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Journalism of Courage
Test cricket has always carried a special allure for that subset of enthusiasts who like to put together a narrative only with numbers. For them,the match at Lords has a lot of raw material. It is,of course,the 2,000th Test match of all time,it is India and Englands 100th encounter,and in the London ground that has offered limited purchase to Sachin Tendulkar,Rahul Dravid and V.V.S. Laxman Tendulkar has struggled to even notch a half-century,it sets up many possibilities. And with England desirous of wresting the No 1 Test ranking from India,a decisive victory in the four-Test home series could swing it.
The focus,predictably,is on Tendulkar. He is on the brink of what would be his 100th hundred he is already in possession of 51 Test and 48 one-day centuries. Between them,Dravid,Tendulkar and Laxman have 99 centuries,so a century from any one of them could set up a collective milestone for a trio that have given spine to Indias batting line-up for more than a decade. And with Tendulkar just 308 runs short of the 15,000 Test runs mark,we can only try to imagine what the shape of his record will eventually be.
