India race to record with four tons

For a brief while, just for a few minutes, it looked like Sachin Tendulkar had finally turned the clock back. He had just smashed his first six in Test cricket after that 109 in Delhi...

For a brief while, just for a few minutes, it looked like Sachin Tendulkar had finally turned the clock back. He had just smashed his first six in Test cricket after that 109 in Delhi against Sri Lanka 18 months ago, he had already picked up two fours, and only an hour had gone by.

But then, Tendulkar scampered back into his shell, peeking out towards the boundary line only six times in the next three and-a-half hours, even after crossing his second century of this series, even after India had muscled their way past the 600-mark.

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Believe it or not, in India’s 610 for thre —the first four topping hundreds to set a new record in Test cricket—there were just eight Tendulkar fours, and that one six.

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He struggled to get the ball away against left-arm spinner Mohammad Rafique, he was awkward while fending aside two bouncers from pacer Mashrafe Mortaza. And, it was almost as if that 101, just six days ago, had never happened.

Of course, this Test is virtually over, Bangladesh collapsing sensationally to seven for four before limping away at 58 for five, three days still left. And, Zaheer Khan finally rediscovering the lethal line with which he had nearly strangled South Africa three months ago.

Yet, for India, what’s really turning out to be a bit of a disappointment by now is the way Tendulkar is beginning to get bogged down at one end, while the rest are racing past at the other—Mahendra Dhoni’s three sixes that exposed Rafique is just one instance.

Team India’s anchorman at No 4, yes; propping up one end, yes; but this is Sachin Tendulkar, nearing 11,000 Test runs, the only batsman in the world to give Shane Warne and the entire Australian team shivers down their spine not so long ago.

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Maybe he is setting himself up for the bigger tours ahead; maybe he still has a few points to prove; maybe the mind and the body are on parallel tracks; maybe as Dinesh Kaarthick explained, “the ball was not coming on to the bat that easily”. Because nothing else can explain the four-hour struggle, from 9 to 100 — against a Bangladesh attack missing one strike bowler, nursing another, and forced to try out three wicket-keepers in the Dhaka heat.

Really, nothing else can explain this:

• Two fours and a six from Tendulkar in the first 16 overs, but just six fours more in the 47 overs that followed till the declaration—one of them was an edge through vacant slips, another a miscued loft that ballooned up and over mid-off.

•From 49 to 83, 34 runs in all, in 20 overs.

• 34 runs in 71 balls while, at the other end, Rahul Dravid picked up 41 runs in 45 balls, and Dinesh Kaarthick added 47 in 59.

Finally, century No 37 came two overs before tea, in 200 balls, after which Dhoni swaggered in to smash 50 in 51 balls with four sixes and three fours, helping India pick up 78 runs in just 10 overs, enabling skipper Rahul Dravid to call his batsmen back just around the time he had wanted to.

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Of course, you could look at it the other way, too—Tendulkar, by just holding up one end for 348 minutes, gave Dravid, Kaarthick, and Dhoni the freedom and confidence to go for their strokes. But surely, millions of hardcore Tendulkar fans across the world, who have soared and sunk a million times with every breathtaking stroke over the last 17 years, would have been left shaking their heads.

Anyway, while Tendulkar soldiered on, amidst the cramping humidity, taking 84 of those 122 runs in singles, twos and one three, Team India leaned back and propped its legs up, watching Dravid get those 12 runs to cross his 24th Test hundred, and Kaarthick nudge a single to reach his first ever, a few seconds before lunch.

Maybe, considering the flagging opposition, Dravid’s stroke-filled century may not figure on top of the skipper’s showcase, even if it’s set to be a ‘winning’ hundred, as they say.

But Kaarthick would definitely be coating his debut effort in gold, coming as it did in just his 13th Test, and only the third as opener. In fact, he has already “dedicated” this one to his wife Nikita, who “stayed awake last night” to help him get over a bout of fever, and then surprised him this evening with a cake and a simple message scrawled over it: Congratulations, Dinesh Kaarthick.

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“I am trying my best to become a very good opener. I have been always trying to do that. Virubhai (Virender Sehwag) also began as a middle order batsman who changed into an opener. I now want to get as many runs as possible,” said Kaarthick.

Well then, the opening debate, Dravid would hope, is solved for now, even though he knows in the back of his mind that the England tour in July will provide the real answer.

Till then, one last peek at the scoreboard: Dinesh Kaarthick 129, Wasim Jaffer 138, Rahul Dravid 129, Sachin Tendulkar 122. No wonder, Team India’s travel assistant is sporting a worried look.

Raining runs at Dhaka

• India set a new record when their first four batsmen, Dinesh Kaarthick (129), Wasim Jaffer (138 retired hurt), Rahul Dravid (129) and Sachin Tendulkar (122) scored centuries.

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• It was the first time in 1833 Test matches that first four batsmen reached the three-figure mark in an innings.

• It was also the first time that four Indian batsmen scored more than 100 runs in an innings.

• India also recorded their highest total against Bangladesh by making 610 for three.

Scoreboard

India 1st Innings

(Overnight: 326/0)

D Kaarthick c Bashar b Mortaza 129

W Jaffer retired hurt 138

R Dravid c Omar b Rafique 129

S Tendulkar not out 122

S Ganguly c Saleh b Rafique 15