Sachin's romance with Chepauk

Facebook walls and Twitter feeds are flooded with videos, blogs and articles as tributes continue to pour in for India’s most celebrated son and cricket’s greatest ambassador, Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, since he announced his retirement from ODI cricket. It has been one exhilarating journey as a Sachin Tendulkar fan ever since the 1996 World Cup when I first started watching cricket. Over the years, Sachin has grown to be an intricate part of life – you celebrate his victories, take pride in his achievements and share his sorrow and grief. As Harsha Bhogle mentioned in a recent podcast, Tendulkar affects your senses, he affects your consciousness.

Sachin Tendulkar has shattered records and conquered the loftiest of peaks in international cricket – most matches, most runs, most centuries, most half centuries, most Man of the Match awards – name a record you will find it in Sachin’s kitty. Buried in all these records and glories is a long drawn romance which Sachin shares with the cricket frenzy city of Chennai. For someone who has grown up in Chennai for twenty years, like all Chennaites I take immense pride in Sachin’s successes at the M.A.Chidambaram Cricket Stadium. Sachin’s heroics at Chepauk stand out as a romantic chapter in the annals of his conquests around the world.

Cricketers have always shared special memories with certain grounds – VVS Laxman with the Eden Gardens, Brian Lara with the Antigua Sports Ground etc. Chepauk has been Sachin’s favourite hunting ground. Chepauk has been privileged to see some of the greatest knocks of Sachin’s career. In Tests and ODIs combined, Sachin has scored 1066 runs, including 5 centuries in 15 matches at Chepauk at a handsome average of 71.06. Speaking of just numbers, Chepauk may not be Sachin’s best stadium – he has scored more prolifically in the Sydney Cricket Ground or the Vidharba C.A Ground in Nagpur. But when it comes to Sachin and Chepauk, it is much more than numbers; it is about the significance of big scores he has made here and the spell binding effect he has had on the spectators in essaying each of the epics. Here is a look back at some of the favourite Sachin moments in Chennai.

India hosted Australia in the summer of 1998 and the battle lines were drawn for the Sachin – Warne standoff. After tearing into Warne in a practice match at Mumbai a week earlier, the stage was set at Chepauk for the battle between the two legends to continue. Warne got the better of Sachin in the first innings when he dismissed him cheaply for four runs. On day 4 in the second innings, on a deteriorating Chennai track, Sachin sent Warne and co. on a leather hunt. The genius of the man was there for everyone to see when he dispatched the first ball Warne bowled to him around the wicket into the footmarks for a maximum. Chepauk was treated to a blitzkrieg, 155 runs at a strike rate of 81.15. India went on to win the match, Sachin was adjudged player of the match and Warnie would be haunted by the Chepauk nightmares for a very long time. As for Chepauk, it was only the beginning of something special.

Sachin’s next century at the Chepauk, 136 against Pakistan, is considered by many as the greatest test knock till date. Again it came on a tough day 5 Chennai pitch against the likes of Saqlain Mushtaq, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis. Chasing 271 runs to win, India were in more than a spot of bother at 82 for 5. “Cometh the hour, cometh the champion” goes the saying, and the champion in Sachin did emerge. Sachin constructed a laborious and watchful knock under testing conditions. He got India within touching distance but the Indian tail couldn’t knock off the remaining 20 odd runs once he was dismissed. The greatness of the knock also lies in the fact that Sachin battled back spasms and cramps through the course of his innings. Chepauk was left in tears, as was the great man himself. The broken Sachin wouldn’t even come out to collect his Man of the Match Award.

A decade later in 2009, Sachin healed those wounds inflicted on Chepauk with another 4^th innings master class; this time ensuring India’s victory in the process. Chasing a seemingly improbable 387 to win with 4 sessions of play left, Sehwag had given India a chance with a quick-fire 83 of 68 balls. Sachin walked in to the morning session of day 5 with India needing 246 runs to win. Another classic from the Little Master ensued. He paced his innings beautifully; watchful in the early stages and opening up later. During the course of his knock, he took the mercurial Yuvraj under his wing and mentored him as he made a useful half century. On 99, Sachin paddle-swept Graeme Swann to the boundary, reached his hundred, India won and Chepauk erupted, as did the whole of India.

Apart from the above knocks, Sachin has scored centuries against England in 1993 and Australia in 2001 in Chepauk. India won on both occasions and Sachin was instrumental in setting up the victories. One gets the feeling Sachin reserves his best for Chepauk. He is at home in Chepauk; he knows the pitch like the back of his hand. The sway that Sachin has over the Chennai crowd is unbelievable. He cast a spell on them in the 1990s, left them in tears at the turn of the millennium and came back stronger to wipe those tears a decade later. Sachin himself has admitted Chepauk is his favourite hunting ground in the world and hailed the crowd as one of the most knowledgeable in the world. Chepauk has reciprocated his love for Chennai in equally good measure. People adore and worship Sachin at the Chidambaram stadium. It is a special occasion for the Chepauk crowd when he comes out to bat in the middle. They turn up in numbers to cheer and watch their star pile on the runs. Be it a Test match, ODI or a T20, the stands are invariably full when Sachin is playing. In the IPL, every Chennai Super King fan wants Sachin to score for the Mumbai Indians at the Chepauk. Sachin’s love affair with the Chepauk is a just tribute to this cricket loving city.

One of my biggest regrets as a Sachin Tendulkar fan is not watching Sachin play any of the above epics live at the Chepauk. However, I did manage to watch him live in action at the Chepauk. It was against the Proteas in 2008, only for him to be dismissed without bothering the scorers. An absolute anti-climax! Sachin recently announced his retirement from ODIs on the eve of the Indo-Pak ODI series with the first match scheduled at Chepauk. One can only imagine the euphoria that would have gripped Chennai had the Little Master signed off with another master class in his beloved Chepauk. If only we could write our scripts. Perhaps “God” writes them better and knows better.