Tendulkars 99.94 moment

Sachin misses milestone by six runs,Ashwin scores his first ton as Test heads to a draw

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If you ever wanted to know what heartbreak sounds like,the Wankhede Stadium was the place to be on Friday morning. The silence was indeed deafening. It wasnt the first time a stadium in India had witnessed a pin-drop hush and it wont be the last. The inexorable lull after a high-decibel storm following Sachin Tendulkars dismissal,in fact,is one of the features of a cricket match in India. But here,the quiet was filled with despair not disappointment.

The chief protagonist,and the only man who mattered at the Wankhede,had somehow been vanquished,and that too with the climax just having set in. Tendulkars premature exit falling six runs short of the elusive 100th international ton had left the stadium filled with a stifling void. The massive stage had been left empty. And out of this solemnness emerged an unlikely star.

Probably the thousands who flocked the Wankhede were too shocked to even move. Most stayed back. A three-figure score is what they had come to see. And where Tendulkar failed them,Ravichandran Ashwin,batting at No.8,made up for it. Even if only by a small extent.

The Tamil Nadu off-spinner became only the third Indian to make a century in addition to picking up a five-wicket haul in the same Test. He also ensured that India avoided an embarrassing reversal on Day 4,guiding them to 482 in their first innings. By stumps,the hosts had emerged as the only probable winners of the contest,with the West Indies finishing on 81/2,ahead by 189 runs.

Promising start

It might have ended in a terrible anti-climax,but the Wankhede Stadium was gripped by a sense of euphoria around it even before play began on Friday. Police vehicles scoured the area ordering those without tickets to return to their homes through loudspeaker announcements.

A crescendo sounded as Tendulkar walked onto the stage. The West Indian pace duo seemed fired up too,but Tendulkar looked in the groove. He flicked Rampauls leg-side offering to the square-leg fence off the final ball in the first over of the day. He unleashed a vintage straight drive in the Trinidadians next over. Next came a cover drive off Fidel Edwards and two balls later,for the second time in the innings,Tendulkar upper-cut Edwards over the third-man fence. But that was to be his parting shot.

Ravi Rampauls delivery rose from a length and Tendulkar looked to slice it past the slips. The ball took the edge and landed safely in the hands of Darren Sammy at second slip. Rampaul had sounded the death knell on what seemed to be the mother of all parties.

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Mahendra Singh Dhoni came and went in the prevailing din. Not many took notice. Ashwin,too,failed to catch too many eyeballs despite an enterprising start to his innings. Centuries by tail-enders or lower order batsmen generally come in a blaze and mainly involve a number of shots out of the MCC syllabus. But here was a No.8 playing shots that many in the top order would have been proud of.

Turning on the style

Ashwins straight drive off Sammy didnt set the pulses racing like Tendulkars did earlier in the day,but it garnered attention. And as he continued to cut,drive,and flick essaying style and grace,so did his innings. With Virat Kohli plodding along at the other end,Ashwin raced to his half-century. The duo added 97 with Ashwin dominating the stand. And it was only as he approached an unlikely ton that Ashwin came under the limelight. As his partners fell by the wayside,he galloped on. Rampaul would get a shot once again at playing party-pooper,but he failed this time. The off-the-pace ball pitched on a similar length but Ashwin managed to glide it to the third-man fence to bring up his maiden Test century.

The day would eventually end as it started with Tendulkar grabbing back the spotlight. Dhonis decision to hand him the last over completed the drama. Tendulkar even came close to achieving a much understated milestone his 200th international wicket but that too wasnt to be,Kohli at short-leg being the culprit this time around.