New Delhi, Nov 15: West Indies captain Darren Sammy took a good catch at first slip to dismiss Sachin Tendulkar for 74 runs off Narsingh Deonarine on the second day of his farewell Test at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Friday.
Deonarine bowled a flatter delivery outside off and Tendulkar tried to cut it fine, but it bounced extra and the thick edge went quickly towards Sammy at first slip, who took a good catch in front of his face as Tendulkar walked off the field to a thunderous applause and a standing ovation.
Cheteshwar Pujara reached his fourth Test fifty soon after Tendulkar brought up his 68th Test half-century with a trademark straight drive off Tino Best.
This is the 119th time that Tendulkar crossed the 50-run mark in Test cricket - the most by any batsman in Test cricket history.
The day's play started with Cheteshwar Pujara and Tendulkar resuming the Indian first innings.
Tendulkar is looking good but one must not forget the contribution of Pujara in that stand. His quick scoring has ensured that Tendulkar does not get the pressure of the scoreboard. If West Indies do not manage to strike as they did in Kolkata, they might be on the field for a long, long day.
India are in a wonderful position to shut West Indies out of this game, if they manage to play out the whole day. The hosts are more than capable of doing that and will look to rectify the mistakes committed at Kolkata. The West Indies will surely look for an encore.
Day 1 saw yet another indisciplined batting display from West Indies and yet another spin-burst from the Pragyan Ojha-R Ashwin combination, on a track that aided both bounce and spin.
The West Indies were bowled out for 182 runs cheaply earlier and then came a fine start by the Indian openers.
There was a bit of drama after that as two quick wickets brought the big man, Tendulkar to the crease. The scenes, the noise, the atmosphere, everything was stunning as the Master took the center-stage. He played some fantastic strokes and got the crowd going while Pujara also got off to a fine start.
Seldom can an Indian batsman have been as enthusiastically cheered off the pitch in India as Vijay was. The hope of watching Tendulkar bat on the very first day, which had seemed to disappear when MS Dhoni won the toss and opted to field, had unexpectedly come true after all.
Then a compact figure was seen making his way down the stairs, and the noise rose to a whole different level. A chant familiar to every Indian who has watched cricket made itself heard once again, punctuated by hands clapping, and seats, boards and empty bottles banging, all in rhythm.
The crowd stood as one and roared as Sachin made his way to the crease. In a rare gesture, the entire West Indian team lined up to create a path for him; in an even rarer gesture, even the two umpires joined the 'guard of honour', one on either side.
This was, after all, no ordinary occasion. The designated neutral men felt compelled to pay respect to the god of cricket.
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