Sachin Tendulkar's 'Desert Storm' in Sharjah - possibly the most famous knock in his illustrious career - was raised on April 22 in 1998 against the mighty Australian side. Batting like a man possessed, a 24-year-old Tendulkar scored his then highest score of 143 on this day to single-handedly take India to the final of the tournament. Sachin's 'Desert Storm' did many things in the world of cricket - it established him as the best contemporary batsman in the world, it established his dominance over spin wizard Shane Warne and it defined the aspirations of Indian cricket for an entire generation. For instance, speaking in an interview in 2019, Virat Kohli had said: "(Desert Storm) is where my excitement of wanting to chase totals came from. It was such a thrill to see one man working relentlessly towards a target and being able to achieve it wearing your national jersey." READ | April 15: Sachin Tendulkar’s first and only century in IPL Play was suspended in Sharjah for 25 minutes as a sandstorm swept through the stadium on the day, but the day would come to be defined in cricket history with the swirling storm Sachin raised around the Australian bowling attack. The match Riding on Michael Bevan's hundred, the Aussie side put up 284 runs on the board in 50 overs. Michael Bevan had troubled India throughtout the tournament, and Mark Waugh took the attack on with him, smashing 81 runs. India's target was revised to 276 in 46 overs owing to the sandstorm stoppage. Opening the innings for India, Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar weren't able to give the Men in Blue a solid start. Ganguly was trapped in front of the stumps by Damien Fleming. Next came in was wicket-keeper batsman Nayan Mongia and he chipped in with a stand of 69 runs with Tendulkar. Wickets kept on falling at one end, but Tendulkar looked firm at the other. Brutal with every stroke, Tendulkar scored his then highest individual ODI score of 143. The knock included nine boundaries and five maximums. The Little Master looked fearless and flawless with his batting and the spectators couldn't have asked for a better game. India lost the match by 26 runs, but ended up with a better net run rate to pip New Zealand and make the decider. What they said Nobody had expected India to beat Australia in the tournament - Sachin would hammer 134 in the final and India would chase down 273 to clinch the trophy - and nobody had expected Tendulkar to dominate Shane Warne quite like he did on this day. So brutal was the innings that Warne would go on to say several times later that he saw the innings in his nightmares. Tendulkar said after the match: “Australia was No.1 at that stage and to beat them so convincingly was extremely satisfying. Those days we used to play in Sharjah and drive all the way back to Dubai. And the next day was for recovery and the following day was the final. It was not so easy." READ | How Azhar's decision played an important role in Tendulkar’s career Winning captain Mohammed Azharuddin said after the match, "At one point when the storm came in, our first thoughts were how long would it last! That was because the more time got wasted, the more tough the calculations were becoming. In the end, Sachin was brilliant."
