Tendulkar sparkles; Rohit, Pujara add to Windies' woes

Tendulkar sparkles; Rohit, Pujara add to
Windies' woes

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar perhaps had the
most illustrious crowd to cheer him on for
probably his last knock. And as has been the
norm for the last 24 years, Sachin Tendulkar
does not disappoint. But just as everyone set
themselves and the rest of their day to witness
a batting master-class for one last time,
Tendulkar, who made his international debut
this day 24 years ago against Pakistan, edged
little-known Narsingh Deonarine for Darren
Sammy to take a sharp catch. That, as
expected, stunned the crowd into a deathly
silence, a silence that slowly transformed into
a rousing and emotional ovation as the Little
Master walked back to the pavillion.
But as Tendulkar's 74 runs and his dismissal
dominated all the attention in the first session,
Cheteshwar Pujara took full toll as he slammed
his 5th Test ton while Rohit Sharma got to his
2nd Test hundred on the trot and with
contributions from Virat Kohli (57) and R
Ashwin (30), helped India amass a massive
lead of 313 before they were bowled out for
495.
Pujara had the rub of the green going for him
as he was dubiously ruled not out on 76 by
the third umpire even as replays showed Kieron
Powell taking the catch inches off the ground,
but the right-hander did not let that perturb
him. He was in his elements again, knocking
off boundaries regularly and playing the
spinners and the pacers with considerable ease
before working Doenarine for a single behind
square to notch up his 2nd century at the
Wankhede.
India's lead may be a massive one, but it was
thanks to two Windies players that they could
keep the lead down to that much. Shane
Shillingford is fast turning into West Indies'
premier wicket-taker as he snapped his 5th
consecutive five-fer. The right-armer also
became the first ever spinner to take 5
consecutive fiver-wicket hauls in Test cricket.
The other stand-out was skipper Darren
Sammy, who became the only West Indian
player to take 5 catches in an innings. But both
these landmarks dwarfed in comparison and
paled in significance when compared to the
lead India had racked up at the end of the day.
After the fall on Tendulkar's wicket, it was left
to Pujara and Kohli to take India to a more
dominant position. Kohli started in a hurry,
scoring at more than a run a ball as India's
lead went past hundred, just before the Lunch
interval. Kohli could not carry on with the same
intensity post-Lunch and was soon out to
Shillingford, bringing in MS Dhoni and with him
a massive reception. Shillingford soon had the
better of Pujara, deceiving him and flight and
taking the return catch with ease.
The new ball was taken as soon as it was
made available and it resulted in the wicket of
the Indian skipper after just 5 deliveries. Best
getting Dhoni to edge to Sammy at second
slip. The wicket opened the flood gates for a
certain Rohit Sharma to carve out another
record-breaking innings.
If Pujara's knock had put West Indies on the
mat, the battering they received from Rohit
Sharma would have left them begging for
mercy. If the Mumbai crowd had gathered to
watch one of their own smash a century, they
were certainly not left wanting as the right-
hander became only the 2nd Indian after
Sourav Ganguly to score 2 hundreds in his first
2 innings.
The 2 innings showed Rohit's contrasting
abilities - the first to bail the team out of
trouble and the second to bat through with the
tail and to grind the opposition. The right-
hander was batting on 46 when India lost their
9th wicket, but he found an able partner in
Mohd Shami to help get to his landmark, with
a huge six, before Shami was out caught and
India bowled out.
With 14 over left for the visitors to negotiate,
India had the perfect chance to unleash their
spinners and pick up a few quick wickets. That
they did and in fine fashion as Kieron Powell,
Tino Best and Darren Bravo fell cheaply to
leave Windies tottering at 43/3 and staring at
another innings defeat.