Finally, cricket takes centrestage
7 Nov 2013 5:29 AM IST
The centre stage will belong to Tendulkar, who will begin pulling the curtains down on his glittering career. The 40-year-old veteran will call it quits after his 200th Test with the one starting Wednesday being his 199th. The majestic Eden Gardens has been witness to many of Tendulkar’s ups and downs since his Eden odyssey began in an ODI against Sri Lanka on 4 January, 1991.
Having played 25 matches in both Test and ODI formats here, the most by any, Tendulkar will appear in his 13th Test at Eden on Wednesday and the fans would pray the batting stalwart bids adieu to the ground on a high.
But Tendulkar has been without a century for 39 innings, two years and 10 months. He has only two 50-plus scores in his last 20 outings. But the ageing warhorse has awed fans with his application repeatedly in the past, and has it in him to do it again.
India will start the series as firm favourites with the young batsmen rising up to the challenge even though the bowling remains a worry. On the other hand, despite their big claims of playing hard cricket and spoiling Tendulkar’s farewell series, the Windies did not quite show quality in a three-day practice match against UP last week.
India’s batting is in the groove and the return of Shikhar Dhawan will strengthen it further. The left-hander struck a rollicking 187 in his debut innings in Mohali only to sit out in the second essay picking up an injury and going on to miss the last Test against Australia earlier this year. The southpaw would look to lay the foundation at the top with Murali Vijay while Cheteshwar Pujara will play the sheet-anchor role.
The middle-order will see a new face in Rohit Sharma who’s likely to make his Test debut at the Eden. Sharma was due for a Test debut against the touring South Africans in 2009-10 but a freak injury kept him on the sidelines.
It is the bowling attack which has left India in a bit of a quandary. Dhoni is likely to go for a three plus two pace-spin attack in the absence of Ravindra Jadeja. The return of Umesh Yadav will bolster the new-ball attack with Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ishant Sharma being the other two pacers while Bengal-lad Mohammad Shami may just have to wait for a Test debut.
West Indies have come with a pace attack comprising Kemar Roach, Tino Best and Sheldon Cotterrell and the last two did not show much sting even against UP in the warm-up tie. A relatively unknown offie Shane Shillingford is their most experienced spinner while rookie Veerasammy Permaul bowls left-arm orthodox. All in all, it is an attack which can be decimated by players such as Virat Kohli, Dhawan and Sharma who are in irresistible form.
Having played 25 matches in both Test and ODI formats here, the most by any, Tendulkar will appear in his 13th Test at Eden on Wednesday and the fans would pray the batting stalwart bids adieu to the ground on a high.
But Tendulkar has been without a century for 39 innings, two years and 10 months. He has only two 50-plus scores in his last 20 outings. But the ageing warhorse has awed fans with his application repeatedly in the past, and has it in him to do it again.
India will start the series as firm favourites with the young batsmen rising up to the challenge even though the bowling remains a worry. On the other hand, despite their big claims of playing hard cricket and spoiling Tendulkar’s farewell series, the Windies did not quite show quality in a three-day practice match against UP last week.
India’s batting is in the groove and the return of Shikhar Dhawan will strengthen it further. The left-hander struck a rollicking 187 in his debut innings in Mohali only to sit out in the second essay picking up an injury and going on to miss the last Test against Australia earlier this year. The southpaw would look to lay the foundation at the top with Murali Vijay while Cheteshwar Pujara will play the sheet-anchor role.
The middle-order will see a new face in Rohit Sharma who’s likely to make his Test debut at the Eden. Sharma was due for a Test debut against the touring South Africans in 2009-10 but a freak injury kept him on the sidelines.
It is the bowling attack which has left India in a bit of a quandary. Dhoni is likely to go for a three plus two pace-spin attack in the absence of Ravindra Jadeja. The return of Umesh Yadav will bolster the new-ball attack with Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ishant Sharma being the other two pacers while Bengal-lad Mohammad Shami may just have to wait for a Test debut.
West Indies have come with a pace attack comprising Kemar Roach, Tino Best and Sheldon Cotterrell and the last two did not show much sting even against UP in the warm-up tie. A relatively unknown offie Shane Shillingford is their most experienced spinner while rookie Veerasammy Permaul bowls left-arm orthodox. All in all, it is an attack which can be decimated by players such as Virat Kohli, Dhawan and Sharma who are in irresistible form.
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