It was always something that bothered me.
The highest score of Sachin Tendulkar in test matches came against Bangladesh and the master does not have a triple hundred in his resume.
It pained even more to remember that the highest score in one dayers belonged to Saeed Anwar who made 194 against India in the Independence Cup.
So when Tendulkar became the first person to score 200 in one dayers in the ongoing series between India and South Africa, I like millions of Indian cricket fans felt redeemed. That it came against one of the stronger teams made this latest feat of Sachin even more special.It is hard to imagine any other batsman going that far, but even when the feat is repeated or exceeded, the record books shall always show the name of Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar as the first man to climb to this mark.
Sometime back, Sachin made a 150 plus score against Australia and still India finished on the losing side. That innings, in my humble opinion should be rated as one of the best of the master. Probably, an Indian win would have kept that innings in our memories. Let us not forget the back to back hundreds made in Sharjah.
There is another innings that can match this latest knock of Sachin-the 175 not out of Kapil Dev in the Prudential World Cup of 1983. When half of the side was back in the pavilion and the days when 100s were not common in the one dayers, Kapil showed the way.Of course, there was no one to record that innings for posterity, unlike the 200 of Sachin that surely will be viewed many times even in future.
Just as Sachin was being written off as a matchwinner, he managed to set a benchmark that may become one of the most long standing records in the history of cricket.
It is not happiness or relief but a case of redemption not for Sachin but for Indians as a whole.
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