The batting maestro has most number of batting records under his belt, even after scoring 38 centuries, 71 half centuries and close to 14000 runs; his hunger for scoring runs has not diminished. The great bowler Wasim Akram expects that Sachin will have almost all the records in his name before he says good-bye to the gentleman’s game. Tough it was very difficult to choose his 5 best innings since he has been in the business for more than 15 years and played many outstanding innings; I am picking up my best 5 here.
1) 143 against Australia in 1997-98 at Sharjah (Coca cola cup-Final): Nobody can forget his inning of 143 of 131 balls against arguably the number 1 team of the world; he played almost all the shots written in the textbook. He hit 9 boundaries and 5 huge sixes to finish off at 143 and the best thing about this inning has been that he was given not out on a caught behind appeal while trying to hook a short pitch ball from Damien Fleming, but he knew he was out and left the ground without any hesitation. India needed 34 runs of 18 balls to win and he was in such a flow that he could have scored those 34 in just 12 balls. A true sportsman can only do that; and his respect for the game paid him off in one of memorable final.
2) 134 against Australia in 1997-98 at Sharjah (Coca cola cup): There couldn’t have been any better day for such a dream inning for the little master. 24th April 1998, his 25th birthday and he made India reach home in the final game of Coca cola cup. The condition was very similar as it was 2 days before in the qualifying game and once again Sachin played strokes all over the ground and made Australian bowling attack looked paralyzed. He hit 12 boundaries and 3 sixes in his mammoth inning and was named “Man of the match” and “Player of the tournament”.
3) 98 against Pakistan in 2003 world cup at Centurion: Once again India maintained its winning streak in world cups against Pakistan. Chasing a target of 274 Sachin started blistering all the bowlers, his magnificent shots with superb timing were too perfect to be played by anyone else. He scored 98 of just 75 balls including 12 fours and 1 six of Shoaib Akhtar. Pakistan never recovered after Sachin’s blistering batting and India won the match by 6 wickets. His six of Shoaib Akhtar was adjudged as “best shot of the tournament” and he was once again named “Man of the match”, not to mention that he later received the award of “Man of the series” also. One more fact: 2003 world cup’s best ball bowled by any bowler was given to Grant Flower when he bowled out Sachin for 81 at Harare.
4)186* against New Zealand in 1999-2000 at Hyderabad: The first 3 innings have been examples of Sachin’s aggression in batting; whereas this particular inning (highest score of Sachin in ODIs till date) was sheer class from the classic batsman. During the whole knock of 186* of just 150 balls, he never tried to hit the ball too hard, it was his technique or timing or just pure class that he hit 20 boundaries and 3 sixes without taking much risk. India amassed a total of 376 which has never been chased successfully till now, New Zealand were all out for 202 and India won the match by 174 runs. Apart from Sachin the “Man of the match”, there was another silent performer in this match: Rahul Dravid who scored 153 of 153 balls including 15 fours and 2 sixes.
5)141 against Pakistan in 2003-04 at Rawalpindi: People started saying at this time that Sachin has no more aggression in his batting now, his fighting spirit has been diminished. Chasing a target of 330 Sachin scored 141 of 135 balls with 17 boundaries and 1 six. He was caught by Abdul Razzaq of Shoaib Malik at mid wicket boundary while hitting Malik for a six. India’s victory was certain with Sachin standing there in the middle but his dismissal helped Pakistan win the match by a narrow margin of 12 runs. Sachin was named “Man of the match” but “he would have happier had India won the match” was his comment during the presentation.
What do you think, which inning(s) can further be added to this list …. comments most welcome ……