drive past bowler Chaminda Vaas to the first ball he faced was the work of a master artist — the ball travelled like a surface-to-surface missile, which the bowler, on his exaggerated follow-through must have only seen as a whizzing blur.Tendulkar’s innings should make his position strong as a captain. A victory will only make it stronger. It will benefit Indian cricket as it will enhance his bargaining powers in matters of selection.

Azharuddin wielded his bat like a magical wand. The wrist conjured up strokes that was beyond the frontiers of Oriental mystery.Setting the field for such a wristy deception is not easy as 11 men seem too few to plug the gaps that Azhar found with consummate ease.Azhar showed the kind of discipline that earned him scores of 81 not out, 25 not out and 81 in the three outings on this tour. Every shot that he has played on this tour is general and this innings in particular must have rattled the television screens of the selectors as insurance that they do not lapse into a siesta and miss watching his rare class.Azhar has slipped from being a great batsman to the ranks of a good batsman. And that was mainly due to his warped thinking which affected his thought process at the crease.

Unrestrained aggression brings about high-voltage excitement when it comes off. But against quality international class bowlers, such methods are unlikely to succeed consistently over a period of time. The risk factor is too high and success percentage too low.Azhar’s batting has been under a cloud for sometime. Since October 1995, he has scored 720 runs (prior to this Test from 25 innings). He scored three hundreds and a fifty in this period. But these four innings came as escape routes for his continuation of suicidal approach. If one were to remove those four innings of substance, his yield from the other 21 innings (one of them unbeaten) is just 280 for a pathetic average of 13.331. The century against Sri Lanka was a welcome return to sanity.

The greatness of Azhar lies in the fact that he has shown a hunger for big hundreds. In fact, he has more Test centuries than fifties to his credit. Now that he has regained the appetite for big runs and one sense for a correct approach, one can continue to enjoy the cricketing grace of the flanneled Nawab.