Why Tendulkar cannot bat early in the Lords Test 2011

The possibility of Sachin Tendulkar scoring his 100th international century at Lord’s was left in doubt by two circumstances, one of India having to defend for an entire day on the fifth day of the first Test of the India England series at Lord’s and that Tendulkar’s viral fever has already dropped him down the order.

The sight of Rahul Dravid opening the batting with Abhinav Mukund should be concern enough. But there is another concern in the Indian batting line up as they try and bat through the better part of effectively four sessions of the Test to prevent England from running away with victory in the first Test of the all important series.

However, Sachin Tendulkar, who apparently was batting with a viral infection in the first innings as well when he made thirty-four, was unable to take the field altogether on the fourth day, clearly signally hat even for the maestro, his health had got the better of him. Tendulkar, it was reported, did not even come to the stadium at Lord’s until past the lunch hour and remained behind closed doors. India needed two substitutes, one for the injured Gautam Gambhir and another for Zaheer Khan. Tendulkar was the third player named in the line up to have left the field for a rather lengthy period of time.

The tricky situation before India is that India need either 458 runs in their second innings to win the Test or bat through the fifth day in order to be able to draw the match. The conditions are not particularly demonic although the pressure for India will be enormous and cannot be underestimated. To have Gambhir and Tendulkar is their regular positions would have been extremely favourable for India. But now it would be extremely fortunate for India if either one of them is able to put their pads on if required.

When Tendulkar missed the opportunity to go onto score the 100th 100 of his cricket career in the first innings, there were expectations that with another innings still to go, the opportunity was not altogether lost. Even as Rahul Dravid made his first Test century at Lord’s, it proved to be consolation for the many fans who turned up for Tendulkar’s historic time in the game. now with Tendulkar having been forced further down the order as per the rules given that he could not take the field, he will have a tougher time when India’s five wickets are down before he can come onto the field.

Batting in this scenario will not be easy and with time and Test being a pressure, the century would not be top priority even for Sachin Tendulkar. The fifth day’s play is yet to unfold and one never knows quite how this fascinating game will unfold. For India though and Sachin Tendulkar in particular, the situation has become rather tricky because being the team man at heart, Tendulkar would have wanted to bat in his normal position at no.4 not because a milestone beckons him but because he would have liked to the block that prevents England from thinking they can get the better of the world’s no.1 Test team.