5 shots that showed Sachin Tendulkar's greatness

Everything that can be said about Sachin Tendulkar and his greatness has been said. The backlash against Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul for choosing Virat Kohli over Sachin as the better batsmen shows that the ‘Little Master’ is still ruling over the hearts of Indian cricket fans.

Those of us who grew up in the 1990s find the very thought of Sachin being considered inferior to anyone sacrilegious, if not blasphemous. But let’s not always think of Sachin as being in a contest with Virat Kohli or Vivian Richards or anyone else. Let’s also spend some time fondly remembering the legend that he was and the unmatched display of batting brilliance that he let us savor.

The stroke-play produced by Tendulkar is hard to be matched by anyone. While his trademark straight-drive is imprinted on the minds of all Indian fans, there were some other strokes also, played by him during his career, which proves the greatness of the man.

Let’s dive into the treasure trove of memories and relive those particular shots that could only have been played by Tendulkar and which are the biggest evidence of his genius. These shots were rare and it can be said with some confidence that anyone else would find them hard to replicate.

# Pull off Patrick Patterson

(Watch the shot from 0:13 in the video)

Even among the legendary pantheon of West Indian great fast bowlers who were renowned for their fiery pace, one man is regarded as the fastest – Patrick Patterson. His excessive pace is testified for even by players of his generation, including Jeff Dujon – the man who had the best view and feel for the speeds of many of the great West Indian fast bowlers due to being the wicketkeeper who collected their deliveries behind the stumps.

Now, imagine an 18-year old kid batting against this searing fast bowler, on an Australian wicket, and pulling him with ease for a boundary. It’s like a fairy tale but it indeed happened on 11th January 1992 in an ODI between India and West Indies at Brisbane.

Sachin scored a brilliant 77 while the rest of the Indian batting crumbled around him to let the team be all out for 191. But it was early on in his innings that he played this awe-inspiring shot. When Patterson bowled a slightly short delivery just outside the off stump, Tendulkar pushed his front-foot forward slightly before shifting his balance on to the backfoot and swivelling around to pull the ball over the leg side for a boundary.

He did it with so much ease that you would have thought of Patterson as a medium pacer which he clearly wasn’t. The transfer of weight and the swing of the hips was done so smoothly that one couldn’t help but admire the shot. It was truly a piece of brilliance.

# Flick against West Indies in 1996 World Cup match

Sachin during the 1996 World Cup

The bowling attack of West Indies that Sachin had to deal with in the 1990s consisted of two greats – Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh – along with other seriously good bowlers like Ian Bishop. At Gwalior in 1996, India faced West Indies in a group match of the World Cup that year.

Indian bowlers did their work by restricting West Indies to a meagre total of just 173. Under lights, India came out to chase the small target with Sachin opening the innings and also leading the way.

Tendulkar’s innings took flight under lights and he started stroking boundaries with the finesse that only he possessed. But the one shot that was most breathtaking came when one of the West Indian pacers bowled a back of a length delivery outside the off-stump.

Most batsmen would have played the ball on to the off-side, maybe even trying the cut, but not Sachin. He played a unique shot which was a flick but unlike the regular variety, one that was played with a diagonal, almost horizontal bat. It took the ball through the vacant midwicket region for four.

Most people would associate batsmen like VVS Laxman or Mohammad Azharuddin or even Virat Kohli with the most impressive flicks through the on-side. But this special variety used by Sachin was one of a kind and another proof of Tendulkar’s unequalled genius.

(Watch the shot from 3:49 in the video)

# Flick through square-leg off Shoaib Akhtar

Sachin Tendulkar of India runs between the wickets

If this was a list of most memorable strokes played by Sachin, the upper-cut by him against Shoaib Akhtar in a group game of the 2003 World Cup would be top of the list. But we are looking at strokes of the highest quality and not necessarily of most dramatic value.

Hence, the shot to remember is not the upper-cut, which was and still is played by many other batsmen with as much ease as Tendulkar. The real gems in that innings were two shots that came immediately after the uppercut, in fact, off the next two deliveries.

On the next ball, Shoaib Akhtar decided not to use the standard fast bowler’s reply to a boundary – a bouncer – but instead, target Sachin’s pads. This delivery clocked a speed of 151.9/kph and pitched on a somewhat full-ish length. Tendulkar didn’t come too far forward and clipped the ball from around the off stump to send it racing towards the square-leg boundary. It was a typical Tendulkar flick with the bat being turned over the top of the ball to keep it along the ground.

If he had missed this delivery, Sachin would have been in serious danger of getting LBW. But when the great man was in top form, nothing could stop him. The shot was executed so flawlessly and with such precise timing that the Pakistanis could only watch in dismay.

(Watch the shot from 6:45 in the video)

# On-drive off Shoaib Akhtar

Sachin during the game against Pakistan

The flick to the leg-side mentioned in the previous slide was bound to transfix the gaze of a true connoisseur. But the best was yet to come. The next ball was also the last of the over. Having been taken for 10 runs of the previous two deliveries, Shoaib must have been seeking some sort of revenge.

But what he instead got was, possibly, the best shot of the innings. It was an on-drive which seemed like a defensive push but which was timed so brilliantly that the ball raced past the mid-on fielder and reached the boundary to rub further salt into the wounds of the opposition.

What made the shot outrageous was the fact that the ball wasn’t on a driving length at all. It was just back-of-a-length and delivered at a thundering speed of 154/kph. Tendulkar wasn’t on the front foot either - as he usually is while playing drives down the ground. Yet, he tapped the ball with ease and scored the third consecutive boundary of the over to deflate the Pakistanis.

Such a brilliant on-drive may not have been since in international cricket. Next time you enjoy this innings, don’t just drool over the uppercut but also savour these masterful strokes that only a genius like Tendulkar could produce.

(Watch from 4:08 in the video)

# Hook off Dale Steyn

India v South Africa: Group B - 2011 ICC World Cup

Through the 1990s, Sachin was facing bowlers such as Warne, McGrath, etc. He took on all of them and proved his class. But even in the last stages of his career, he chose the best bowler of the generation to show his mettle against – Dale Steyn.

Steyn was at the receiving end of the Master’s fury even in his epic innings of 200* in 2010. But it was in the 2011 World Cup group game that Sachin produced another shot that told the world that he is still the best in the business.

Dale Steyn banged the ball hard into the pitch for a short delivery that was bowled at a speed of well over 140/kph. It also wasn’t directed too badly as it didn’t provide much room to Sachin. But the ‘Master Blaster’ was quick to go back and across and pull it behind the square on the leg-side for six.

In the pull off Patterson mentioned earlier, Tendulkar just shifted his weight onto the backfoot and swivelled his hips around to play the pull. Here, he employed the strategy of going back-and-across for achieving the desired result. This shows the versatility and the mastery possessed by him. Ricky Ponting was regarded as the best puller and hooker but Tendulkar was also second to none.

To do this against the best bowler of the generation, that too, when he is at his pomp showed that as late as 2011, Sachin was in a league of his own. A legend in the truest sense of the word.

(Watch from 0:07 in the video)