Hyderabad: A battle royale between two legendary cricketers is a cherishable moment for every cricket fan. On this day in 1998, exactly 22 years ago, Indian batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar had a cricketing face-off with Australian spin bowling legend Shane Warne in Sharjah in a sweltering conditions.
It was a memorable sight as Tendulkar continues to play Australian bowlers across the ground. Even legendary leg spinner Shane Warne looked clueless against Tendulkar, who read his deliveries even before they land on the pitch and sent towards the boundary. Tendulkar played one of the finest innings of his career in One-Day-International cricket against an Australian side that, at that time, was unconquerable. He scored 143 off 131 balls at a strike-rate of 109.16. It was then his highest ODI score.
Sachin Tendulkar plays a shot during his 143 runs knock against Australia Tendulkar, being a run machine, battered the likes of Warne, Damien Fleming, Michael Kasprowicz and Steve Waugh to thump his authority over the Australian team. He made some extraordinary bowlers look ordinary. It was a very special innings since India qualified for the Coca Cola Cup final. Though India lost the match by 26 runs in reply to Australia 284 for 7 (revised target 276) Tendulkar made sure his effort doesn't go in vain in the final.
Continuing the fantastic form he hit 134 against Australia in the final to win the tournament. This time Tendulkar slammed the ton on his 25th birthday. His back to back centuries against the Aussies made him cricket's hottest topic for discussion.
Now coming back to his April 22nd knock. It was in Sharjah when Sachin Tendulkar created sandstorm. During his 143 runs knock, which came in losing cause, the play was suspended for 25 minutes while a sandstorm wreaked havoc on the stadium and forced umpire to revise India's target to 276. Later his innings was aptly named as the 'Desert Storm' as he wreaked havoc on the Australian bowling attack.
Batting first Australia had set 288 runs target for India, thanks to Michael Bevan's 101. In those days, scoring 280 to 290 meant a team was assured of victory since it was almost impossible to chase down the target.
But Tendulkar, who was just two days away from his 25th birthday, was not in a mood to give up without fighting. He emerged as a nightmare to the Australian bowlers. Shane Warne, who already gained a legendary status like Tendulkar, once said: “I had quite a hair-raising experience when he smashed me all over the park".
Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne greet each other at the end of the match. The Master Blaster hit 143 with the help of 9 boundaries and 5 sixes. But due to sandstorm break, Tendulkar lost the momentum and was caught behind off Fleming's bowling. When Tendulkar was dismissed India's score was 242 for 5. Before his dismissal, Tendulkar made sure India go beyond cut off target 237 to edge out New Zealand and qualify for the summit clash scheduled on April 24 at the same venue. In the final, Tendulkar took sweet revenge chasing down Australia's 272 scoring 134 off 131 balls. India won the match by 6 wickets with 9 balls remaining.
It has been 22 years since Tendulkar's Sharjah innings. These two nights went down in Indian cricket history as folklore. Though Australia survived April 22 'Desert Strom' they couldn't escape it two days later. These two nights worked as major catalysts in giving Tendulkar a legendary status that he enjoys today. Though many things have been said about Tendulkar's 1998 'Desert Storm' nobody might have said anything better about it than Tony Greig, who was on the mike during that innings. Describing the Little Master as beautifully as anyone could, Tony Greig went on to say- "What a player! What a wonderful player!"
