Former Australia captain Ian Chappell believes those who love cricket shall treat this phase of isolation because of COVID-19 pandemic like a Test match in difficult conditions, where the need of the hour is to show "patience, determination, and a bit of initiative" to eventually overcome the deadly outbreak.
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“With the Covid-19 pandemic biting hard, citizens of all countries are being asked to display - among other attributes - patience, determination, and a bit of initiative. These are qualities essential to playing Test cricket at a high level," Chappell wrote for ESPNcricinfo.
Nothing depicts life like a Test match, and so Chappell recalled an innings played amid the toughest of circumstances by the legendary Sachin Tendulkar against his fellow countrymen, that he reckons shall inspire people to tide through this period.
"Sachin Tendulkar's masterpiece in Chennai in 1998. His brilliant second-innings 155 won the Test for India, but it wouldn’t have happened without the initiative displayed by Tendulkar in the lead-up to the series."
"Tendulkar asked tall former India allrounder Ravi Shastri how he should cope with champion Australian legspinner Shane Warne if he went round the wicket to bowl into the rough," added the 76-year-old.
"Shastri’s reply was tinged with common sense. ‘Because of my long reach,’ he replied. ‘I had a defensive antidote to Warne bowling in the rough, but you don’t. You’ll have to devise an attacking option to combat Warne bowling in the footmarks’."
"Following that sound advice, Tendulkar spent time at the MRF nets - where he deliberately scuffed an area outside leg stump - facing the wristspin of former Indian leggie Laxman Sivaramakrishnan."
That knock is certainly one of Tendulkar's best, especially because of how he took on the mighty Shane Warne on a rough surface at Chepauk to help India win a Test match.
"Fast forward to the fourth day of a tightly contested match where India are in trouble," Chappell wrote. "Tendulkar, having been dismissed cheaply by Warne in the first innings, strides to the crease with his team two down and only 44 runs in front. The ball is spinning sharply and Warne, boosted by a four-wicket haul in the first innings, is confident."
"Tendulkar struggles to assert any authority early on and Warne, sensing his opponent is vulnerable, opts to come round the wicket. It’s rare that a Test match is so finely balanced on the fourth day with the champions of each team doing battle with each other. At that moment the result was on the line."
"Tendulkar’s determination and initiative were rewarded when he put his well-thought-out plan into operation," he added. "He immediately attacked deliveries pitching in the footmarks, and after a series of electrifying shots reached and cleared the boundary, Warne reluctantly went back over the wicket. Tendulkar had won the battle and India would go on to win the Test."
(Inputs from PTI)
