Sachin, the little "genius"

~! With due regards to the creator of this piece !~
Kudos to Sachin for battling and fightin off a torrid last session inMumbai...

Coming at 11/2, and immediately under pressure, the little "genius"decided to play off the rest of the day (around 25 overs projectedinitially) and save his wicket for a better day...Scrathing around with the confidence he has been having in the last 6test innings, he firmly avoided the ignominy of getting run out for aduck. He tapped the ball to the off side and set off for an improbablesingle (lucky for him, Rahul responded since Sachin was no meansGanguly) and was half way down the pitch when his bat came between theball and the stumps. He eventually slipped and fell awkwardly into thecrease, and cheers pounded the stadium! Sachin was off the mark!!

Later he managed to see off some excellent bowling of McGrath andGillespie by leaving outside off, ducking, padding, and edging.. It wasone of those days where he had all the luck to go with his magnificentform, that the edges fell short of the slip fielders, and the umpireswere intimidated by his sheer presence.

Tendulkar decided to pad-off a perfect McGrath incutter, coming straightto crash on to the stumps, and fortunately the umpire Rudi Koertzen wasbored giving LBW for Sachin these days, that he thought of not giving inthis time. Sachins face said it all. The master batsmen, the littlemaster, did not even have the courage to look at the umpire, because heis so sharp to realise he was lucky. Frustrated McGrath walked awaythinking it would just be a matter of time..It was not to be..

Not many would realise the value of 2*(31) innings Sachin played lastevening, but I believe he would rate it high amongst the toughestinnings he has ever played.

Kudos to Sachin, fighting for India's pride and self-redemptiom!