Desert Storm: When the Master unraveled the Magician
17 years ago, Mother Nature raised a sandy tempest in the middle of the imminent battlefield to prevent a likely apocalyptic clash, but the Master had other plans. Once and for all, he had to give this riveting script a definitive end.
Shane Warne dropped the ball a bit short. Sachin rocked onto his back foot and attempted to lift the ball over the mid-off, only for a 40-year-old Jacques Kallis to leap into the air and catch it. And, Warne had managed get one over the little master in the first match of the All-Stars Series.
It was not a competitive match and both these legends are way past their primes. Yet, Warne will cherish that moment, as Sachin has mostly had the upper-hand in this illustrious rivalry.
22nd April, 1998, faced with a daunting task to take his team to the final, Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, unfazed by the burden of expectations, unruffled by the intimidating Aussies, produced an exhibition in stroke play to take India to the final of the Coca Cola Cup in Sharjah.
24th April, 1998. The Master had turned 25. India were up against an undefeated Australian side which was raring to steamroll anything in their way. Only one man stood in their way and the Aussies relied on their own magician to beguile the master. So the stage was set. Would the contest yield a clear winner or would it be a night for the remaining 20 warriors to showcase their class?
Australia batted first on an innocuous track. The Indian seamers struck early sending the dangerous Mark Waugh and Ricky Ponting into the pavilion. The middle order though held sway and Darren Lehmann, along with the ever reliable Steve Waugh, helped the Kangaroos post a very formidable 272 (a good score back in those days). Given how heavily India depended on Sachin in the nineties, and since he had already produced his best innings just two days ago, one wondered if he could give a repeat performance.
While most people embrace greatness by overcoming others, legends achieve immortality by transcending their own zeniths. That is exactly what Sachin did on his 25th birthday.
India lost the first wicket early but the newly promoted Nayan Mongia played with a lot of grit and ably supported Sachin while he pummeled the likes of Damien Fleming, Michael Kasprowicz and Tom Moody.
Steve Waugh turned to his ace in the pack, Shane Warne, cricket’s answer to Houdini (and Warne used only one accessory) and the only bowler to feature amongst the five cricketers of the century. He was up against Sachin and everybody watching knew that this battle would decide the outcome of the war.
Warne prepared to come around the wicket, the same end from which he had delivered the “Ball of the Century” to Mike Gatting. He walked to the crease with a nonchalant elegance, without even seeming to break a sweat. And then all of a sudden delivered his classic leg spinner imparting so many revolutions to the ball that it would have put the modern motors to shame. The magician had played his trick.
Sachin knew that the margin for error was very small. As soon as the vicious delivery from Warne left his hands, aiming at the rough, Sachin danced down the track with the finesse of a hawk swooping on its prey. It seemed as if every sinew of his body were at work, his footwork was poetry in motion, with his eyes fixated on the turning ball. Moving away from the leg stump and towards the ball, Sachin created room for himself and the instant the ball landed on the rough, brought his willow down with amazing momentum and hit the ball from the sweetest spot of his bat. From the moment of impact, it was clear that the first trick had been decrypted with aplomb. Sachin watched the ball sail over the boundary ropes into the stands and the crowd burst out in chaotic delight. Warne stood crestfallen.
What followed was brutal stroke play. Unable to contain Sachin from around the wicket, Warne switched to over the wicket and was greeted by two successive boundaries. One almost decapitated Steve Bucknor and the other was slapped across extra cover with acrimonious disdain. This battle had well and truly been won by the Master. And the hapless Aussies looked on as the war was lost to the heroics of a single man, a modern day Achilles.
Sachin was finally dismissed for 134 as India comfortable chased down the target and lifted the Coca Cola Cup. Shane Warne later confessed he had nightmares following that savage assault from Sachin. Notwithstanding the outcome of Sharjah, Warne will still remain the best bowler of all times but whenever he looks at his magnificent armour, he will always spot a glaring chink in it.