Sachin plays sherpa and the dare-devil

Mid-Life crisis is something that one associates with 30-plus men with receding hairlines and fitness problems.

Mid-Life crisis is something that one associates with 30-plus men with receding hairlines and fitness problems. When the 33-year-old habitual ODI opener Sachin Tendulkar was given the arduous task of being a middle-order batsman, many predicted a similar problem for the ageing star.

Today Tendulkar, despite playing 70 per cent of his 369 games as an opener, not only reinvented himself as a seasoned middle-order batsman to help India win the one-day series against the West Indies 3-1 but also give more clarity to India’s World Cup plans. Yuvraj Singh’s injury and the dip in form of Suresh Raina and Mohammad Kaif meant a hole in the middle order, but Tendulkar’s 100 from the 76 balls he faced between the 25th and the 50th overs meant the colossal rolled down to fill the vacuum.

For someone so used to the field restrictions and a porous outfield during his days as an opener, Tendulkar taking guard to the usual mid-innings scenario of fielders on the fence was something new at the start of his innings.

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Pre-determined paddles, wristy flicks and delicate nudges on either side of the square meant just two fours in the first 10 overs he was on the ground. Quick singles and aggressively run twos and threes were the order of the day as the Tendulkar wagon-wheel showed a crowd of incomplete spokes on either side of the wicket.

The secret of climbing Mt 300 is negotiating the final 15 overs and Tendulkar toggled between playing the sherpa and the dare-devil climber during this crucial phase. From 24 off 30 balls at the end of 35 overs to 49 from 45 balls at the end of 40, Tendulkar was being the new spine of the Indian middle-order. When Rahul Dravid was around Tendulkar was the co-pilot of the rapidly rising run rate but he opted to take the back seat when Mahinder Singh Dhoni arrived on crease in the 45th overs.

As soon as Tendulkar realised that it was one of those days when Dhoni could scoop even a yorker-length ball from a pacer over the long on boundary his priority was to run to the non-striker’s end and watch the world cricket’s new spectacle. Running nine of his singles with Dhoni at the other end didn’t mean Tendulkar was playing the second fiddle but he was actually being the conductor who knew from which end the high note should be played.

With two overs to go and fall of wickets becoming an irrelevant statistics on the scoreboard, Tendulkar too joined bringing down-the-shamnia-roof adventure at the IPCL Stadium that Dhoni had initiated. India putting on 107 from the last 10 overs is proof enough to show that Tendulkar can not just fly off-the-blocks at will but also breast the tape with exciting acceleration. .

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But before one raises a toast to Tendulkar’s last-ball century as a No.4 batsman one must keep in mind the image of an exhausted veteran after his 37th single of the innings that took him to his 41st ODI ton. Trying to catch his breadth, he walked gingerly as he raised his bat to a standing ovation from the crowd that was busy in the combined celebration of Tendulkar’s ton and India’s 341.

Today at Vadodara, Tendulkar ran the 22 yards 54 times (37 singles, 7 twos and 1 three) and when converted it happens to be 1,000 meters of sprint or there abouts. Once in a while it’s okay, but the question is can a 33-year-old with 18 years of cricketing workload behind him be the regular high duty No.4 player?