Sachins match saving double century
There was a time when critics questioned Sachin's greatness saying that he has failed to deliver whenever India needed him the most. The argument against Sachin was that he failed to take India past the finishing line when the team was on course for a win and has failed to last the duration whenever the team was looked to save the match.
Some of Sachin's great knocks have come in the recent past in both aspects of the game i.e. match winning and match saving innings and it is not that Sachin has not played match winning or match saving innings in the past but the fact is that people have not taken notice of those innings or have forgotten with the passage of time. Sachin's monumental 203 in the second test at Colombo is a perfect example of yet another match saving innings played by the master.
Though Virender Sehwag gave India a start his dismissal triggered a familiar collapse something which happened at Galle Test also with the dismissal of Sachin and Dravid who till then were going great guns in the second innings. Three wickets fell in the space of 8 runs in 4.4 overs of which two were of batting stalwarts Sehwag and Dravid and India were in big trouble and it was here where Sachin Tendulkar took control of the proceedings. First Sachin forged a partnership with Laxman and though Laxman was dismissed for just 29, the partnership yielded 68 runs and more importantly lasted 30 overs.
When Laxman was fourth out at 241 a healthy score by usual standards Indians were still in crisis as they needed another 202 runs to avoid the follow on. What was critical from an Indian point of view was that they had only two specialist to batsmen to follow in the form of debutant Raina and skipper Dhoni and here Sachin had the dual responsibility of batting out a huge number of overs and also to calm the nerves of debutant Raina who already was under pressure having had to wait for a long time to get into the Test team as his abilities in the longer version of the game were questioned.
Sachin for the second time in his career forged a brilliant partnership with a debutant helping himself to a double century and the debutant Raina to century. In 2001 in the first test match against South Africa at Bloemfontein, South African fast bowlers Shaun Pollock and Nantie Hayward were breathing fire having ripped apart the Indian batting line leaving them tottering at 4 for 68. Sachin in the company of Sehwag who was making his debut launched a fierce counter attack on the South African fast bowlers scoring a magnificent 155 of just 184 deliveries. Sachin also helped Sehwag to a century and their partnership yielded 220 runs in a mere 47.2 overs which helped India avoid the follow on though they could not save the Test Match. Though Sachin's brilliant effort in South Africa went in vain, the one at Colombo has almost surely saved the match as it is hard to dream of a Sri Lankan win with just a days play left.
Sachin's superb double century and Suresh Rainas debut century also ensured that Indians by virtue of not losing this Test Match remain as number one in ICC rankings and more importantly stand a chance to draw the series should they win in the third test. With India having surpassed Sri Lankas monumental 642 they can now go into the third test with a positive frame of mind
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