RevSportz Comment
Those that were part of the 1991 Ranji Trophy final, played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai in May 1991, still talk of it to this day. Kapil Dev’s all-round efforts in the autumn of his career, the unheralded Deepak Sharma being dismissed for 199, Ajay Jadeja, Chetan Sharma and Sachin Tendulkar narrowly missing out on hundreds. But most of all, Dilip Vengsarkar’s epic unbeaten 139 as Mumbai fell an agonising two runs short of the 355-run target set by Haryana. The abiding image of that match is of a disconsolate Vengsarkar walking off even as Kapil and his teammates celebrated a famous triumph.
Back then, such big names playing the Ranji Trophy was the norm rather than an exception. But by the time Tendulkar marked his guard for the final time in domestic cricket – at a ground in Lahli, on the outskirts of Rohtak – in October 2013, the scenario was vastly different. Domestic cricket was the neglected stepchild and Tendulkar’s decision to play for Mumbai one last time ahead of his farewell Test series acted like an adrenaline shot for a competition that the mainstream media had stopped caring about.
Suddenly, every news outlet worth the name sent its reporters to interior Haryana and the Chaudhary Bansi Lal Cricket Stadium. The venue was ill-equipped to deal with such an influx, and special arrangements had to be made so that the teams and the stars playing could enjoy the facilities they had become used to.
The atmosphere around the game was almost surreal, with the focus almost solely on Tendulkar. The absurdity of it all was best illustrated by Mohit Sharma being asked if he regretted dismissing The Master cheaply in the first innings. “Personally, I did not feel bad,” he told ESPNCricinfo politely. “Any wicket you take gives you happiness, especially if it is sir’s wicket. You have no words to describe the moment.”
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Jadeja, his old India teammate, was captaining Haryana, and a line-up that included Mohit, a young Harshal Patel and Joginder Sharma, the unlikely hero of India’s 2007 World T20 triumph, was formidable opposition in conditions where the ball nipped around off the seam. Despite bowling Haryana out for 134, Mumbai – with Wasim Jaffer, Ajinkya Rahane and Abhishek Nayar also in the ranks – were kept to a lead of just two runs.
Despite Zaheer Khan, another on the final lap of his journey, showing glimpses of his best in the second innings, the target of 240 looked a stiff one. When Tendulkar walked to the middle, Mumbai were 87 for 2, and the game very much in the balance.
His greatness lay in how seriously he approached every game. There had never been any question of turning up and going through the motions. The pace trio and Jayant Yadav, the off-spinner who would later play for India, beat the bat innumerable times on a spicy pitch. But not once did Tendulkar try to slog his way out of trouble. He trusted his defence and whittled away at the target with singles and twos.
In an innings that spanned nearly five hours and 175 balls, there were just six fours. Mumbai won by four wickets, with Dhawal Kulkarni helping Tendulkar add an unbeaten 50. There would be no 82nd first-class ton for the legend, but in those conditions, 79 not out was probably worth much more.
Jadeja, for one, was in no doubt about its value. “It was pretty simple, we had to get Tendulkar,” he said after the match. “There’s no team in the world that can win when Tendulkar is in the opposition, and you don’t get him out. We tried, but we couldn’t. You call him God. I call him master. If you go by what you call him, then who can fight God and win?”
Who indeed?
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