'Sachin Is Cricket's Kohinoor'

Here I was sitting in the stands and watching SachinTendulkar unfold his genius. Time and again I thought, has there been a betterbatsman I have watched in my life? I couldn't think of anyone, not even VivRichards. Tendulkar is cricket's "Kohinoor". Nobody comes remotelyclose.

Tendulkar looked a man possessed in this match. I havenever seen him field with as much aggression as he did on Tuesday. Normally notthe one to show his emotions on the field, he was reacting wildly to mis-fieldsand throws off his bowling. I think the clips of those moments should bepreserved for posterity. His eyes were glowing and he was even shoutingmouthfuls. It was as if he wanted this game to be the best of his life. SauravGanguly must have sensed this rare mood of his top man for he gave him thoseextra overs.

Tendulkar's genius was apparent in the way he made theadjustment in his batting and that's why he is Tendulkar and not Virender Sehwag.While Sehwag doesn't make any attempt to understand the bowlers' strategy andbats in the same gear, Tendulkar sizes up the situation instantly. He wasconstantly coming inside the line and working the ball on the onside, most ofhis fours came in the mid-wicket, square leg or past fine leg with thosedelicate flicks off his heavy bat.

A pure genius. He proves his peerless ability in every second or third match heplays. And he has been doing it for 14 years. We are very fortunate to have beenborn in the same era as Tendulkar and watched him in action.

Good as Tendulkar was, I am concerned with Pakistan'snear-inability to defend a total as big as 330. They played this game with sixbowlers and still nearly came unstuck. What is more damning is that the Indianswere chasing the runs under lights which is not the best of time for a battingside. If anyone of the regular batsmen, Yuvraj Singh or Rahul Dravid, had stayedtill the end, Indians would have been 2-0 up at this stage.

I think Shoaib Akhtar could be having fitness worries.He is not bowling as well as he can. He is not able to use the new ball the wayonly he can. The wicket though suited Mohammad Sami's skiddy style of bowling tothe hilt.

Shahid Afridi was Pakistan's obvious hero. He shouldalways be played against India. The feeling in the Pakistan camp is that Indianbowling comes under pressure against Afridi. I spoke to him before the game andhe said he was pumped up. He showed us exactly why.

The Indian bowlers didn't have the pace or bounce toforce him on the backfoot. The only reason you can succeed against Afridi is ifyou can push him on the backfoot. That's why he should always be played on thesub-continent's slow wickets.

He is not picked to play abroad because he could look awkward against bouncingdeliveries. I also liked the way he was willing to go for his pull or hook shotsagainst the Indians. It's a new facet of his batting and it's apparent he hasworked on it during the days spent in wilderness. He also took the wickets of SauravGanguly and Yuvraj, not easy to do for a leg-spinner against left-handers.

Pakistan did well enough to cut down on wides andno-balls in this game. It was a critical difference. There were 22 leg byes inthe extras for sure but that's a different matter.

I felt though they goofed up in sending Moin Khan upthe order. They should have sent Shoaib Malik instead, for he is little under-utilisedin batting. Abdul Razzaq's position is perfect, he is one of world's mostdangerous batsmen in the final overs.

As things are shaping up, any team which makes lessmistakes would be winners in this one-day series. Pakistan's bowling is superiorto India's and their batting has got 300-plus in both the matches they haveplayed so far. To me, Pakistan is now the favourite.

PTI