The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Crucial game of the series

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Thursday, Oct 11, 2007
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Crucial game of the series

Tendulkar’s amazing milestone is a testimony to his resilience, writes Steve Waugh

— Photo: Hamish Blair/Getty Images

MAKING NEW FRIENDS: Brad Hogg taking a stroll on the streets of Vadodara.

The last three outings have been pretty intense confrontations both on and off the field. There has been tough cricket, tough talking, and great entertainment for the spectators. The next game will decide which way the series will go, and I expect one of the key players to step up in the heat of the contest.

It might be a Sachin Tendulkar or a Matthew Hayden, or perhaps even someone who has not yet come alive in the series, like Adam Gilchrist or Rahul Dravid.

The Indians would be happy and relieved that they have finally got a win over Australia. Their last one-day win against us was in early 2004, and these two teams have met at least 10 times after that, so it will be a relief for the Indians to have opened their account not only in the context of this series but also because they will be seeing a lot of Australia in the coming season.

The Australians will try to get to a position from where they can’t lose the series with a win on Thursday, and to do that they will have to tighten up their game. There were 31 wides in the last game, which is something Ricky Ponting and Tim Nielsen will not be happy about.

I think Brad Hodge will continue to get the backing of his captain because that has been Australian selection policy. They back players once they have earned the faith of the selectors, and Hodge has done more than enough to merit his captain’s vote of confidence.

He was dropped from the Test team in the game after he had scored a double hundred, so perhaps the thinktank don’t want to repeat that.

Thursday’s game will be Tendulkar’s 400th, and that is a seriously amazing milestone that tells us a lot about the man. It is a testimony to his resilience, consistency and supreme ability.

It speaks of a career where he has never been dropped, has had relatively few injuries and certainly it tells us there have been more peaks than troughs in this marathon career. Right now Tendulkar looks good for a few more games. Who knows, 500 games might be the next milestone for the great man.

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