Sachin Tendulkar, batting most beautifully, unburdened of all pressure, overwhelmed by the delirious chanting, was finally gone. It took a moment for the crowd - extremely busy soaking in the sights of what has to be the batting maestro's last innings -to shake off the delirium. It was over.
A moment's silence came and the Test at the Wankhede Stadium resumed.
Cheteshwar Pujara, Tendulkar's last batting partner, and Rohit Sharma, the Mumbai boy in glorious form right now, took India's innings forward. Centuries came off both their bats and the hosts eventually posted 495 runs in their first innings. They now lead the West Indies by 270 runs and have grabbed three wickets already, including that of their talented No. 3 batsman Darren Bravo. A victory on Saturday itself looks a distinct possibility.
That would mean Tendulkar may not come out to bat again. The 74-run knock, scored off 118 balls, inclusive of 12 exquisitely timed boundaries, will go down as the last Test innings he ever played. That is of course unless the West Indies, bent on crucifying themselves so far in this Test, script a miraculous resurrection story. The ball turned well all day, more towards the end, and Shane Shillingford looked effective. His consecutive five-wicket haul, after the first one in Kolkata, once again underlined the fact that he is the only potent force in a side of underperformers.
There was another highlight of the day too, and Tino Best will remember it well for the rest of his life.
For Tendulkar, and also for Team India -- it had seemed as if the contest had too become one-sided after Windies had capitulated on Day 1. Best, nevertheless, preserved his bit for moments when it mattered most. Not backing away from hurling the short ones, he ran in fast, bowled faster, chatted with Tendulkar, lured him to pull and cut, added a great deal of drama to the spell and his battle with the man. The latter, the cat with nine lives, could do nothing wrong it seemed. Tendulkar ducked the bouncers, attempted his famous upper-cuts, refused to forgive the loose ones, and immaculately timed those that came on well to the bat. Best, enjoying his day under the sun, kept coming. The contest filled the air, drew sighs and on one occasion some laughter too, when Tendulkar gestured to Best if he was getting tired.
This battle within the battle remained the only session to look back all day.
The legendary No. 4 was to leave soon, adding 36 runs more to his overnight 38, but by the time he did, the pitch had eased, Pujara had settled, Virat Kohli had smelt blood and Sharma was waiting. The job was done.
It didn't matter that given India's massive total, an innings win was in sight already. All that the crowd wanted was for MS Dhoni to declare soon so that the West Indies would score some runs and set India a fourth and fifth-day target. It would have ensured Tendulkar's return to the crease.
With three wickets gone already, West Indies are in dire need of super human efforts from their talismanic batsmen, Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels and Shivnarine Chanderpaul. If they don't fire, the crowd will be deprived of two days of chanting the most famous name in world cricket.
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