Sachin Tendulkar was dismissed for 74 in what is likely to be the
final innings of his record-breaking career.
Tendulkar, 40, in his 200th and final Test match, seemed destined for
his 101st international century as he resumed on 38 against West
Indies.
However, there was stunned silence inside the Wankhede Stadium when he
edged Narsingh Deonarine to first slip where Darren Sammy took a sharp
catch.
The Windies ended day two on 43-3, 270 runs from making India bat again.
Thousands of supporters with painted faces and Indian flags queued
outside the ground on Friday morning in the hope of witnessing
Tendulkar’s final innings, while millions more watched on television
as many offices and schools closed for the Muslim festival Muharram.
In the morning papers in India, there were headlines such as “On 38,
with a billion prayers” and “India waits for the big one” as the sense
of anticipation grew.
And after surviving a strong caught-behind appeal off fast bowler Tino
Best, Tendulkar brought up the 68th Test half-century of his career
with an exquisite drive down the ground for four.
Tendulkar, who announced last month that this would be his final Test,
continued to look in good touch at his home ground in Mumbai as he
found the boundary with increasing regularity against a struggling
bowling attack.
However, he fell 26 runs short of what would have been a fairytale
century when he slashed hard outside off stump against spinner
Deonarine, only to see Sammy produce an excellent catch.
It was a muted celebration from Windies skipper Sammy as Tendulkar
made his way off the pitch to a standing ovation.
Already the highest runscorer in Test history, Tendulkar, who made his
Test debut in November 1989, increased his career aggregate to 15,921,
some 2,543 more than the next highest batsman, Australian Ricky
Ponting, who retired from international cricket late last year.
It left India, who lead the two-match series 1-0, at 221-3 in reply to
the visitors’ first-innings total of 182 all out and centuries from
Cheteshwar Pujara (113) and Rohit Sharma (111 not out) helped them to
495 all out.
The beleaguered Windies, who were beaten by an innings and 51 runs in
the first match at Kolkata, lost three wickets in six overs in a
dismal start to their second innings.
We are using some archive pictures for this Test because several photo
agencies have been barred from the ground following a dispute with the
Board of Control for Cricket in India, while other agencies have
withdrawn their photographers in protest. – BBC Sport
