Cricket: From the Far End

Tendulkar could be a rare Maharashtrian who seems more comfortable in Chennai than in Mumbai. He has four test hundreds at Chennai (just one at Mumbai), three of which are remarkable:

Against Australia in 1998: This is the one where he stamped his supremacy against Warne
Against Pakistan in 1999: that nearly won India the match until Tendulkar got out and the remaining four wickets couldn’t get 17 runs
Against Australia again in 2001: Having not scored a century in the first two tests, his hundred here was so certain that even Australia had it in their plans for this test.

He did play two more tests at Chennai after that but hasn’t scored that much. He may get one or two more opportunities to play at Chennai considering the tendency to play test matches at other grounds these days. That, and considering the current form he is in, a good chance there will be some repeat of good old Tendulkar at Chennai show again. Plus there is the small matter of Tendulkar not having a home test 100 against South Africa.

India versus South Africa test series starts on 26th with the first test at Chennai. Their fast bowler Dale Steyn is expected to rattle India’s top order, according to some experts. For the India team before last 4-5 years it was true that you just let loose a fast bowler and the Indian batting would play their part in the “batting order collapse” script.

But things are a little different now. First, it’s Chennai and not those trampoline pitches outside India. Even if it was, are people generally forgetting how it all backfired in Johannesburg and most recently at Perth? Especially in Perth there was a super fast bowler supposed to run through the Indian batting and seal the series for Australia. Instead he ended up taking a break from his career.