When Tendulkar's double century spiced up a Ranji Trophy semifinal
Sachin Tendulkar helped Mumbai chase down a mammoth first innings total of 485 in a nail-biting game at the Wankhede Stadium.
Published : Apr 13, 2020 21:10 IST
Nostalgia — not just the virus — is in the air, with sporting world literally coming to a standstill. Even without a lockdown, cricketing fraternity would have celebrated the 20th anniversary of an epic in the Ranji Trophy history.
On Sachin Tendulkar’s request, the semifinal between Mumbai and Tamil Nadu was postponed to let him be available after representing Asia XI in Dhaka. And he helped Mumbai chase down a mammoth first innings total of 485 in a nail-biting game at the Wankhede Stadium.
On the third day of the match -- April 13 -- Tendulkar scored the double century. Hemang Badani, who starred for TN, and Ajit Agarkar, who had match-figures of six for 120 and shared a vital 37-run partnership with Tendulkar in a nervy chase, recall the game.
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Hemang Badani
It was my first Ranji semifinal. I was nervous but excited since playing Mumbai in Mumbai is always special. It was a full-strength Mumbai side and we had a big total on the board after being asked to bat on a lively pitch.
Then on, it was all about Sachin’s magnificence. I remember we had close to six or seven men on the boundary line and he still found a way to find the fence regularly. It was impossible to believe we lost to one man.
It was remarkable to see his intensity on the field. I have never seen an international cricketer show such passion for his State side. After the match, it was sweet of him to speak with me. He spoke about my flow, bat swing and asked not to change the way I played. It was a very tough loss for us and took some time to come out of it. The only silverlining for me was the way I batted when it mattered. A month later, I made my debut for India and I am sure this knock played a huge role in that.
Ajit Agarkar
Without trying to sound cocky, the Mumbai team felt pretty comfortable in the era that I played. We did lose games but seldom were we nervous. So nervous most of us were during that game that I didn’t watch the run-chase at all. I remember Ramesh (Powar) and I were glued to our seats inside the dressing room and stepped out only to applaud a milestone — majority of them were by Sachin. I think Amol (Muzumdar) was also sitting with us right through, so yes, I hardly watched the great knock.
READ: Sachin Tendulkar's very special 100
It was a stellar performance by both the sides. Badani scored a good hundred, Robin scored a gritty century. But the chase was really anxious. Sachin batted almost right through the innings but despite Vinod (Kambli) and Amol giving him support, we always knew chasing down almost 500 was going to be a challenge. And he rose to it. One could sense during our partnership; one could sense how badly he wanted it.
No wonder then that he was so pumped after crossing the line with a six. Never have I seen him so pumped-up in a domestic game during my career. And it was understandable since it was literally a one-man show. A wonderful game indeed!
The match at a glance April 11 to 15, 2000 Day 1: TN 397/4 in 90 overs (Hemang Badani 162 not out, Robin Singh 142 not out) Day 2: TN 485 all out in 121.4 overs (Robin 183 n.o., Badani 162; Ajit Agarkar 4/83, Santosh Saxena 3/91) vs Mumbai 141/4 in 57 overs (Sameer Dighe 55, Sachin Tendulkar 34 n.o.) Day 3 (April 13): Mumbai 470/8 in 147 overs (Tendulkar 213 batting, Vinod Kambli 75, Amol Muzumdar 47) Day 4: Mumbai 490 all out in 152 overs (Tendulkar 233 not out., Aashish Kapoor 3/93, S. Mahesh 3/105, T. Kumaran 2/88); TN 171 all out in 54.1 overs (Hemang Badani 63, S. Reuben Paul 46; Abey Kuruvilla 2/16, Ramesh Powar 2/19); Mumbai 104/1 in 27 overs (Sameer Dighe 51 not out, Jatin Paranjape 27 not out) Day 5: Mumbai 169/2 in 44.4 overs (Dighe 73, Paranjape 55 not out, Tendulkar 13 not out) Result: Mumbai won by 8 wickets. |