After 39 years of ODI cricket, Sachin Tendulkar chose arguably the best bowling attack doing the rounds, to eclipse the record for the highest score ever before bringing up the first ever double-hundred in the game's history. The lucky spectators at the Captain Roop Singh Stadium in Gwalior were privileged by one of the most special knocks from Tendulkar's blade, as he batted without any of the shackles he has imposed on himself in the latter part of his career. Nothing could deny the master - be it bowlers, fielders or mix-ups. Dinesh Karthik, Yusuf Pathan and MS Dhoni stood by and admired as Tendulkar unfurled all the shots in his repertoire and more, to take India past the 400 mark.
In the 46th over, with a flick for two past short fine-leg, Tendulkar broke the record for the highest ODI score, going past the 194 made by Zimbabwe's Charles Coventry and Pakistan's Saeed Anwar, and to say that he acknowledged his feat modestly would be an understatement. He didn't raise his bat, merely shook hands with Mark Boucher and simply carried on batting amid the din. Coming from a man who is not known to showing too much emotion with the bat in hand, it wasn't surprising. He reserved his celebrations for the magic figure of 200, which he reached in the final over with a squirt off Charl Langeveldt past backward point. He raised his bat, took off his helmet and looked up at the skies and it was only fitting that one-day cricket's highest run-getter reached the landmark.
Tendulkar's innings featured strokes of the highest quality, but his true genius was exemplified with one particular shot which wouldn't be found in a coaching manual. In the first over of the batting Powerplay - taken in the 35th over - Dale Steyn fired a full, quick delivery outside off but Tendulkar walked right across his stumps and nonchalantly flicked him across the line, hopping in his crease on one leg to bisect the gap at midwicket. A helpless Steyn watched the ball speed away and merely shrugged his shoulders. There was no use searching for excuses or venting frustrations at the temerity of that shot. It was just that kind of afternoon for the bowlers.
There was just no letting up. The short boundaries and the flat pitch were too inviting for Tendulkar. Virender Sehwag's dismissal for 11, caught at third man, was just an aberration as Karthik, Pathan and Dhoni traded cricket bats for golf clubs. Driving and lofting through the line had never been this easy. Tendulkar could have driven them inside out in his sleep.
The two 100-plus stands, with Karthik and then with Dhoni, may well get lost in the scorecard but they were vital building blocks. Karthik rotated the strike well in their stand of 194, struck three clean sixes and helped himself to a brisk half-century. That partnership sent out ominous signs to the South Africans that they were in for something massive. Add Dhoni's bludgeoning hits and scoops and you had a score in excess of 400.
If India need to guard against complacency, they just need to turn the clock back a few months to Rajkot. If South Africa need to look for inspiration, beyond a standard pep talk, they need to go back four years to the Wanderers, where they chased 434 to clinch the series.
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