I became a devotee all over again of the only God that there is : Sachin Tendulkar. The match winning innings against the visiting English side in the 1st test of the RBS Series was nothing short of an unbelievable innings.
The calmness with which he handled the situations, the ultimate poise he showed on the pitch, the pep-talks he gave to Yuvraj Singh, and most importantly the tremendous victory that he bestowed M.S. Dhoni’s side with was a treat for all cricket lovers.
Indians set with a daunting task of getting 387 runs to win the match with 126 overs at their disposal, got off to a rocketing start (on the 4th day), as Man of the Match Virendra Sehwag blasted away the initial pace and spin attack of the English men. When the final day of the test begun India had to score 250 odd runs for victory and they had 9 wickets in hand. Dravid fell early to Flintoff, but Sachin and Gambhir steadied the innings a bit. A few overs before lunch Gambhir fell too. Laxman joined Tendulkar and the sparkle that Laxman showed promised a lot. But just after lunch Laxman threw away his wicket to the debutant offie Swann.
After that it was Yuvraj and Sachin all around, and the fielders and bowlers couldn’t do a thing. They even tried to “slang” Yuvraj out but the sheer calmness of Yuvraj foiled all their plans.
It was a scintillating win for India as it were England who dominated 70 % of the match and yet ended up in the losing side. As Kevin Peterson accepted, it was the master who frustrated them and snatched the game away from them, bit-by-bit! The maestro dedicated his century to the brave men who died saving Mumbai in the recent terrorist attack on the city (the little master’s home town!)
All hail the Mighty Sachin!
The Vidyarthi 
