Genius at work: Sachin Tendulkar’s final matches across all formats
Often termed as the ‘God of Cricket’ by his devotees, a one of a kind of a cricket player with mastery in playing cricket, Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, made sure that he made his mark on every game of cricket he played irrespective of the format. He made sure that every time he walked out to bat, his team ended up on the winning side more often than not. He gave the fans countless memories of him playing on the field. So, here we bring to you a look at his farewell knocks in all formats:
Test Cricket – vs West Indies (14th-18th November 2013)
When Sachin walked out to bat in his 200th Test match, the Indian batting was in a spot of bother and it was the God who batted at number 4, Sachin himself, who came to the team’s rescue alongside Cheteshwar Pujara. In the first inning of the match, the West Indies team managed to put on the board, a total of 182 runs on the board before losing all of their 10 wickets to the Indian bowling attack led by Pragyan Ojha.
It was India’s turn to bat then, and the team was stuck a bit, when both the openers fell after one another while the team’s score rested at just 77 runs. It was then when Sachin padded up and stepped onto the field for the 329th time in his career. He took the responsibility of stabilising the Indian innings and gave it a solid boost. Wankhede Stadium’s stands were filled with the chants of ‘Sachiiiin… Sachin!!!’ as he neared a half-century. And, before his departure back to the pavilion, he had made sure that he played a perfect knock of 74 runs to help the team’s total to 221 runs for the loss of 3 wickets. In that Test, the might of the Indian team proved to be too difficult for the West Indians to keep up with as they lost the match by an innings and 126 runs.
Thank You @sachin_rt For Everything! ?#SachinTendulkar #ThankYouSachin pic.twitter.com/jGaCOuse19
— Sachin Tendulkar Trends (@TrendsSachin) November 16, 2020
One Day International cricket – vs Pakistan (18th March 2012)
Playing 400 One Day matches is no mean feat, but by the time this match came along, Sachin already had a record 462 matches under his belt. And, what better match to mark this occasion than against India’s arch-rivals Pakistan. It was during the Asia Cup of 2012 when India, playing against Pakistan, were set a total of 329 runs to chase, owing to a good collective batting effort by the Pakistan team.
When the Indian innings came along, it was again that time of the match when nothing other than the chants of Sachin’s name could be heard in the stadium. After losing his opening partner Gautam Gambhir, on the second ball of the match, the responsibility fell on Sachin to increase the value of his wicket even more. And, Sachin did not disappoint his fans and the team, as he put up a brilliant 133-run partnership with the new Indian captain, Virat Kohli. Sachin, in that match, scored a total of 52 runs off 48 deliveries and laid the foundation of an Indian batting performance that would win the team the match by 6 wickets.
T20 International Cricket – vs South Africa (1st December 2006)
In what turned out to be his only appearance in the Indian colours in the 20-over format of cricket, Sachin found the challenge of the South African team posed against him and his team in that match. It was still early days of the format to be played by the Indian team, so almost none of the players could call themselves comfortable playing such a fast-paced game of cricket. But, thanks to the Indian bowling attack, the challenge for the batsmen was not that steep.
Opening the innings for the Indian team as usual with Virender Sehwag, Sachin, in an attempt to provide a brisk start to the inning, fell early. He scored 10 runs off 13 deliveries before departing, thanks to a fine delivery from Charl Langeveldt. The Indian team went on to win the match by a 6-wicket margin with one ball remaining and Sachin’s only T20 match turned out to be a fond memory for him and his fans to cherish in the years to come.
Indian Premier League – Mumbai Indians vs Sunrisers Hyderabad (13th May 2013)
If after reading about his only T20 International appearance you thought that Sachin was not able to master the shortest format of the game, you might want to reconsider your decision. Sachin did not play much for the Indian team in T20 cricket but showed his mastery while playing for the Mumbai Indians, the team that was the most fitting for a true Mumbaikar like him.
In his 78th IPL match, which was played between the Mumbai Indians and the Sunrisers Hyderabad, Sachin walked out to bat alongside Dwayne Smith to help his team chase a total of 178 runs set by SRH. And, he got his team off to a great start. After losing Smith at the 26-run mark, he continued to bat, and looked to be in great touch with the bat, before tragedy struck and he had to take the hard walk to the pavilion after an injury crept in and he was forced to end his inning while his score rested at 38 runs off 31 deliveries. But his teammates made sure that they finished up the job and built on the foundation that Sachin had laid out and got the team to a 7-wicket win.
