02 May,2009 07:52 AM IST | | Sanjjeev K Samyal
Criticised for failure as India skipper, Tendulkar is making all the right moves as the Indians captain
There is probably just one box in Sachin Tendulkar's performance sheet which does not have a tick mark against it. Tendulkar, the cricketer, has touched unbelievable heights. The only period he would like to forget in his glittering career is his captaincy stint with the Indian team.
Although it is not exactly like leading the national team, but his captaincy is once again under scrutiny on the world stage as skipper of the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League.
And, looking at the way he has marshaled his troops on the field, he seems to be enjoying his current stint more.
He was certainly at his best as a leader in yesterday's game against Kolkata Knight Riders at Buffalo Park.
Tendulkar played his cards so astutely and timed his every move so well that the Kolkata Knight Riders were in utter disbelief to have lost the game. Chasing 148 and with wickets in hand following an 89-run third-wicket partnership between Brad Hodge and Morne Van Wyk , KKR would have expected to cross the line without much difficulty.
But, some calculated bowling changes by Tendulkar saw KKR strangulated at the end to a silent death. He kept the batsmen guessing with his bowling changes.
First, their best bowler Lasith Malinga did not operate with the new ball. Graham Napier, playing his first game of the tournament, shared the new ball with Zaheer Khan.
Malinga was not brought until the fifth over and was then used for the 13th, 17th and 19th over.
Malinga's final over, the 19th of the innings, was the clincher. KKR needed 23 runs off 12 balls with the well-set Brad Hodge and Brendon McCullum at the crease. Malinga gave just four runs and Hodge was run out off the last ball trying to steal the second run.
Masterstroke
"Malinga's 19th over was a masterstroke," admitted KKR skipper McCullum.u00a0 The other strike bowler Harbhajan Singh bowled the fourth, sixth, 12th and 14th over while Zaheer Khan bowled the first, third, 16th and the 18th over.
The surprise packet was the choice of Abhishek Nayar to bowl the final over with 19 runs to win.u00a0
"We knew the opposition was waiting for that one over in between from the fifth bowler to go for the big hits, so we struck to our main bowlers. If the opposition has to get 19 to 20 runs, it was always going to be tough. It also gives the fifth bowler more cushion. The strategy of leaving Nayar to bowl the last over worked well for us," said Tendulkar about his gameplan.
"It was a very important win because in the last match against Kings XI Punjab and in the game against Deccan Chargers, we were in control but lost out because of a couple of big hits in the end. The way we defended our total is good for our morale. We will take the confidence into the next match," the Mumbai skipper added.
In the last two seasons, Tendulkar has taken his game to an even higher level.
The way he is performing as captain here, it could very well force his critics to erase the blot on his performance sheet as well.
