I will be there for practice on Saturday and the game on Sunday.
Here are some comments regarding Sachin's Century at Perth (WACA) when he was 19.
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Sydney was more like an Indian wicket, but the way he batted at Perth you can only dream about it
Venkatapathy Raju on Tendulkar's knock |
Small man, Big innings
Taylor Sachin's 148 at Sydney was a bit of a warning. I saw Sachin and Sanjay Manjrekar at Lismore in the lead-up to first Test and we knew they had a couple of good youngsters. We knew Sachin had made a hundred in a Test match already, against England, and we thought this kid must be pretty special. And when he got a hundred at the SCG, we all thought this guy is a good player and his technique was compact.
Whitney Sachin was only 19, but he was beyond his years. He came over with this reputation of a schoolboy wunderkind who'd scored a triple century at school, and who played for Bombay when he was 15. That Sydney innings confirmed his status.
Taylor But we thought the extra pace and extra bounce would sort him out. You could expect an Indian player to make a century at the SCG where it's slower and lower, but at the WACA it takes a special player to pick up the bounce and pace of the wicket in such a short time and Sachin was able to do that. It proved that he was always going to be a player for the future.
Sachin picked up the length very quickly. At the WACA, if you are uncomfortable playing off the back foot, you can let the ball go and that's what Sachin did well. At the same time you should be looking to attack from the back foot, to cut and pull, and that's again what Sachin did well.
Whitney He hit all round the wicket, his timing was exquisite. He looked in full control. He nicked one off me to Tom Moody and that was only chance he gave. The wicket was bouncing a lot and there were nicks and edges, but he played a fantastic innings.
At 159 for 8 and soon running out of partners, Tendulkar found support in More, who was making a comeback after a hamstring injury had kept him out for about a month.
More I think I saw one of the best innings among all those hundreds he has scored. Especially because he was playing at Perth for the first time. Any batsman who plays there for the first time will find it difficult. The shots he played straight through the covers off the back foot were special. On that wicket if you play on back foot, most of the shots go square and fine, but he was playing front of the wicket, through extra cover, and cover. Those were typical Sachin back-foot punches through the cover. For any batsman, those shots are difficult to play on that wicket, and Sachin is a short person. He was playing those shots easily.
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When he didn't need to dare: Whitney got 11 wickets in the match because he bowled the right lengths © Getty Images
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Whitney His best shot was the punch off the back foot through off side. He showed a lot of respect and humility. There were glimpses of his greatness on that tour.
Taylor Whitney was pushing the ball across and Sachin would lean slightly forward and would hit it back past him even before Whitney could get his right hand down. Right then I knew it was the mark of a special player.
More It was special to watch him from the other end and also score against fast bowlers and prove myself. For me it was a selection issue for the World Cup too as I was coming back from injury.
Raju For that age, the way Sachin played was amazing. It was one of the greatest knocks I have seen. Sydney was more like an Indian wicket, but the way he batted at Perth you can only dream about it.
Raju The wicket had big cracks right in front of you when you take your stance. That affected us psychologically. Whitney just kept it up, and it was going through your mind that something might happen off the cracks.