The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Tendulkar-Warne meeting takes centrestage

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Thursday, Sep 30, 2004

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Sport - Cricket

Tendulkar-Warne meeting takes centrestage

By G Viswanath

MASTERS OF THE GAME: Australian spin wizard Shane Warne (left) and Indian batting maestro have a few points to discuss at the Brabourne Stadium. — Photo: Vivek Bendre

MUMBAI, SEPT. 29. The two masters of the game, Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne, took some time off to exchange greetings and share thoughts even as the two teams, Mumbai and Australia, were having their practise session at the Brabourne Stadium here on Wednesday.

As promised Tendulkar first spent three hours with the Mumbai team members. He had a chat with coach Chandrakant Pandit and captain Sairaj Bahutule and offered advice to the junior players.

Later Warne, after bowling in the nets and taking a few catches at first slip, walked up to meet Tendulkar. Australia's captain Adam Gilchrist too joined in and enquired about Tendulkar's well being. Soon Brad Hodge joined the party.

Tendulkar also fulfilled a wish of an Australian journalist, Robert Craddock of The Courier Mail. He autographed (with his left hand) his first Test cap that Craddock had bought at an auction in aid of a charity in Bangalore three years ago. He also talked in detail about the state of his elbow to the waiting journalists.

The three-day tour opener in itself would serve two different purposes for the teams. While Mumbai would strive to be a competitive outfit on the field, Australia, with its batting order shaken by Ricky Ponting's absence, would utilise the opportunity to find a capable replacement for the No. 3 slot. A few names have been thrown up including that of skipper Gilchrist.

The left-hander dealt a knockout blow to the Sri Lankans early this year at Kandy while another left-hander Simon Katich, who scored 125 against India at Sydney, also appears to be a strong contender.

The highlight of the day was the 30-minute meeting between Tendulkar and Warne. A dozen years ago a skinny looking Tendulkar had cracked a memorable 148 not out at the SCG, leaving Warne with unmemorable figures of one for 150 in his debut Test.

Since then their careers have advanced positively.

Contrast

Whilst Tendulkar has impressive scores of 148 not out, 155, 177, 116, 126, whenever Warne has figured in the Australian team, the latter has had some uninspiring outings with figures like one for 150, none for 60, one for 122, none for 147, one for 77, one for 63, one for 152, two for 140 and none for 41 in the 11 Tests he has played against India.

Warne is hoping to play match-winning roles this time around. Warne has shown signs of success in the subcontinent with remarkable performances in Sri Lanka after a 12-month layoff from international cricket.

In 1998's tour opener Tendulkar scored his first double century in first class cricket in India while Warne conceded 111 runs off the 16 overs he bowled. Now Tendulkar, laid low by an injury, is not in the Mumbai squad while Warne will be in the Australian XI reserves with the visitor saving him for the Bangalore Test.

After the players had finished their session, Tendulkar went up to the pitch to meet the ground-in-charge Polly Umrigar and Dileep Sardesai. A few minutes later, the CCI `malis' were seen trimming the grass and using the one tonne roller on the pitch.

The teams: Mumbai (from): Sairaj Bahutule (captain), Wasim Jaffer, Vinayak Mane, Vinod Kambli, Amol Muzumdar, Ajit Agarkar, Vinayak Samant, Nilesh Kulkarni, Ramesh Powar, Rohit Sharma, Robin Morris, Bhavin Thakkar, Santosh Shinde, Vineet Indulkar, Avishkar Salvi, Swapnil Hazare.

Australia: Adam Gilchrist (captain), Justin Langer, Matthew Hayden, Brad Hodge, Damien Martyn, Simon Katich, Michael Clarke, Shane Watson, Brett Lee, Nathan Hauritz, Glenn McGrath. Reserves: Shane Warne, Jason Gillespie, Michael Kasprowicz, Cameron White and Darren Lehmann.

Umpires: Messrs K. Hariharan and T.K. Handu.

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