With the enthusiasm of a child

When Sachin Tendulkar first played against Australia in 1991, he faced the likes of Merv Hughes – towards the end of his career – and Craig McDermott, setting out on his. Over the last 19 years, generation after generation of Australian bowlers has been tortured by him. Peter George, who made Tendulkar his maiden Test wicket this week but not before he had just scored a chanceless double-century, had just celebrated his third birthday when Tendulkar made his debut.

Still, if the greys were to be removed, you would not be able to tell who the debutant was between the two. Tendulkar retains his enthusiasm, gets nervous nearer to a century, even when it’s his 49th. But his batting has been enriched by the experience of 20 years. Mentally, he is at the top of his game, spending time in assessing the bowling, the conditions, and playing accordingly.

To watch Tendulkar bat now – with unnecessary risks eliminated and the necessary ones taken with aplomb – is to feel sorry for the bowlers. Virender Sehwag still gives you chances, but it is plain hopeless to bowl to Tendulkar. While some may miss the thrills the Tendulkar of the nineties brought, we should not expect the man to stagnate. The game evolves daily, and Tendulkar’s has too. It is not as if he always plays an efficient, risk-free game. In Bangalore, he hooked and pulled Mitchell Johnson like he would have done last decade. He went from 93 to 105 via two sweet blows over wide long-on, reminding Nathan Hauritz how he had demolished his more illustrious countrymen in the past.

The numbers can hardly be argued against. In 2010, his 21st year in international cricket, Tendulkar has scored 1,000 Test runs in a year for the sixth time. He took just 12 innings to go from 13,091 to 14,000, averaging more than 84 in that period while scoring four centuries – two of them double – and a 98. He has scored 1,270 Test runs this year with Mohammad Yousuf’s record of 1,788 in his reach. The methods might have altered a bit, but the runs are coming just as fast.

But whether Tendulkar is playing his best cricket is open to debate, given his best opponents – Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Curtley Ambrose, Allan Donald, Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan and Shaun Pollock – have all walked away. The fact, though, remains that Tendulkar has outlasted them, not just the bowlers, but he has outlasted separate generations of batsmen. Brian Lara and Steve Waugh, once his closest competitors, cannot even think of playing professional cricket now. Ricky Ponting, who came closest to him earlier this decade, has been left behind too. Over the next few months, he will, in all probability, reach a century of centuries too.

Tendulkar, though, does not have what Ponting and Waugh have: World Cups. Next year, the little master looks to give it his all to get his hands on the missing jewel. It’s not a personal indulgence, though. India will need him badly if they are to stand a chance.

(The writer is an assistant editor at Cricinfo)

Published in The Express Tribune, October 15^th, 2010.